Procedures for Procurement Services and Accounts Payable

Introduction

Products and services may be purchased through the use of a departmental procurement card coordinated by the Office of Procurement Services, requisitions submitted to the Office of Procurement Services, or a Payment Request Form submitted to Accounts Payable.

Travel expenses may also be reimbursed through a Travel Expense Report.

Procedures

Procurement Cards

  • Departmental procurement cards issued by the Office of Procurement Services may be utilized for purchase transactions for approved categories in amounts of $3,000 or less. Transactions may be made for up to $5,000 monthly.
  • Expenditures for items that are over the threshold may be approved by the Director of Procurement Services by placing a request through the Procurement Card Coordinator prior to the transaction.

Allowable Purchases

  • Advertising including job posting in newspapers/magazines/online, et cetera
  • Automotive purchases including maintenance, repairs, car wash, et cetera. (University vehicles only)
  • Cameras, Camcorders, and other Audio/Visual equipment
  • Cleaning and dry cleaning services
  • Commodities on Contract
  • Conference registration fees, seminar fees, including webinars
  • Copier maintenance agreements
  • Custodial supplies
  • Electronic data processing supplies
  • Food if above $100 with appropriate waiver forms (Additional guidelines are available in the procurement card website.)
  • Foundation funded purchases: Expenses can be allocated to Foundation funded budgets, excluding budgets for scholarships, insurance proceeds and capital projects.
  • Freight and expedited (overnight) shipping charges
  • Microwave ovens
  • Operating and maintenance supplies including paper towels, facial tissue and other cleaning supplies
  • Printing and photography supplies
  • Professional memberships, subscriptions and dues
  • Publications and Journals
  • Printers, scanners and fax machines
  • Refrigerators and Freezers
  • Small tools
  • Software (excluding Adobe, IBM, Microsoft and VMware)
  • Shelving Storage- Open air
  • Tablets, Notebooks, Netbooks, Personal Digital Assistants
  • Technical and specialized supplies
  • Televisions
  • Trophies, medals, plaques and ribbons
  • Travel
    • Airfare-including checked baggage
    • Lodging- Room (including tax) and Parking
    • Airport shuttle to and from hotel
    • International Airfare-including Passport fees and Visa fees
    • Group Travel
    • Train-Intercity
    • Bus-Intercity
  • Used parts and equipment

Unallowable Purchases

  • Adobe Incorporated
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Apple Incorporated (refer Apple policy for purchasing guidelines)
  • Bookstore purchases and any transaction within the university that should be on a budget transfer
  • Fixed Assets
  • Cash advances
  • Certified Professional Secretary Exam
  • Coffee and other supplies related to coffee including coffee powder, coffee maker, et cetera
  • Computers, Laptops and Monitors
  • Construction, renovation, or installation
  • Dell Incorporated
  • Fiscal Responsibility: Non-allowable expenses per the Fiscal Responsibility Policy
  • Furniture
  • Gasoline or fuel of any kind
  • Gifts including gift cards/gift certificates
  • HON Company Incorporated
  • Hospitality or entertainment
  • Insurance Payments: Professional liability insurance payments for faculty, students or staff
  • International vendors
  • Leases and rentals of facilities/space includes park pavilion
  • Lunchroom supplies (paper plates, bowls, forks, knives, spoons, et cetera)
  • Personal use items
  • Postage stamps
  • Printing services
  • Purchases involving trade-ins
  • Purchases that by-pass or circumvent existing procurement or payment procedures
  • Purchases that require a contract and/or agreement to be signed
  • Services (consulting, insurance, professional services, independent contractor, et cetera)
  • State sales tax
  • Telecommunications services and equipment including cellular telephones, headsets, pagers, et cetera
  • Travel
    • Travel insurance/Travel protection plan

    • Rental car

    • Taxi/Cabs

    • Lodging charges including Wi-Fi/Internet access, Mini bar, Resort Fees, Room service/Meals, Telephone charges, Valet Service
    • Train-Intracity, Subway/Tram/Metro
    • Bus-Intracity
  • Weapons, ammunition
  • Website hosting or domain name registration

Requisitions

  • Requisitions issued to the Office of Procurement Services shall be utilized for requesting purchases of $10,000 and above, and for amounts under $10,000 in those instances where the procurement card may not be used. Prepayment requests and requests for standing purchase orders may also be issued through a requisition.
  • An evaluation will be made to consider utilizing an existing contract, or to consider issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quotation (RFQ), per bidding guidelines before executing a purchase order. Payment Request Forms should be used when submitting an invoice for items purchased by a department other than the Office of Procurement Services.

