Equipment management for business units procedure

Version number 3.0 | Version effective 11 February 2020

Audience

Department-wide, with the exception of state schools. State schools should refer to the Equipment management for schools procedure.

Purpose

Outlines the requirements for acquiring, managing and disposing of equipment held by departmental business units.

Overview

The department’s equipment management system includes:

documented acquisition and recording processes
equipment management processes including stocktake and loan of equipment
appropriate disposal and write-off process.

Business units record portable and attractive items (valued between $500 and $4,999) which are susceptible to theft and loss because of their size and appeal (see Definitions), and capital assets (valued at $5,000 and over) on the department’s Asset Register. Information is kept about asset acquisition, transfer, loan of equipment, and disposal.

An equipment replacement plan is prepared by business units to facilitate periodic replacement of equipment. The plan:

is a five year plan, updated every year
covers all capital assets and portable and attractive equipment (e.g. computers)
is used as a reference by the unit to develop its budget.

Equipment is disposed of by:

transferring to a school, other business unit or other organisation
selling, using as a trade-in, or dumping
writing-off: if replaced under warranty, worn or damaged beyond economic repair, stolen, or lost.

Equipment management also includes dealing with fraud, private and or unofficial use of departmental equipment, conflicts of interest and misuse of resources.

Stocktakes are undertaken annually to help to identify assets that need replacing, are missing, or are obsolete.

Responsibilities

Business unit managers

Properly maintain an equipment register using the SAP Asset Register for capital equipment with a value of $5000 or more, and portable and attractive items valued between $500 and $4999.99, including:
- new acquisitions
- donations from community organisations via departmental projects
- transfers from schools or other business units.

Asset Accounting Team, Finance Branch

Provides advice on equipment management issues
Coordinates business unit stocktake
Records all returns in a database
Notifies business units with outstanding stocktake non-compliance
Escalates non-completion of stocktakes to senior management and internal audit.

Process

1. Ensure proper equipment control measures including:

registering equipment on loan and reviewing long term loans
maintaining properly authorised supporting documents for all acquisitions, transfers, loans, disposals (including transfers to external organisations) and write-offs of equipment
retaining records as per the Information asset and recordkeeping procedure
conducting an annual stocktake of equipment
reviewing equipment management practices and data
preparing a replacement plan
securing equipment and protecting it from loss, including marking equipment clearly and permanently with an asset number
issuing local safety instructions relating to the use, storage, and movement of equipment where applicable. Apply and maintain warning signs and labels where required.
ensure equipment is used for official purposes only
ensure that equipment is acquired through leases is in accordance with the Queensland Leasing Approval Policy for Public Sector Entities

2. Ensure proper disposal of equipment including:

approving the disposal or write-off of any equipment with a written down value less than $1,000
ensuring the appropriate disposal of equipment for business unit locations officially closed and or permanently vacated or vacated for an extended period.

Definitions

Term	Definition
Acquisition cost	Usually the cost of a piece of equipment plus freight and installation. In the case of donated items, a fair value should be estimated, taking into account age, condition and value of similar items.
Asset number	A unique numerical identifier allocated to all capital asset equipment, and portable and attractive items. This number is based on a SAP automatically generated Asset Master Record number for business units upon asset acquisition.
Capital assets	Any non-consumable item that has the capability of yielding a service benefit to the department for more than one year, has an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more, and is recorded in the department’s central register.
Depreciation	The cost of an asset allocated over the asset’s useful life.
Disposal	The physical removal of the asset from the premises.
Equipment	Any non-consumable physical item that has the capability of yielding a service benefit to the department for more than one year (that may include capital assets and portable and attractive items) and is not land, buildings or infrastructure.
Equipment register	The SAP Asset Register used by business units.
Fraud	The use of deceit to obtain an advantage or avoid an obligation. Fraud is criminal deception, and/or the use of false representation to gain an unjust advantage.
Gifts and donations	Any gift of property and in relation to equipment is referred to as a ‘reportable gift’. The term includes valuable items of property whether personal or otherwise (e.g. ornate or precision display items such as clocks, furniture, figurines, works of art and other items of enduring value including jewellery and personal items containing precious metals or stone or fine art work).
Portable and attractive items	Non-consumable items valued between $500 and $4999 (GST exclusive) that are susceptible to theft or loss due to their portable nature and attractiveness for personal use or resale. Examples include computers and mobile phones. An item is considered portable if it can be easily carried or moved (e.g. an item would be considered portable if it could easily fit in a backpack: it would not be considered portable if it requires more than one person to carry it).
SAP Asset Register	A component of the department’s financial and accounting software. This register holds records of all capital assets in schools and accountable equipment in business units.
Stocktake	The physical counting of equipment and reconciliation of the count with the equipment register.
Write off	Recording and approving the loss of an asset because it is missing or has been stolen etc.
Written down value	The acquisition cost less accumulated depreciation or expired life (months)/total life (months) x cost. For example, a computer costing $5,000 has a life of 5 years (60 months) and the written down value after 4 years (48 months) is calculated thus: 48 months/60 months x $5,000 = $4,000, therefore written down value is $5,000 ‑ $4,000 = $1,000.

Legislation

Financial Accountability Act 2009 (Qld) Section 61
Financial and Performance Management Standard 2019 (Qld) (Section 18)
Public Service Act 2008 (Qld)
Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 (Qld)

Delegations/Authorisations

Waivers, write-offs, losses and asset disposals

Other resources

Superseded versions

Previous seven years shown. Minor version updates not included.

2.0 Equipment Management for Business Units

Review date

11 February 2023

Keywords

asset | capital | resource | register

Policies and procedures in this group

Assets policy

Equipment management for business units procedure (current page)
Equipment management for schools procedure

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