Are they an item or just friends?

Asset Accounting and Asset Management -

Are They An Item or Just FriendsBob Mahaney, CPPS

Manager of Program Accounting and FinanceUniversity of Texas - MD Anderson Cancer

Center

Who is in the room?

• New member this year?

• First NES?

Who else is in the room?

• Type of business?

• University• Contract Property/Federal• State/Local Government• Private

I heard they were just friends.

Well, that’s not what I heard!

Asset Accounting & Asset Management

Let’s find out.

• Do they have common ground?

Dimensions of compatibility

Terminology Break

We need some abbreviations.

AA = Asset Accounting

AM = Asset Management

AM Duties

• Tagging assets.

• Annual physical inventory.

• Manage surplus/reutilization warehouse.

No debits or credits so far.

More AM Duties

• Tracking the movement of assets.

– Capital assets.– Computers.– Other sensitive assets.

No beans to count yet.

More AM Duties

• Missing property report.

– Department– Number of assets missing– Net book value

Starting to see some $ signs.

More AM Duties

• Asset disposals from surplus/reutilization warehouse.

– Each capital asset generates a gain/loss.

– Gains/losses hit the Income Statement.

Seeing bigger $ signs now.

AA Also Has Duties

• Reports the results of financial transactions.

• Analyzes the results for management.

• Provides gain/loss explanations.

I hear they have nicknames now.

Well, that’s not what I heard!

AA & AM

Sharing the Asset Life Cycle

AA and AM

Receiving

• AM

– Monitors process for consistency.

– Enforces the tagging upon receipt policies.

– Proper asset descriptions.

Receiving

• AA

– Identifies assets to be received during acquisition prior to PO being issued.

– Relies on receiving process to provide supporting documents for matching.

Physical Inventory

• AM

– Performs an accurate physical inventory.

– Reports inventory results to management.

– Shares new asset data with AA.

Physical Inventory

• AA

– Relies on the physical inventory process as a financial control.

– Works with AM to resolve discrepancies.

Disposals

• AM

– Coordinates asset reutilization to determine which assets are ready for disposal.

– Provides accurate supporting documentation for each disposal.

Disposals

• AA

– Records disposals in the asset system.

– Posts financial transactions to ledger.

– Analyzes gains/losses for management.

Chicken or the Egg

• First barcode.

– Patented on October 7, 1952.

• Abacus

– Used for centuries.

Egg or the Chicken

• Critical institution level functions.

– AA has some.

– AM has some.

Does it matter?

• No!!!

– Assets exist!

– Assets are tracked!

– Management want reports with $ signs!

Integrated Asset Systems

• Brings functional areas together.– None closer than AA and AM.

• Brings dysfunctional areas to the table.

• AA and AM have a great interest in dysfunctional areas.

Shared Opportunities

• Managing the in-laws.

– Convince management AA and AM are a team with solutions.

– It’s okay to discuss the in-laws.

Shared Opportunities

• Presenting a united front.

– Openly support each areas policies and procedures.

– Don’t hesitate to ask “How would you suggest we handle this issue?”

Shared Opportunities

• Collaborate on policies and procedures.

– Each group has a different source of institutional information.

– Apply each groups expertise to deliver institutional solutions.

I hear they are an item.

I heard that too!

Well, what do you think now?

Questions?

One last thought for the day.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!