Approved for Payment Requisitions/Purchase Orders for Prepayments

  • Requisitions for the prepayment of goods or services may be submitted with an original invoice, vendor registration form with W-9 information for new accounts, and other supporting documentation to the Office of Procurement Services. An approved for payment purchase order will be issued to Accounts Payable to authorize the processing of a payment.

Acceptable examples

  • Advertising
  • Application fees, with copy of application, contact, and invoice
  • Athletics game guarantees and service contracts
  • Background checks
  • Consulting
  • Courier fees
  • Deposits
  • Event guarantees for banquets, disc jockeys, entry fees, field trips, rentals
  • Food services (with food service waiver when appropriate)
  • Independent contractors
  • Insurance
  • Licensure
  • Maintenance agreements
  • Membership dues
  • Performers, unless a non-Missouri resident and subject to a two percent entertainer’s tax. A payment request form is required for non-Missouri resident performers.
  • Registrations
  • Reservations for travel and conferences
  • Soil testing
  • Subscriptions

Requisitions for Standing Purchase Orders

  • Requisitions should be submitted to the Office of Procurement Services for the issuance of standing purchase orders for recurring payments. Invoices and receiving documentation may then be submitted to Procurement Services to submit to Accounts Payable as needed for payment. Invoices for standing purchase orders issued on behalf of the West Plains campus are to be processed for payment by the West Plains campus.
  • The Office of Procurement Services is required to obtain formal competitive solicitations in the form of a Request for Quotation (RFQ) or a Request for Proposal (RFP) for purchases costing $25,000 or more. Informal documented solicitation responses, including departmental quotations, may be utilized by procurement services for amounts between $9,999 and $24,999.  University departments are required to obtain informal solicitations for purchases costing from $3,000 to $9,999.
  • Informal solicitations can be obtained through verbal, phone or email quotes from vendors, as well as price lists, catalogs, advertisements and other reasonable means (see exceptions for informal solicitations below).
  • Each university department is also responsible for maintaining documentation of quotes obtained informally, or justification of why informal solicitations were not obtained. It is also the responsibility of each university department to submit documentation of quotes with the requisitions/payment request to be scanned into the university’s Banner system for auditing purposes and proper archiving.
  • Documentation must be provided when designated consultant and/or evaluator exceptions are approved by the grantor.
  • It is the responsibility of the administrative head of the ordering department to assure that purchases initiated by departmental staff are made in accordance with the university procurement policy, and in the university’s best interest. Although solicitation is not required for purchases costing less than $3,000, university staff are encouraged to exercise good judgment to ensure university funds are spent reasonably and responsibly. See G1.13 Fiscal Responsibility Policy
  • Procedures may be referenced on the Office of Procurement Services

Fixed Asset Acquisition Coding

Departments are to code fixed asset acquisitions on requisitions. Where needed, coding changes may be made by Financial Services. Requisitions may not be split funded between fixed assets and non-fixed assets. Requisitions requiring split funding will be denied and will have to be re-entered by the department. Note that the Office of Procurement Services does not have system access to enter changes of this type.

Criteria

All individual equipment, whether obtained by purchase, donation, or other means, with a cost of $5,000 or more and an estimated useful life of more than one year, with the exception of firearms and licensed vehicles which must be inventoried regardless of the acquisition cost, must be tagged by Property Control and recorded in the fixed asset system.

