Buying Capital Equipment

The BearBuy Capital Equipment Form should be used when purchasing equipment with a value of $5,000 or more. There are a few things to consider to ensure you are processing your order in compliance and that the information received by our downstream systems for the purchase are accurate and as complete as possible for capitalization in UCSF’s Asset Management System.  

BearBuy Capital Equipment Purchases are sent to UCSF’s Asset Management System

Managing Capitalized Equipment

There are two roles in the Asset Management System that are selectable in the BearBuy Asset Management tab. Users assigned to these roles in BearBuy during the purchase process will receive an email notification when the capital equipment purchase information is sent to the Asset Management system. The assigned users can make important non-financial updates to the capitalized equipment that improve data integrity and searching capability. The assignable roles are as follows:

Custody Code: Custody Codes are maintained by the Controller’s office and are preassigned to a specific equipment Custodian within the Asset Management System. All equipment must be assigned a Custody Code. When assigned the Custodian can for example, add the equipment serial number, update the equipment condition, location, or add a photo, etc. (Learn more about Custodian responsibilities.)

Curator Name: The Curator role is typically assigned to lab personnel. Departments should request security setup in the Asset Management system prior to starting the purchase process in BearBuy so that the Curator Name can be selected. The Curator Name is optional. When assigned the Curator can, for example, add descriptive keywords for equipment that makes searching by others more successful, note if equipment is shareable or add a lab name, etc. (Equipment Curator Information)

Searching for Capitalized Equipment on Campus

Approved purchases made for Capital Equipment in BearBuy are ultimately sent to UCSF’s Asset Management System for capitalization. Key information entered in the Capital Equipment Form is available for UCSF personnel to search upon within the Asset Management system and may also be searchable via the Capital Equipment Web Search page by UCSF personnel. (Capital Equipment Web Search)


Considerations When Purchasing Capital Equipment


Consider using any established agreements that could help determine your supplier selection, possibly improve product pricing, and offer better terms and conditions of sale. Refer to the UCOP System wide Agreement listing to see if an agreement applies to your purchase. If you are using such an agreement please enter as much contract information (title, reference, number, etc.) as you can in the Equipment Description field.

  1. Department makes a determination that the purchase is capital equipment.
    1. Verify that the equipment has a normal life expectancy of more than one year, and is not expendable. Non-expendable means that the equipment is not consumed by its use.
    2. Verify that the capitalized cost will exceed $5,000. The $5,000 value includes the price of the equipment and other costs needed to put the equipment into service such as required installation services, startup components, accessories, freight, handling and sales tax.
  2. Department determines if trade-in will be involved.
    1. If a trade-in is part of the purchase, the Department Asset Custodian must seek pre-approval from Capital Accounting before the release of the existing equipment for trade-in before the requisition is submitted.
    2. Establish the price for trade-in and arrangements for the supplier to receive or pick up the product. 
  3. Determine if the equipment qualifies for the California Partial Sales Tax Exemption, see: Partial Sales-Tax for R&D


Completing the Capital Equipment Form


The Capital Equipment form is divided into sections that contains optional as well as required fields noted in bold on the electronic form. For clarity in this training document required fields are noted as (Required) before the field definition. Required fields must be completed before the form can be submitted.

Important Note: It is important to complete the new form to prevent delay on your order. Do not copy and add to cart an old form you have previously submitted.

For additional guidance on the new Price Reasonableness and Source Selection section, see the BearBuy Forms Redesign FAQ.