Equipment management
The duty to track, safeguard and eventually dispose of equipment bought with award money — an inventory, a physical count at least every two years, and a disposition rule when the project ends. It attaches to the item, not to the award’s end date.
Part of the GrantTrove grant funding glossary — one entry for every field the catalogue stores.
Also called Property management · Capital asset management
In detail
The definition of equipment is a threshold rather than a judgement: tangible property with a useful life over a year and a per-unit cost at or above the organisation’s capitalisation level, capped by a federal ceiling.
Disposition is the part that surprises people. Equipment with residual value above a stated threshold at the end of a project may require the funder to be compensated for its share, years after the grant closed.
Against use of funds
`use_of_funds` says whether a notice names equipment as something the money is for. It says nothing about what happens to the equipment afterwards, which is set by the award terms and by regulation. A record that lists equipment as an allowed category has not told you about the disposition duty, and we do not imply that it has.
How GrantTrove stores it
- `use_of_funds` carries the categories a notice states and prints Not stated where it names none, because an empty list would read as "anything goes".
- Line-item cost tables are not parsed into a record, which is stated on the record page rather than left to be discovered.
Common questions
Do we own equipment after the grant ends?
Usually, subject to a disposition rule where the residual value is above the threshold. The award terms govern.
How often is a physical inventory required?
At least every two years under federal rules.
Is equipment in the modified total direct cost base?
No. It is one of the standard exclusions.