5.2.2 Purchase Requisitions

Purchase Orders are commitments made for high-dollar, non-repetitive supplies, equipment and services for which UC does not have an existing agreement. Requisitions identify a departmental need for Purchasing to procure goods or services. Many requisitions are competitively bid when they meet the Purchasing guidelines. This bid process creates a buying commitment, discounts, pricing and other features to help the department.

Each time a department determines that they have a need for goods or services, they must evaluate which procedure best serves them in this acquisition by reviewing the eight ways in which they can acquire the required commodity. After determining that none of the other methods are appropriate, the Requisition is prepared.

5.2.2.1 Requesting a Purchase Order

A Requisition Transaction (RX) must be prepared by the user department each time goods or services are needed. The requisition may be prepared manually with entry of data into CUFS occurring at another site (such as a business office) or may be entered directly into CUFS at a terminal in the originating department. Both the manual and computer terminal data entry methods are described in the CUFS Data Entry Guide.

It is the decision of the user as to whether or not a manually prepared Purchase Request Worksheet is used when the data is entered into CUFS at the originating department. In many situations, a better utilization of departmental resources is accomplished when the manually prepared Worksheet is used. It is recommended that the manually prepared Worksheet be used by the departmental user initially until the process is fully understood.

Information will usually be gathered beforehand when preparing a Requisition Transaction. Sources of information include CUFS Master Tables such as Expense Budget (EXPA), Commodity (COMA), and Vendor (VENA). Other information is available from Purchasing.

5.2.2.2 Entering Requisition transactions

Once the Requisition information has been gathered, the data must be entered into the System using the RX transaction code. Detailed instructions for entering the RX Transaction into CUFS are found in the CUFS Data Entry Guide. When the transaction is accepted by CUFS in an error-free state, a pre-encumbrance financial entry is posted and Master Tables are updated (e.g., ORQH, ORQL).

The entry of the Requisition Transaction is a two-part process. The first part involves the use of a preliminary transaction generator and the second is the completion of the actual RX Transaction itself.

CUFS provides a Requisition Generator process to simplify the creation of the RX transaction. The process utilizes a Master Table (RXGN) where you enter data such as account codes to be charged and the initial portion of the Document ID. CUFS uses this data and presents to you the RX Transaction input screen, partially completed. Note that the system assigns a document number (DOCID) to the RX Transaction when the automated feature is requested ("#" preceded by an authorized prefix entered in Requisition Number field). It is good practice to write this number down (on a log or Worksheet) for use in subsequent inquiry to CUFS.

The RX Transaction is generally organized into three parts. The header section includes general information such as vendor identifiers and delivery instructions while the accounting section describes the accounts and amounts to be pre-encumbered. Both the header and accounting lines (5) are on the first screen. The commodity information is found on the second screen.

Where more text is needed than allowed for in a description field on a commodity line, the Extended Text feature is used. This is accomplished by placing the text in a Master Table (RXTX) where the Requisition and commodity line are associated. This feature is also used for certain special instructions (described in the next section of this chapter).

Once all header, accounting and commodity data has been entered, the transaction is edited for accuracy (using "Q" - Quick Edit in Scheduling Action). CUFS will ask you to verify ("V" in Scheduling Action) that the data, particularly the inferred vendor data, is what you actually want the system to process.

When the transaction is error-free and verified, you will schedule the document to be processed (such as Scheduling Action "W" - Update and Wait). This results in the financial pre-encumbrance entry being posted to CUFS and Master Tables being updated (e.g., ORQH, ORQL, RQST).

At this point, the requisition information is available to the buyers for their use in creating the Central Purchase Order (PC). The buyers evaluate each Requisition and decide if it is to be placed on bid or if it is to be turned into an order. As orders are created, the status of the Requisition is updated in the Master Tables (e.g., ORQH, ORQL, RQST).

Special Notes:

The RX Transaction document number (DOCID) that has been generated by the automatic document numbering process of CUFS should be noted. Either enter this number on the Worksheet or on a Data Entry Log. It is important that you keep track of this number since it is through the use of DOCID that you can easily locate a document in CUFS. Remember that this is the Requisition Number (RX) not the order number (PC).

In all cases, a commodity line description should be entered rather than allowing CUFS to infer the general description from the Commodity Master Table for the respective commodity code. Enter the best possible description that you can. Try to use general titles and avoid brand names which dimminish competition. Catalog numbers and detailed specifications can be used if there is no standard description.

Unit cost must be entered on the RX Transaction. If only an approximation is known, enter that estimate in the appropriate field. This estimated cost will be the basis of the pre-encumbrance financial entry.

Be careful when entering data onto the first screen for the RX Transaction so as not to press the Enter key before all data has been typed onto the screen. This is a common error which requires several extra steps and results in significant lost time.

5.2.2.3 Requisition Special Instructions

There are various reasons that you may need to notify the buyer of some special instruction. Examples of the more common special instruction techniques that you should follow are listed here. All of them utilize the Extended Text (RXTX Table) feature of CUFS.

Multiple Bidders - You have identified more than one vendor that you wish the buyer to consider.

Note that mailing bidders list (or other correspondence) may detain the bidding process.

Prepaid Order - Vendor requires prepayment of part or all of the order amount.

State Approval or Funding - State must approve invoice before payment can occur at UC or will make payment themselves on all invoices resulting from this order.

Confirming Order - An emergency order was authorized by a buyer which now requires that a RX be entered by the department.

Special Handling - Any special handling that cannot be covered elsewhere.

5.2.2.4 Requisition Exceptions

If a shipment is received and there is no Order, the materials will be held in Central Receiving and the vendor will not be paid. The System needs the Order to perform the match of receipts and invoices.

There are certain situations where an emergency Order will be issued. You must call the buyer who will issue the emergency Order. You must then enter an RX Transaction into CUFS and mark it as a Confirming Order ("C" in type field) and make reference to the Order number on the RXTX screen.

When entering a new Requisition Transaction (RX), there is a limit of five accounting lines which handle virtually all situations. However, if more than five are needed, the following steps are used: