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Final Purchase Order & Contract Approval Procedures
All purchase orders with a total aggregate cost of $5,000 or more are to be
forwarded to Purchasing Services for review and final approval. All
supporting documentation, including supplier contracts to be signed by a Sourcing Manager,
are to be forwarded to Purchasing for distribution to the appropriate approver.
The Process Flow
All incoming purchase orders are received by the PO Router and forwarded to the appropriate
Sourcing Manager based on assigned commodity responsibilities. All purchase order supporting
documentation is received and forwarded to the appropriate approver. Supporting documents
are to be sent directly to Purchasing via fax (898-9396) or intramural mail. At no time
should documentation be sent via e-mail or mailed/faxed directly to a Sourcing Manager as
this may cause an unnecessary delay in the approval process if the Sourcing Manager is away
from the office at meetings, business trip, or vacation.
The Approval Process
The goal of the department is to final approve all purchase orders, that meet all established
purchasing requirements, within one (1) business day. Purchase orders referencing a
message such as "attachments to be sent to Purchasing Services" in the Notes to
Approver will be held for up to three (3) business days. If the attachment is not
received within three (3) business days, the purchase order will be rejected with a note
stating the reason for the rejection. Purchase orders that do not reference a note of
forthcoming documents will be rejected with a note stating the reason for rejection.
Competitive Bidding Requirements
University
financial policy requires that any purchase order with a total aggregate cost of $5000 or
more must be competitively bid. Purchases from contract
suppliers and Penn Marketplace suppliers, regardless of dollar value, are exempt from the
University's competitive bidding requirement.
In the absence of competitive bids, a reasonable request to waive the competitive bidding
process may be requested by the ordering department. It is the responsibility of the
Sourcing Managers to exercise good judgment when reviewing and approving requests to waive
the competitive bidding process.
Purchase Orders with Supplier Contracts
When a supplier contract is required for a specific transaction, the Sourcing Manager is
responsible for reviewing the terms and conditions of the contract. The Sourcing Manager is
responsible for working with the supplier and ordering department to address or resolve any
contact language issues. Sourcing Managers will consult with the
Office of the General Counsel as
required for specific terms and conditions.
Conditions for approving supplier contracts:
- Due to the volume and complexity of the contracts received by the department, Purchasing Services will require three (3) business days to review and approve a supplier contract effective August 1, 2006. The review and approval period may take longer than three days based on unique business requirements or supplier terms and conditions. The Sourcing Manager will advise the requisitioner if the approval period will take longer than three (3) business days.
- Emergency contract requirements will be processed on case-by-case basis.
- At no time will a supplier contract be approved and signed by a Purchasing Services representative without prior issuance of an approved BEN Buys purchase order.
After-the-Fact Purchase Orders
After-the fact purchase orders create significant payment and supplier relationship problems
for the University. A BEN Buys requisitioner is not permitted to create a purchase order for
payment of an invoice for product(s) already received or service(s) already performed by an
external supplier.
All questions regarding this process and procedures document are to be directed to the
Manager of Operations.
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