Accounts Payable

Accounts Receivable/ Collections

Bursar

Purchasing

Fiscal Officer/ Management

Travel Management

FMS Policy

Indiana University Information Environment (IUIE)

Financial Information System (FIS)

Purchasing Policy

The procurement of all goods and services through outside vendors is the responsibility of the Purchasing Department, which is supervised by the Director of Accounting Services. By directive of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, the Purchasing Department has the authority to obligate university funds to be spent with outside vendors. Employees circumventing this policy can be held personally liable for any obligation made.

The authority to bid requisitions has been delegated only to Indiana University Purchasing Agents. Competitive bids must be obtained for any requests exceeding $5000. Any requisitions under $2,500 will not be bid unless requested by the department. There are very few exceptions to the $5000 rule:

1. The Purchasing Agent is purchasing the item being requested by utilizing an established pricing contract.
   
   
2. The item being requested is entirely unique, and no other company has anything like it.
   
   
3. The item is proprietary, and only one location in a geographical area is authorized to sell that item (a franchise situation).
   
   
4. In the case of service maintenance, parts or service on equipment must come from the original manufacturer or seller of the equipment, or the warranty will be voided.

It is the responsibility of the Purchasing Agent to ascertain whether or not a purchase meets the condition of being an exception to the $5000 rule as listed above. In the event of an audit, each Purchasing Agent is held accountable for all purchases made. Purchasing Agents do understand that the cheapest price is not necessarily the best value when vendors bid substitute items.

When departments utilize the automatic purchase order (APO), or a procurement card, to procure goods, the requesting department is given the flexibility to determine internally whether or not they wish to investigate pricing from multiple vendors. The privilege for departments to utilize APO or procurement card, and to make such decisions, exists only because the authority to do so has been delegated by the chief purchasing officer. In exchange for this privilege, departments agree to adhere to the rules, regulations, and restrictions that exist for APO and procurement cards. On the IUS campus, the Director of Accounting Services is responsible for making such delegations.

Conversely, if a department desires for the Purchasing Department to obtain competitive bids on any request, even though the dollar amount of the request falls below the dollar limits for APO/procard, Purchasing will gladly accommodate. Requestors should notate the desire to have a request bid on their requisition notes screens, rather than process the request via APO/procard.

Requisitions valued in excess of $25,000 must be processed or approved by the IU Bloomington Purchasing Department. IU Southeast Purchasing Department will assist departments with these purchases or contracts. Regardless of who processes the requisition, the process of purchasing should normally be completed in one to five days for simple, routine requests, while several weeks may be required for complex requests. During peak business times, this process may take longer. After Purchasing has issued a purchase order, the requesting department will receive a departmental copy, and the vendor will be faxed or mailed a copy.

-Back to Top-

The following methods are available for procuring goods and services from outside vendors:

Electronic Purchase Requisitions

All IU Southeast department and division offices are set up to process electronic purchase requisitions through The On-Line Purchasing System (EPIC). On-line requisitions are the quickest and most efficient method to process a purchase request. Once approved, the requisition is automatically received at the Purchasing Department for processing. The on-line requisition also contains a note screen, which allows customers the ability to provide detailed information regarding the request.

Please contact Purchasing for training of Electronic Purchase Requisitions.

Automatic Purchase Order (APO)

Campus customers can process small dollar on-line requisitions that will generate an Automatic Purchase Order (APO). Three steps must occur in order for an APO to be processed. A customer must select an existing vendor from the EPIC database, must not exceed their department APO dollar limit, and must indicate that the items(s) being purchased is not a restricted item. When all three of these elements are met, an APO will be generated upon approval of the requisition, and the vendor will receive the APO via fax. When any one of the three elements of an APO is not met, the requisition will be received by Purchasing as an electronic requisition and an APO will not be generated. In the event that an attachment must accompany the APO, the customer has the option to have the vendor APO copy printed rather than sent by fax.

Please contact Purchasing for training of Electronic Purchase Requisitions.

Training

Purchasing will provide training for each department/division who desires to use any of the above purchase processes.

Responsibility of Customers

It is the responsibility of every customer to provide accurate and detailed information when submitting a request, regardless of which available methods for ordering are utilized. Customers should thoroughly review and proofread every order. Errors will cause a variety of problems, including, but not limited to, delays, wrongly shipped items, wrongly shipped quantities, and duplicated work. Customers who submit insufficiently detailed information for their requests should expect processing delays to occur. Customers who submit inaccurate information resulting in incorrect shipments will be expected to work in conjunction with Purchasing, Accounts Payable, and vendors to resolve all problems.

Certificates of Insurance

Because of liability concerns, it is imperative that the following procedures be followed when a department considers contracting with any vendor to do work on campus, or on behalf of the campus. The Purchasing Department must be contacted before a department contracts someone to come on campus to work. Purchasing will solicit the vendor for a Certificate of Insurance. Upon receipt of the Certificate of Insurance by Purchasing, it will be submitted to the IU Risk Management Department for approval. IU Risk Management’s primary concern is to ensure that all vendors performing work on any campus carry an adequate amount of insurance in the event of accidents involving campus employees or students, campus property, and even their own employees. If any vendor carries no insurance or insufficient insurance, an accident could easily result in Indiana University being sued or being left without coverage for injury or damaged property. When an APO is prepared, Purchasing will notify the customer when coverage is approved in order to complete the order. Purchasing will handle the details upon receipt of a purchase requisition. By strictly following the above procedures, the campus and university will not be put in jeopardy for liability concerns. The Purchasing Department should be contacted to discuss any questions or situations prior to contracting services.

Emergency Situations

In the event of an unavoidable emergency during business hours, the Purchasing Department can be contacted by telephone to issue an emergency purchase order; however, all pertinent information must be provided by the requestor in order for the purchase order number to be generated through The On-Line Purchasing System (EPIC).

Some departments can experience after business hours emergencies, such as Physical Plant, Ogle Center, Computer Services, and University Police. Examples of such emergencies might include critical equipment failure, failed alarm systems, and removal of fallen trees. Departments who may experience such emergencies should plan ahead and work with Purchasing to procure Certificates of Insurance in advance of the occurrence of any emergency. This will ensure that vendor liability concerns are addressed. Additionally, the department is expected to contact Purchasing immediately on the first business day after the emergency occurs so a purchase order can be processed.

Delivery

Mail/Receiving personnel will deliver either directly to the requesting office or to the Service Building dock for subsequent delivery merchandise purchased through outside vendors.

Returned Goods

When goods must be returned to a vendor for any reason, the customer must first contact the Purchasing Department and work with Purchasing to ensure the merchandise is returned to the vendor in a timely manner. A Material Return Slip available through IUS Central Stores must be completed and forwarded to purchasing. Purchasing will make arrangements for the pickup of the goods that are being returned to be picked up from your office. The Material Return Slip states the reason the merchandise is being returned, the purchase order number, the customer’s name and department, etc.

The Material Return Slip is stock number S8162110