Section Topics
| Common Situations |
Property Management Office (PMO) Phone 736-0006 |
Office of Sponsored Research
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| Re: Reporting | X | |
| Re: Record Retention | X | |
| Re: Preaward Issues and award negotiation | X |
This section deals with the administration of property, either Stanford-owned or sponsor-owned (including Government) property, located at or accountable to a subrecipient of the University. Property control and management at a subrecipient's facility is a key component in an efficient, professionally administered business. The benefits include:
- Readily identifies the availability of equipment
- Compliance with external regulations
- May allow for Stanford to collect Indirect Cost Recovery (IDCR) for equipment
- Allows Stanford to issue timely and accurate property reports
The Principal Investigator (PI) is responsible for initiating any subaward (formerly known as "Scope of Work Subcontracts") that is in support of the contract or grant being managed. The Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) is responsible for issuing the subaward resulting from the agreement concerning the statement of work and the terms and conditions made by the PI and the subrecipient. A copy of the subaward is then forwarded to the Property Management Office (PMO). This action is necessary so that other property activities associated with subaward property administration can be accomplished in an orderly and timely fashion. The subaward will contain the applicable terms and conditions per the prime agreement and Stanford University policies.
The University is obligated to ensure government or sponsor owned property in the possession of a subrecipient is used and cared for in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable agreement. This is accomplished through various methods. The first, and most often used audit methodology is requesting a copy of the most recent government Property Control System Analysis (PCSA). The PCSA must be dated no later than 2 years prior to the date of the Stanford request. The second method is accomplished through a questionnaire sent to the subrecipient by PMO. PMO will evaluate the results of the questionnaire and the subrecipient's documented property control system and will inform the PI, OSR and Internal Audit if the subrecipient's property control system is deemed unacceptable.
A third approach, when the above two methods are not possible, is to have PMO staff visit the subrecipient and conduct an on-site evaluation. If the subrecipient's property control system is found to be unacceptable, PMO will recommend methods of improving the system and will notify the appropriate Stanford personnel of the status of the audit. A fourth approach is the federal government performing and audit at the subrecipient site in support of Stanford.
Loss, damage or destruction of property is a liability Stanford is obligated to control both from a financial and a fiduciary perspective.
PMO will request the subrecipient to submit an annual financial report reflecting the financial status of property. This report must include information about contractor acquired property (CAP) and government (GFP) or sponsor furnished property accountable under each agreement. If Stanford furnishes property to the subrecipient, a DD Form 1149 Requisition and Invoice/Shipping Document, prepared by the Department Property Administrator (DPA) will be used to substantiate the shipment and is used to update the property record in CAMS. The DPA will maintain a voucher number control log of DD Form 1149s. Property procured by the subrecipient is recorded in the subrecipient's system of record and does not get recorded in CAMS. Equipment acquired by Stanford and subsequently furnished to the subrecipient is recorded in CAMS and in the subrecipient's system of record. Also, the subrecipient will be required to input Stanford's bar-code tag as part of their record of the equipment and include that as an element in their report to Stanford.
In situations where sponsor approval is required prior to acquisition, the subrecipient is required to send a request to the PI and OSR. The PI should work with OSR in securing the approval from the sponsor and returning the approval to the subrecipient in a timely manner. Departments are strongly encouraged to validate the subrecipient invoices against the approved budget. In cases where one knows prior approvals are required, such as in capital equipment, comparing the acquisition/spending is readily apparent within the expense category for equipment For more information on prior approvals or prepurchase issues, consult Section 2.1 Pre-Purchase and Purchasing of this manual.
Stanford University is required to conduct at least a biennial physical inventory in accordance with our policies and procedures. Special inventories may be conducted as outlined by the terms and conditions of individual agreements, or at the closure of an agreement. The subrecipient will conduct physical inventories as agreed to but not less than once every two years, and will furnish the results to PMO of non-subrecipient-owned property reportable to Stanford. PMO is required to report the results of this physical inventory to the respective sponsor. Generally at the conclusion of an agreement, particularly government contracts, a physical inventory of assets is performed and reported back to the sponsor.
