Oracle Fixed Assets FAQ

A Fixed Asset is a tangible piece of property or equipment with a minimum acquisition cost, has a useful life of more than one year, is recorded at the cost it was purchased, and depreciated throughout its useful life. Fixed Assets can be categorized into one of the following types: 

• Inventorial Equipment: A piece of equipment that has a total acquisition cost of $5,000 or more (including tax (sales, use, etc.), shipping, training, calibration, and any installation costs).  
• Intangibles: An asset of a non-financial nature and lacking physical substance with an acquisition value of $5,000 or more. Intangibles are purchased or licensed, acquired through non-exchange transactions, or internally generated. 
• Library Collections: General library materials or rare library books and special collections ascertained through a purchase, gifts and exchanges, or withdrawals.
• Plant/Property: Land and/or buildings and all related improvements and renovations of $35,000 or more. 
• Software: Computer programs and associated documentation and data with a total acquisition cost of $5,000 or more.

All existing access in CAMS will stay the same, and users will continue to use CAMS for any updates that need to be made to assets. Department users will only be able to view assets and their related information in Oracle through the Fixed Assets module and will not be able to submit changes in Oracle.  

Users that have any existing inquiry and reporting access in Oracle will be granted the new FA Inquiry and Reporting role without the need to submit any new SNOW tickets. Learn more information regarding FA and other Oracle access. 

Yes, all accounting entries generated by the Fixed Assets module are in line with all required policies for both GASB and UCOP. 

As UCOP and other UC’s transition to Oracle Fixed Assets, all required reporting will continue to be sent to UCOP according to their required timeline and report specifications.

The following is an example of an asset that was purchased for $5,000 that has been capitalized and posted to the General Ledger. 

1. The assets are purchased from a PO and paid for on an invoice by the purchasing Financial Unit/Project and their desired Fund on an Asset Account.
2. The capitalization entry:
   1. Transfers the value of the asset to an expense on the purchasing Fund/Financial Unit/Project
   2. Transfers the value of the asset to the 42000 NICA Fund and centralized Financial Unit through a series of transfer lines/accounts 
3. Any monthly depreciation is posted to the 42000 NICA Fund and centralized Financial Unit 

• Value of Asset = $10,000
• Life in Years = 10
• Months in a Year = 12
• Monthly Depreciation = $10,000 / (10 * 12) = $83.33

A new Fixed Assets Dashboard is being created with the following reports included at or shortly after going live: 

• Asset Inventory Report: Identify assets by department, custodian, or location and track custodial responsibility 
• Asset Purchasing Report: Review purchase-related details, including invoices and purchase orders linked to assets, and gain information into purchasing history.
• Asset Depreciation Report: Review monthly depreciation calculations and accumulated depreciation by asset. 
• Asset Retirements and Disposals Report: Identify assets that have been disposed of by department, custodian, location, etc. 

Existing reports that are currently used within CAMS or other tools will continue to be available in their current state. 

When doing business on behalf of the university, all purchases made with regard to assets are therefore owned by the university. 

The Financial Unit listed as the Custody Code on the asset indicates is responsible for the physical tracking and management of the asset. The custodianship of an asset can be transferred from one Financial Unit to another through the transfer request in CAMS, which will also update the Custody Code listed on the asset in FA. 

Inventorial equipment purchased by the university will continue to go through the requisition and purchase order process. All equipment purchased through a requisition should use one of the following Expenditure Types/Account Codes when providing the POETAF information on the requisition, including any lines for related costs (Tax, Installation, Shipping, Training, affixed components, etc.): 

• 163001 - Equipment In Process (for Fabrications Only) 
• 163003 - Inventorial Equipment

• Identify how often cost transfers occur on assets
• Identify cost transfers that occur on assets to update the asset record in Fixed Assets with the new Fund/Financial Unit/Project the purchase was transferred to

• Non Salary Cost Transfer Request through Services and Support
• Custom Process/Integration/Reporting Solution

Continue to request a Non Salary Cost Transfer Request through Services and Support. When providing a reason, select:  

“The expense or expenditure type on a PO, non-PO, or Concur transaction posted to an incorrect expenditure type/account” 

Then download, complete, and attach the Posted Payable Cost Transfer Request Excel template when submitting. 

An expenditure type correction may be needed when: 

1. A cost related to an asset was NOT purchased on an asset clearing/CIP account 
   1. Example: Shipping for a piece of equipment was purchased on 539100 – Transportation and Shipping Srvcs but should have been purchased on 163003 – Inventorial Equipment.  
2. A non-asset was purchased on an asset clearing/CIP account  
   1. Example: Lab Supplies were purchased on 163003 – Inventorial Equipment but should have been purchased on 522401 – Lab Supplies.

Once an asset is reviewed and confirmed by the Equipment Management (EQM) Team in Oracle Fixed Assets, the asset record is created. Once the asset record is created, the Fixed Assets module will capitalize the asset and generate the corresponding accounting entries. 

Depending on the complexity of the asset (i.e., multiple lines, multiple quantities, split funded, etc.), the more time it will require the EQM team to capitalize the asset within the Fixed Assets module. This review process can sometimes take days or even a couple of weeks to ensure the accuracy of the cost and components of the asset.

Inventorial equipment that was not purchased through procurement will be manually entered into FA by the central EQM team, and then sent and added to CAMS. More information about the various acquisition methods can be found on Blink: 

• Gifts 
• Fabrications 
• Loans 
• Recharge
• Transfers