Asset Management - FAQ

CFOB has regional groups responsible for asset management activities. You can contact your Regional Asset Management Services team directly for operational assistance. For asset management policy and analysis enquiries, you can contact Asset Management Policy and Procurement, at nc-assets-ip-policy-politiques-biens-pi-gd@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca.

The ESDC Asset Management Policy and the Standard for Managing and Tracking Assets identify which items are “tracked assets.” Tracked assets are the ones that require asset tags and numbers.

If you receive a tracked asset, a goods receipt needs to be recorded in myEMS (SAP) as per the above Standard. Contact your Regional Asset Management Services team. You will need the asset tag number when you enter the goods receipt for the asset in myEMS.

If you have completed myEMS MM05 training, you will have the required myEMS access to do a goods receipt.

You may have noticed that you cannot pay an invoice for goods until a goods receipt is done. This is because there are two activities involved when receiving goods that are delivered directly to your office.

The first activity is the physical receipt, where you check the delivered item, review the purchasing documents to ensure that what you see matches the contract, and then sign and date the packing slip or shipping document to accept the delivery.

The second activity to receive goods is the “goods receipt” transaction in myEMS. The person receiving the goods is responsible to do this transaction. It is OK for the same person to request the goods (Purchase Requisition or PREQ) and enter the myEMS goods receipt.

Note: For goods received by CFOB Regional Asset Management Services (RAMS) teams on your behalf (at a warehouse or loading dock), the RAMS team will enter the goods receipt.

You must manage any assets that have electrical or electronic components as per the Standard on Surplus Electronic and Electrical Equipment. Electronic and electrical equipment means any equipment with a plug, battery or that otherwise uses electricity to perform its intended function. Follow the Standard and, if you need help, consult your Regional Asset Management Services team.

Only CFOB Regional Asset Management Services (RAMS) teams have the delegated financial authority required to approve a disposal of an ESDC asset. RAMS staff also have the myEMS (SAP) access required to update assets in the system.

Please involve your RAMS team early on in the disposal-planning process to ensure they are aware of and agree with any planned method of disposal.

You can move your DTA chair to your next federal department. As per the Policy on the Duty to Accommodate Persons with Disabilities in the Federal Public Service and EDSC departmental policies, all DTA purchases are to refer to a DTA Internal Order. All items under a DTA internal order are to remain with the employee throughout their public service career. Managers must document accommodations resulting from a DTA request, including any equipment required.

Managers must allow employees to take any DTA equipment to their new department. Note: At ESDC, most of these items are not tracked assets (and so are not recorded in myEMS); if you are not sure, contact your Regional Asset Management Services team.

With the approval of CFOB Regional Asset Management Services (RAMS), ESDC may donate surplus assets to one of the following organizations. All such donations must be made in a way that is perceived as fair, equitable and transparent. This applies only to low-value assets, where the total costs of selling the asset would exceed the sale price.

• A Crown corporation, federal agency, provincial government, First Nation or municipal government in Canada; or,
• A recognized charity or non-profit organization located within Canada.

For valuable assets (assets ESDC could sell and earn a profit), additional approvals up to the ministerial level are required. Your RAMS team can advise you on this point. Finally, if the asset is a Capital Asset (original value of more than $10,000), accounting operations will also be involved.

Whenever practical, federal departments must make surplus assets available to other federal departments and agencies through services such as GC Transfer. For a “transfer” to take place, an asset must be transferred from one department to another department (not to somewhere else within ESDC). For example, ESDC might transfer unused monitors to Transport Canada.

Transfers are appropriate under the following conditions:

• The asset supports government programs and the exchange is cost effective for the federal government as a whole; or,
• The asset consists of adaptive equipment or furniture and is provided to an employee in accordance with the Policy on the Duty to Accommodate Persons with Disabilities in the Federal Public Service. This bullet applies, for example, to ergonomic chairs – please see the previous question.

CFOB Regional Asset Management Services (RAMS) teams have the delegated financial authority to approve the transfer of an EDSC asset to another government department. Therefore, contact your RAMS team to initiate this process. If the asset is a Capital Asset (original value of more than $10,000), accounting operations will also be involved.

When receiving tracked assets transferred from another department, the manager who receives the new tracked asset must inform their RAMS team of the transfer so that RAMS can create an asset record in myEMS.

While a transfer of an asset is from one department to another and requires approval, a movement of assets within ESDC is not as complex. For example, a movement of an asset could take place when an employee is changing floors at their office, but the asset is remaining within the same department.

When a move of a tracked asset takes place, you must contact the CFOB Regional Asset Management Services (RAMS) team to inform them of the move. Unlike a transfer, this is just an informational notification in order to update myEMS information.

Please contact Regional Asset Management Services if you need a report on assets that have records in myEMS.