Capital Accounting
OHSU has a significant investment of capital assets, such as land, buildings, and fixed and moveable equipment, which are used in the primary missions of health care, education, and research.
CAPITAL ACCOUNTING
| Kathy Huber | Accounting Manager |
503-494-2028 |
| Mike Olson |
Capital Accounting Supervisor |
503-494-2072 |
| David Newton |
Accountant 2 | 503-494-8588 |
| Glenda Verus | Accountant 2 | 503-494-2074 |
| Adam Crowell | Accountant 2 | 503-494-7685 |
CAPITAL ASSET
A capital asset is defined as property (tangible and intangible) owned, leased under a capital lease, controlled, or possessed by the institution meeting the following conditions:
- Dollar cost of at least $10,000 for a building improvement –this threshold also covers all building component assets that operate as an integral part of the building (i.e. HVAC).
- Dollar cost of at least $3,000 for movable and other fixed equipment (per base unit)
- Useful life of more than ONE year
- And not consumed in the normal course of business
Assets not meeting the definition of a capital asset should be expensed in the period the costs are incurred.
PURCHASING PROCESS
- Capital assets must be purchased through the OHSU Oracle requisitioning/purchasing process.
- Purchasing cards and disbursements may NOT be used to purchase capital assets.
- Refer to the Process to Purchase Equipment in Section of the Capital Accounting Guidelines for complete step by step instructions.
CAPITAL LEASES
- The institution discourages the purchase of equipment through leasing arrangements.
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University capital leases require pre-approval by the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Hospital capital leases require pre-approval by Hospital Financial Services.
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If approved, the Contracts Department will negotiate all leases and lease/purchase agreements.
PHYSICAL INVENTORIES
In order to safeguard OHSU's assets and satisfy federal and other external auditors, verification of equipment use, condition, and availability is completed at least every two years during an OHSU-wide inventory process. The inventory process is a joint effort between the acquiring department and Capital Accounting.
TRANSFERS, DISPOSALS, AND DELETIONS
Equipment that is no longer needed must be disposed of in one of the following manners:
- Transfer or sale to another OHSU department
- Relinquishment to another institution outside OHSU
- Loans between institutions
- Trade-ins
- Surplus
- Loss or theft
- Damaged or destroyed
Details on processing assets in each of the above cases are found in the Capital Accounting Guidelines.
DEPRECIATION
Most assets are depreciated using the straight-line method. For financial statement purposes, depreciation expense is recognized at the hospital or university level, rather than by department or cost center.
For cost studies, such as the Hospital's Medicare Cost Report and the University's Facilities & Administrative rate, depreciation is calculated at the cost center level (e.g. physical location or budget account). Where there is more than one budget account funding a piece of equipment, depreciation is calculated separately for each account.
