25.15 Purchase Orders, Chancellor's Office Business Policies & Procedures

Purpose:

To establish policies and procedures associated with purchase orders.

Policy:

A purchase order is required for any purchase of $5,000 or more when a contract is determined by Legal Services not to be necessary (with the exception of utilities, interagency charges, and debt service). A purchase order is also required when purchasing fixed assets (at any dollar level). Purchase orders may also be prepared when required by a vendor or when a department wants to encumber charges. If the contractor furnishes standard forms for signature, they must go to Legal Services for review and signature. The following procedures will be used for processing purchase orders.

Procedures:

  1. Department staff prepares a completed Purchase Request form that includes all necessary purchase information, as well as the index from which the payment should be made, and routes the form to the Department Head or Department Approver for approval. The Department Head or Department Approver approves the Purchase Request within the following parameters:
    1. Approval means attesting that the purchase is (a) within his or her delegated authority to approve; (b) a lawful, legitimate, and necessary expenditure of state/OUS funds; (c) an appropriate charge to the index designated; and (d) within budget.
    2. The approval is made within delegated authority on file with Business Processing Staff. If the payment is over the designated dollar limit for that index, the Department Head performs this approval. For payments less than or equal to the designated dollar limit, the Department Head or Department Approver performs this approval.
  2. The Department Head or Department Approver routes the approved purchase request to Business Processing Staff for input into the Financial Information System (FIS).
  3. Upon confirming that the purchase request has all necessary approvals, the Business Processing Staff assigns the appropriate account code*, inputs the purchase order in FIS, and records the FIS purchase order number. *NOTE: If the item(s) being purchased are fixed assets (indicated by the account code), there are additional steps that must be taken in preparing the Purchase Order. See FASOM Section 08.03 for assistance in determining if the item(s) being purchased are fixed assets (including a decision tree on Fixed Asset Components and Attachments). The fixed asset account codes depend on the type of funds used:
    • 40101 for purchases made with E&G funds (also used for gift, grant, and contract funds
    • A8011 for purchases made with Service Department or Auxiliary funds

    See FASOM Section 02.12 for additional information regarding the appropriate account code.

    See Purchase Order Procedures Related to Fixed Assets below for additional procedures.

  4. The FIS Approver approves the purchase order in FIS if, upon examining the purchase request:
    1. All necessary approvals have been made.
    2. The information which has been entered into FIS agrees with information on the purchase request.
    3. The purchase request appears reasonable and within the normal range of business activity for the Department.
    4. Prior to final approval in FIS, the Approver brings any unusual items to the attention of the Business Services Manager for resolution. The Business Services Manager:
      • reviews the unusual items,
      • clarifies the facts and circumstances (as needed),
      • researches applicable laws, rules, regulations, policies, past practices, and approved exceptions,
      • consults with Controller's Division staff and Controller (as needed) to determine resolution, and
      • coordinates communication of resolution to Department Head and appropriate Department Approver.
  5. The Business Processing Staff prints the purchase order. It is transmitted to the vendor, along with appropriate Terms and Conditions (as described below). A copy of the purchase order and related documentation is eventually matched with the payment documents and filed in the accounts payable archive files.

Purchase Order Procedures Related to Fixed Assets:

When purchasing fixed assets, the Purchase Order must be created using commodity level accounting. This is accomplished by unchecking the "Doc Acctg" box in FIS on the screen where the descriptions of the items are entered. Using commodity level accounting will assist in more accurate fixed asset information and processing of information as it becomes part of the Fixed Asset module of FIS.

Terms and Conditions:

Terms and Conditions should always be included as an attachment to the purchase order. The terms and conditions can vary, based upon the vendor and/or method of procurement:

  • Vendor Supplied Terms and Conditions -- Use when required by the vendor (Note:These must go to Legal Services for review prior to signature.)
  • State Contract Terms and Conditions -- Use in addition to Standard Chancellor's Office Terms and Conditions (below) when utilizing state contracts.
  • Standard Chancellor's Office Terms and Conditions -- Use when the above situations do not apply (including purchases made using contracts from the Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA).

Forms:

Banner Input Forms:

FPAPDEL Purchase Order Cancel Form
FPAPURR Purchase Order Form

Banner Query Forms:

FGIDOCR Document Retrieval Inquiry Form
Query on posted purchase orders with option of seeing FGQDOCP document postings (accounting detail information)
FOADOCU Document by User
Used to query by originating user ID (inputter) all documents that are completed, approved, incomplete, or cancelled. This screen is helpful when the inputter wants to make a correction to a completed document prior to it routing for FIS approval. The inputter can use this screen to deny (disapprove) a completed (but not approved) document so that corrections can be made.
FOAUAPP User Approval Form
Remove name displayed to view all documents in all queues
FOIAPHT Approval History Form
Query by document code to display originating user and approver.
FOIAPPH Document Approval History Form
Query by document code to display originating user and approver.
FOIDOCH Document History Form
Query by PO number to show status (incomplete, complete, approved)
Shows other documents tied to the PO (e.g., invoice, check, and asset tag)
FPIOPOB Open Purchase Orders by Buyer Form
FPIOPOF Open Purchase Orders by FOAPAL Form
FPIOPOV Purchase Orders by Vendor Form
FPIPORS Purchase Order Suspense List Form
FPIPURR Purchase Order Inquiry Form

Banner Reports:

FPROPNP Open Purchase Orders Report
Open purchase orders as of a given date and purchase order (optional default is all) and vendor (optional default is all)
FPRPURA Purchase Order Activity Report
Provides the user the ability to print detail and summary purchase order activity information for a specified period of time, vendor, or user.
FWAPORD Purchase Order Print
Print purchase order by PO number, current or original status, or buyer code. Note, it must be a completed and approved purchase order to print.

Last Updated: 06/30/04