The biggest challenge that people are facing right now at the university level is a lack of resources. With COVID and fewer students coming in, there have been cuts over the last few years. So, what can higher education institutions do? Take a deeper look below.
Departmental Self-certification is Risky
A lot of organizations have turned to departmental self-certification. But the problem with this is it may work the first year, but it becomes harder and harder over time to track down assets and reconcile. This can therefore lead to increased risk and decreased profit margins.
For example, if a federal auditor were to come to your campus and check the function of your space and your inventory based on F&A rate calculations, it could put you in a risky situation. Especially if they only find 8 out of the 10 items they were looking for. This could lead to a 20% delta on your calculation for all of your depreciation on equipment. That is something that you feel.
There’s a Better Way to Manage Your Resources
For more than 40 years, our team has worked with higher education institutions all over the country to optimize reimbursement costs and meet compliant standards when it comes to capital asset management.
We approach each institution with customized care, ensuring that you receive the best service possible to optimize your capital assets. Here’s what it looks like:
- We take your institution’s information and load it into KEPR
- We then go out into the field and perform the inventory
- We will then list out the items that we couldn’t find during the inventory process
- Once you find the missing items, we will return to your campus and perform a reconciliation
At the end of the day, this saves you money, improves your time to inventory, and reduces your risk. After working with the University of Tennessee, here’s what they said about our process:
“HCA Asset Management and Greg have been a part of the University of Tennessee’s F&A rate process since 2003. Their team is knowledgeable, flexible and the reports we receive are accurate and easy to interpret. HCA and Greg have been a critical “asset” in increasing UT’s federal cost reimbursement by increasing our F&A rate.”
– Verna Howard, Associate Controller, The University of Tennessee
We would love to help you manage your assets. Reach out to Greg Sheahan, our Capital Asset Management expert, directly to learn more or ask any additional questions that you may have!