Effective July 1, 2004, the University defines inventorial equipment as articles that are owned by or in the custody of the University and:

• Are non-expendable
• Stand alone
• Qualify as tangible personal property
• Have a useful life of more than one year
• Have an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more

To moderate the effect of this change on contracts and grants:

• Effective July 1, 2004, physical verification and tracking are required only for items valued at $5,000 or more.
• Effective July 27, 2004, new commodity and account codes will be used to ensure correct asset reporting.
• The $1,500 threshold will continue for purposes of non-assessment of indirect costs through June 30, 2006.
• Beginning July 1, 2006, indirect costs will be applied to all expenditures for items below $5,000.

• If you purchase equipment between July 1 and July 27, 2004, use the current High Value Purchase Requisition process.
• After July 27, 2004, use the new commodity codes and expenditure account codes for inventorial and non-inventorial equipment. The change in these commodity codes includes a 3-character tag at the end of the code:
  • Inventorial equipment codes end with the letters INV and have a default account code of 649XXX.
  • Non-inventorial equipment (items with a unit value between $1,500 and $4,999) codes end with the letters NON and have a default account code of 639XXX.
• Read How Account Codes Relate to Commodity Codes and Equipment Account Codes for detailed information on commodity and account codes.
• Watch for additional campus notices about the changes.
• Read the information below about how UCSD is accommodating the change.

• Ensure that purchases of items funded by extramural/ sponsored funds and previously defined as inventorial equipment are not assessed indirect costs through June 30, 2006.
• Capture detailed financial information on items with a unit value between $1,500 and $4,999.

Actions being taken to modify current practices:

• Analyzing current Low Value processes (Department Order and Express Card) to determine how to allow processing of equipment items with unit value greater than $1,500.
• Working with Marketplace Preview, UCSD Bookstore, and ACT to ensure that their recharge activity complies with the new guidelines.

If you have questions, contact one of the following:

• Purchasing: Linda Collins, (858) 534-3082
• Disbursements: Charlotte Collier, (858) 534-5763
• General Accounting/ Equipment Management: Steve Ste. Marie, (858) 534-4638
• OPAFS: Rachel Mercado, (858) 534-0058