University of Minnesota
Controller's Office
http://controller.umn.edu/
612-624-1617 or controller@umn.edu

Inventory/Capital Asset Management

These business processes involve establishing and maintaining the equipment property control for the University of Minnesota. Equipment is defined as tangible, movable, non-expendable personal property items and can be classified as either capital or non-capital equipment assets. The property control system consists of policies and procedures related to the acquisition, identification, management, and disposal of equipment owned by, or controlled by, the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota.

Inventory Services is responsible for maintaining the University of Minnesota’s official record of capital equipment assets. Capital equipment asset records are maintained in the PeopleSoft Financials (EFS) Asset Management module. The record of sponsor-owned equipment, which meets the University’s definition of capital equipment assets and is in the possession of the University of Minnesota, is also officially maintained by Inventory Services.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get a new Asset Location code set up in EFS?

If a department does not see a needed location in the EFS location table, they should contact their local Departmental Space Coordinator (DSC) to see if the location is in U-Space. Data from the U-Space system is fed into EFS twice a year.

The DSC is the person assigned by the unit or department to coordinate the space inventory with the Office of Space Management. The DSC is also responsible for updating U-Space with space additions and corrections that occur in between space inventories. An addition or correction will not be reflected in EFS until the addition or correction is reflected in U-Space. Even then, the addition or correction will only be reflected in EFS after the next semi-annual EFS/U-Space table reconciliation has been performed by Inventory Services and EFS Module Support (units within the Controller's Office).

Changes to existing asset locations are identified and updated manually in EFS by Inventory Services.

Is there a list of Asset Location codes available outside EFS?
Yes, a list is posted here (xlsx). Please keep in mind that the most current list of Asset Locations for use on financial transactions is in EFS itself.
What is the capitalization threshold?

The item must meet the definition of a capital asset or a capital equipment asset in order to be capitalized.