Finance Business Systems
Research Support - Costing and Pricing
Directly Incurred Costs
Equipment
There are two issues related to the purchase of equipment that need to be considered. The first is the financial regulations attached to equipment purchase and the second is the source of supply.
Financial Regulations
There are strict financial regulations attached to the purchase of equipment. The full details can be found at the following website – http://www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing/intranet/procedures/index.shtml. However, in brief staff assembling bids should be aware of the following:
| Value | Procedure |
| Total order value below £5,000 | Raise order using a requisition and enter via Agresso |
| Total order value between £5,000 and £30,000 | Obtain at least three competitive quotations. Complete “Quotation summary form”. If need be refer to Purchasing for advice |
|
Total Order value over £30,000 and under £50,000 |
Competitive tender required. Allow at least 4 weeks for tender process. Liaise with Purchasing who will issue documents on behalf of the faculty/service. |
|
Total Order value over £50,000 and under £139,893* |
Competitive tender required which may be advertised in either the local press or “Contracts Weekly”. Allow at least 6 weeks for tender process. Liaise with Purchasing |
| Total Order/Contract value of £139,893* or more (valid until 2010) | EU tender required – see specific table below for guidelines and timescales. Liaise with Purchasing |
Equipment Suppliers
Officers researching purchases should make themselves aware of any preferred suppliers, contract suppliers or special offers available to them so that they can be assured that the purchase represents best value for money.
Details of such suppliers that UWE has contracts with can be found on Procureweb or under supplier information on the following website - http://www.uwe.ac.uk/finance/purchasing/intranet/contracts/index.shtml.
Advice regarding purchases of IT equipment can be found by clicking on the following link http://www.uwe.ac.uk/its/corporate/teams/adminfp.shtml.
Equipment Depreciation
The purchase of equipment funded by research grants and contracts is not capitalised in the University's annual accounts. However, various sponsors' funding rules with regard to equipment depreciation may vary and PIs should be aware that in such cases this may affect the amount of funding received ie if a sponsor's rules state that a piece of equipment should be depreciated over five years and the project duration is only 3 years then a maximum of only 3/5 will be claimable. Any resultant shortfall should be identified and approved as part of the PA process.