Contract/Subaward closure is an activity associated with PMO. A final report or certification to the sponsor is the result of a physical to final reconciliation of the property. Once PMO obtains a copy from Accounts Payable of the final invoice from the subrecipient when a subaward expires, either through physical completion or via termination, it will request a physical inventory from the subrecipient for all remaining property in the subrecipient's custody. Upon receipt of the final physical inventory, the PI and PMO will determine appropriate disposition instructions for the equipment. PMO will provide instructions to the subrecipient and sponsor reports will be adjusted in accordance with final disposition. Examples of this could be a transfer of title to the subrecipient or a request for return of the property. After the subrecipient has validated that there is no more property accountable under the subaward, they will issue a final property certificate of closure to PMO.
- Research Policy Handbook
- Sample of the "Subrecipient Self-Evaluation Form and Instructions" (PMO may send this to the subrecipient prior to issuing a subaward)
Section Topics
Contract, grant and other sponsored agreement closures are activities associated with Department Property Administrators (DPAs) responsible for research equipment. A final report to a sponsor is a process of final reconciliation of the Capital Asset Management System (CAMS), the General Ledger (GL), and the respective agreement. In addition to contractor acquired capital expense, sponsor loaned or furnished equipment, is rolled-up in the final report process.
Full and final reconciliation is one of the more important elements of closure, but is not the only one. Disposition of government property must be communicated to the sponsoring agency. The Principal Investigator (PI) through the DPA, or the PI directly, must indicate disposition requests for the equipment. Some of the alternatives are as follows: request for title transfer to Stanford, transfer to another agreement, declare it as excess and return to the government.
If your department deals with sponsored research, you deal with contracts, grants or other agreement closures. It is advisable and strongly encouraged you acquaint yourself with sponsor requirements and agreements. You can view the agreement information in CAMS in the Agreements section. To access this, choose "Agreements" and "Agreement Query Only" from the Main Navigator in CAMS. You can find your agreement by a variety of information, including agreement number, fund number, project name, and start or end date. Contact your Property Service Representative (PSR) if you need assistance with this.
The purpose of the final report is to provide closure to the agreement. This is but one of the elements that leads to final payment; there are others as well.
After a final report and disposition of all sponsor-owned equipment has concluded, a Certificate of completion is issued to the sponsor by the PMO office. Record retention requirements do not necessarily start from this date. Please see Record Keeping, Section 4.1.
- General Ledger (GL) capital equipment expenditures are compared to the CAMS Records. This may show a discrepancy; if so, it must be reconciled.
- A physical inventory of equipment may be performed
- PMO phones, e-mails or meets with the DPA to resolve the discrepancy report and discuss the results of the inventory.
- Resolution may consist of:
- Finding the equipment and tagging any untagged items.
- Identifying incorrectly coded items, i.e. non-capital.
- Making modifications to CAMS if necessary.
- Making modifications to GL if necessary.
- Determining if there are any sponsor loaned or furnished items
- Resolving disposition of sponsor-owned equipment with DPA and PI
- Disposing/accounting for any assets not located during physical inventory
- Final report/disposition instructions from the sponsor are required before "Certificate of Completion" can be issued by PMO.
- PMO sends a Certificate of Completion. In some instances PMO files a final financial property report with customers.
- Disposition of sponsor-owned items is resolved. Call PMO for more detail.
Grant closures and reconciliation procedures are the same as contract closure procedures, except for the following exceptions:
Grants, by their nature, usually give title to the grantee. Title in this sense means that the grantee is able to use the equipment for like type research (in the case of federal sponsors), preferably within research sponsored by the same sponsor, if that is not possible, then any federally sponsored research project may use it. If the equipment is considered excess to any federally sponsored research, the equipment is a candidate for reutilization or sale. At times a Certificate of Completion can be issued without a final report, since many grants do not require a final report. Contact your PSR for more detailed instructions if necessary.