Equipment Costing Workshops Costing and charging for equipment
that can be shared with external institutions (and implications of
charging internally) Finance Division Jonathan RoseKarl Wilson fEC
AccountantDeputy Finance Manager
[email protected]@admin.cam.ac.uk
Slide 2
Equipment sharing initiative background Why are we here? RCUK
revised guidance on equipment funding from May 2011 Increase in
threshold for minor items to 10k (inc. VAT) Justification of all
items 10,000 > 135,668 Evaluation of existing capital assets
required (both within the institution and at other accessible
locations) If successful, RCs contribution likely to be limited to
50% of cost. Full business case for all items of equipment >
135,668 Equipment sharing Working Group formed by ROO Creation of
equipment sharing database to facilitate asset evaluation Southern
Regional Equipment Sharing Group
Slide 3
Format of the workshop 1.Presentation: a)TRAC and the Full
Economic Cost (fEC) rates for Research b)Costing and accounting for
Small Research Facilities (SRFs) c)Costing equipment to be shared
with external institutions (Deadline 1 st June 2012) 2.The new
equipment costing template a detailed look 3.Break biscuits! 4.Over
to you group discussion / questions and answers 5.Final thoughts
and reminders
Slide 4
1 (a) TRAC and the fEC rates for Research TRAC (Transparent
Approach to Costing) activity based costing method Formal return
required by all HEIs to HEFCE/RCUK Attributes expenditure (per FS)
to activity (also includes income) Identifies the direct costs of
research and the indirect costs Indirect costs used to calculate
our fEC rates: Indirect rate Estates rates (Lab and Non-lab)
Infrastructure Technician rate Rates adjusted for costs recovered
through MRF and SRF charges
Slide 5
1 (b) Costing and accounting for SRFs Requirements of MRFs/SRFs
strictly defined in TRAC guidance Any charge made to a Research
Grant which relates to more than just consumables expenditure must
= SRF! Annual process initiated by fEC Accountant: Costing template
issued to capture data and meet TRAC requirement Annual Full
Economic Costs to be identified Must be costs that are actually (or
expected to be) incurred. No central or estates costs for SRFs
Ensure costs can be accurately captured (i.e. through CUFS cost
centre)
Slide 6
1 (b) Costing and accounting for SRFs
Slide 7
1 (c) Costing of equipment shared with external institutions
Small Research Facility (no external sharing) Equipment shared
externally (no internal charging) Include direct costs associated
with running equipment Optional to include replacement costInclude
replacement cost Do not include estates costsInclude estates costs
Estimates of different types of usage (Teaching, Research etc.)
important! Estimates of different types of usage less important
Must have auditable records (potential to be audited by RCs) Not
likely to be subject to audit by RCs Must account for costs
re-charged to Research Grants each year No costs will have been
recharged to Research Grants
Slide 8
2. Costing template for externally shared equipment
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Equipment costing workshops BREAK TIME!
Slide 17
5. Final thoughts and reminders Charging for shared equipment
Internal users Internal users will not be charged No action
required DI consumables only? Re-charge at cost (Not an SRF) More
than just consumables? Cost and charge as SRF External users
Calculate full fEC (using new costing template) Charge full fEC
price Decision tree:
Slide 18
5. Final thoughts and reminders Factors to consider if already
an SRF: Two charge out rates: 1) Normal SRF rate(s) 2) External
sharers rate(s) (will be higher!) Grouped equipment:1) Separately
cost equipment with different types of usage rates will vary
depending on type of use 2) Group equipment together and cost as
one facility using assumptions about usage of each item then
calculate an overall rate per hour/day.
Slide 19
5. Final thoughts and reminders General: Keep a usage record
(see hand-out for an example) Particularly important with SRFs!
Records for the whole year will help when setting the price Coding
of income and costs: Set up a specific cost centre in CUFS
especially SRFs Journal costs across (monthly) / or directly code
invoices on AP. Making re-charges: External to the University =
external invoice Internal = internal trading invoice SRF internal
to department = transfer of expenditure (not income - see
hand-out)
Slide 20
5. Final thoughts and reminders Timetable: Action Newly
identified sharable equipment SRFs Initial costing completed 1 June
2012N/A Next review of costing October 2013October 2012 Subsequent
costing reviews Annually thereafter
Slide 21
5. Final thoughts and reminders Help, advice and support:
Department / SchoolFin Div. supportContact details PhysicsJonathan
Rose(7)66946 ChemistrySteve Wilson(7)60770 All other Physical
Sciences depts.Annie Baxter(3)30582 Technology depts.Daniel
Greenfield(3)30700 Biological Sciences depts.Karl Wilson(7)66904
Clinical School depts.Dean Harper(3)36705