Asset Inventory Operations

The University maintains an asset control program, as required by the state, to identify, monitor, and track fixed and small and attractive assets. The program is managed by the Asset Inventory Operations (AIO) Office within Central Services in partnership with Accounting Services.

Fixed Assets

All fixed Assets (or capital items) including equipment and/or similar objects, which have an individual value of $5,000 or greater are identified, tagged, and placed within the campus’s inventory. Capitalized assets are included within the University’s financial statement and reported to the state annually.

Required account codes for purchases are the following:

WWU Fixed Assets Required Account Codes List

* The unit cost is the cost of an individual item including ancillary costs such as sales tax, shipping, installation, warranties, etc.

Small and Attractive (S&A) Assets

The other items included in the asset control program are designated as “Small and Attractive” which have a value between $1,000 to $4,999 and are deemed particularly attractive and vulnerable to loss. S&A assets are not capitalized in the University’s financial statements; however, these S&A assets are required to be tagged, inventoried, tracked internally by the custodial department. A risk assessment is conducted on a regular basis to review what is considered a S&A asset.

The following items are currently considered Small and Attractive assets by the University and are required to be tagged. In order to ensure an effective tagging and inventory process, these assets must be coded as shown below during the purchasing process:

WWU Small and Attractive (S&A) Asset Account Codes List

Mandatory Biennial Inventory of Assets

Only the fixed/capital assets and S&A assets are included in the biennial inventory. Every two years, each department that has such assets will be contacted by Asset Inventory Operations (AIO) Office to verify the existence of those assets listed under their org code. Please refer to standards and procedures below regarding the inventory process. 

Click here to read the Standards for Conducting Physical Inventories of University Assets and the Procedures for Conducting a Physical Inventory of a Department’s Assets.

Asset Control Custodian Required to be Delegated for each Department

Financial Managers are required to designate an Asset Control Custodian (ACC) who will be responsible to manage and track inventory under their org codes and work with the Asset Inventory Operations office during their biennial inventory process. See Section 4 of the Managing and Safeguarding University Assets Policy (POL-U5346.01).

Policy, Standards, and Procedures

All employees are to follow the policy, standards, and procedures for managing and safeguarding University Assets.

Policy Update: The Managing and Safeguarding University Assets policy was revised on June 10, 2020.

Click here to download a summary of changes to the policy.

Have questions about Asset Inventory Control?

Contact: 
Daryl Larkin
Asset Inventory Control
360-650-3576