ALCOAST 031/20 - JAN 2020 MARCH 2020 CG-WIDE PHYSICAL INVENTORY OF REAL PROPERTY - WARNING ORDER

united states coast guard

R 310804 JAN 20
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CG-8C//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS//N04500//
ALCOAST 031/20
COMDTNOTE 4500
SUBJ:  MARCH 2020 CG-WIDE PHYSICAL INVENTORY OF REAL PROPERTY - WARNING ORDER
A. Financial Resource Management Manual-Procedures (FRMM-P), COMDTINST M7100.4 (series)
B. U.S. Coast Guard Real Property Management Manual, COMDTINST M11011.11 (series)
C. U.S. Coast Guard Personal Property Management Manual, COMDTINST M4500.5 (series)
1. Due to your continued diligence accounting for Coast Guard owned capitalized
property, we have achieved sustained audit success in this area. As such, the Coast
Guard will be moving from a semi-annual to an annual physical inventory. For
capitalized personal property, the physical inventory will be conducted in August,
closer to year-end. For real property, the annual inventory will continue to be
split between March and August due to the large size of the sample.
2. All units must continue to follow established procedures in REFs (A) through
(C) for timely reporting of changes to their accountable capitalized property
(e.g. reporting new assets, improvements, transfers, disposals, retirements, etc.).
By eliminating the Spring capitalized personal property inventory, we are reducing
administrative requirements on field units and are accepting a higher level of risk
for financial reporting, property accountability, and audit. CG-84 will continue to
monitor timeliness and completeness of capitalized asset enrollment/retirement activity
to ensure there are no increased risks or spikes in non-compliance. Our shared goal
should be to sustain the commendable progress the Coast Guard has made in property
accountability, without backsliding, so there will be no reason to re-instate a
semi-annual physical inventory at a later time.
3. Non-Capitalized Personal Property Assets: pursuant to REF (C), inventories
of all other non-capitalized asset categories are required once every 365 days,
on a rolling basis. While compliance with this requirement has significantly
improved throughout the Coast Guard with the implementation of the Performance
Assessment Report (PAR) on the Coast Guard Common Core (CGCC) portal site, there
are still many units who are non-compliant. Units who have been unable to complete
a non-cap inventory should reallocate the time and resources normally spent on the
March capitalized property physical inventory to complete their requirements for non-
capitalized property by 31 March 2020. COMDT (CG-84) will be communicating the actions
necessary to achieve this via separate correspondence.
4. IAW REFs (A) and (B), the CG will conduct a physical inventory of selected
CG real property assets 01 MAR - 15 MAR 2020.
    a. Inventory focus: Validate existence of selected capital and leased real property
assets.
    b. Validate completeness of financial records of capital and leased real property
assets.
5. Responsibilities:
    a. Commanding Officers, Officers-in-Charge, and Directors are responsible for
ensuring their unit has the appropriate personnel available and trained prior to
the count phase of the inventory.
    b. Accountable Property Officers (APO) are responsible for reviewing the
real property inventory procedures. APOs shall monitor the real property
sampled asset list posted (http://cglink.uscg.mil/9923c8e4) to the CGPortal
to identify whether any of their unit assets have been selected for testing
during this inventory period. For Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)
integrated units, the APO Designation Tracker (http://cglink.uscg.mil/e40671d)
on the Coast Guard Common Core (CGCC) will be used as the primary source for
APO designations for the Real Property Inventory. It is the responsibility of
the Regional Property Support Officer (RPSO) to ensure the CGCC APO Designation
Tracker is up to date. For non-BPR integrated units, CG-845 will work with
those units individually to designate the APO for the Real Property Inventory.
    c. COMDTs (CG-43) and (CG-1333) are responsible for ensuring all program
managed assets are reviewed and listed properly within SAM and HMIS.
6. Timeline for CG-wide physical inventory of property assets:
    a. 01 FEB–29 FEB 2020: Preparation Phase. Commanding Officers, Officers-in-
Charge, Directors, and APOs are directed to review the updated real property
inventory procedures and webcast trainings for APOs and Count Team members.
All materials will be posted NLT 15 FEB 2020 to the CG Property Inventory CGPortal
site.
    b. 01 MAR – 15 MAR 2020: Count Phase. Selected units are directed to conduct
a real property physical inventory of sampled items. All units must submit all
appropriate final physical inventory certification packages NLT COB 15 MAR 2020
to the appropriate submission site identified in the inventory procedures.
    c. 01 MAR – 31 MAR 2020: Processing Phase. COMDT (CG-84) will review physical
inventory package submissions. System of record owners will make necessary updates
to the subsidiary systems. FINCEN will make all required changes of capitalized
assets to OFA.
7. Central source of information: The CG Property Inventory portal sites will remain
the one-stop shop for all physical inventory needs. The portal includes all documents
necessary to facilitate an inventory. Real Property inventory guidance can be found
here: http://cglink.uscg.mil/9923c8e4.
8. Communicating questions and issues: Direct all questions and report all issues for
real property inventory via e-mail to HQS-SMB-CG-REALPROP-INV@uscg.mil. This account
will be monitored throughout the inventory. For faster service, please add
“REAL PROPERTY_ (insert OPFAC number)” to the subject line to ensure quick delivery
to the correct team.
9. Underway and deployed units: Underway and deployed units are still required to
submit inventory packages using the inventory submission message and email it to
the HQS-SMB-CG-REALPROP-INV@uscg.mil inbox. A template is posted on the CG Portal site.
10. Preparation activities: In preparation for the March 2020 physical inventory:
      a. To ensure completeness of real property records, ALL Units should ensure real
property assets on-site have been identified and recorded in the appropriate subsidiary
systems. Units should pay particular attention to newly delivered, constructed, or
found assets and to real property assets with missing tag numbers. Contact your real
property accountability specialist (RPAS) or servicing Civil Engineering Unit for
assistance with a copy to HQS-SMB-CG-REALPROP-INV@uscg.mil, subject line
“REAL PROPERTY-OFA/TAG NUMBER DISCREPANCIES,” and follow procedures for enrolling
new/found assets.  
11. BPR Units: Units that are under the BPR construct and supported by a RPSO will
follow supplemental directions and timelines provided by their RPSO in order to meet
the 15 MAR 2020 inventory package submission deadline.
12. Real Property Inventory Process Improvement: The Real Property Inventory sampling
methodology will again ensure all buildings and structures with over $200K in remaining
Net Book Value (NBV) are verified for existence annually, over the two semi-annual
inventories. Additionally, there will be a more targeted sample of high risk assets
under the $200K NBV threshold. As a result, we should achieve even greater confidence
in the Coast Guard’s reported NBV of land, buildings, and structures.  Updated webcast
training and real property inventory procedures will be posted to the enhanced Real
Property Inventory portal site: http://cglink.uscg.mil/9923c8e4.
13. Points of Contact:
      a. Mr. James Schindler, Real Property Lead, James.W.Schindler@uscg.mil.
      b. MECS Brian Atkinson, Real Property Team Chief. Bryan.J.Atkinson@uscg.mil
      c. Additional POCs for execution of the inventory will be provided in the Action Order.
14. Ms. Jane B. Kiggins, Director of Financial Operations/Comptroller, sends.
15. Internet release is authorized.