All equipment purchased and recorded by the University must conform to, or be consistent with the following criteria:

  • Original Acquisition Cost: The original acquisition cost is to include the purchase price, cost of all components of the equipment, shipping, handling and/or delivery charges, warranty costs, and installation fees, as may be applicable.
  • Software: Software is not assigned an inventory control number. If it is an integral part of a computer or computer-based system, the cost is included in the acquisition cost.
  • Computers: The purchase price for the computer and all associated components, such as the monitor, keyboard, integral software, speakers, et cetera, is used to determine the original acquisition cost of the computer or system.
  • General Plant Equipment: Equipment that is hard-wired or plumbed into a facility is not assigned an inventory control number. Such equipment is coded to general plant.

Fixed Asset Account Codes

  • 75000 – Capital equipment – computers (>=$5K)
  • 75001 – Capital equipment – all other equipment (>=$5K)
  • 75002 – Capital equipment –vehicles (>=$5K)

All components of a single piece of equipment must be coded as fixed assets, and therefore will be included in the acquisition cost of the main piece.

Inventory

Property Control is charged with identifying the equipment to be inventoried, assigning a control number, affixing an inventory control tag, and recording in the Banner inventory control system.

An annual inventory of university equipment is required by the statutes of the State of Missouri (Section 34.125, RSMo). Departments are responsible for accounting for all items purchased by, or transferred to their units.

Solicitation Process

The office of procurement services is required to obtain formal competitive solicitations in the form of a Request for Quotation (RFQ) or a Request for Proposal (RFP) for purchases costing $25,000 or more.  Informal documented solicitation responses, including departmental quotations, may be utilized by procurement services for amounts between $9,999 and $24,999. University departments are required to obtain informal solicitations for purchases costing from $3,000 to $9,999.

Informal solicitations can be obtained through verbal, phone or email quotes from vendors, as well as price lists, catalogs, advertisements and other reasonable means (see exceptions for informal solicitations below).

Each university department is also responsible for maintaining documentation of quotes obtained informally, or justification of why informal solicitations were not obtained. It is also the responsibility of each university department to submit documentation of quotes with the requisitions/payment request to be scanned into the university’s Banner system for auditing purposes and proper archiving.

Solicitation terms and conditions are to include Federal Transportation Authority (FTA) contract clauses when applicable.

Reference: Procurement Services

Single Feasible Source Items

A single feasible source exists when:

  • Supplies are proprietary and only available from the manufacturer or a single distributor; or
  • Based on past procurement experience, it is determined that only one distributor services the region in which the supplies are needed; or
  • Supplies are available at a discount from a single distributor for a limited period of time.

Standard solicitation procedures apply except that the following shall not require a single feasible source justification or solicitation, and may be paid with appropriate approval:

  • Services of visiting speakers, professors, and performing artists;
  • Works of art and historical items for museum and public display;
  • Published books, maps, periodicals, and technical pamphlets;
  • Regulated utility services;
  • Trial use or testing specific items for suitability;
  • Print, electronic, broadcast and/or other media advertising;
  • Support services for existing systems that have been competitively procured, such as software or copier agreements, or example suppliers such as Brightspace, Simplex-Grinnell, Banner, or Time Management Systems (TMS);
  • Memberships and subscriptions;
  • Travel sponsored by the university, such as student trips/tours and all related expenses, i.e. travel agency, air and ground transportation, lodging, meals, fees, et cetera.
  • Fees for Intercollegiate Athletics, i.e. conference membership dues, game guarantees, et cetera.
  • Sponsored Research.

Invoice Formats

Acceptable Documents

  • Invoices issued in the name of Missouri State University
  • Original, email, or facsimile itemized invoice forms from vendor

Unacceptable Documents

  • Invoices not issued in the name of Missouri State University
  • Statements, not itemized
  • Packing list/loading slip, or bill of lading

Regular Invoices

Invoices for goods and services issued as the result of a purchase order may be submitted to the Office of Procurement Services for a three-way match of the purchase order, invoice, and receiving documentation. Price discrepancies shall be approved and noted by the Office of Procurement Services, and quantity differences shall be approved by the end-user, and confirmed by a change order. Documentation will then be forwarded to Accounts Payable for payment to be issued.

Invoices for West Plains purchase orders generated by West Plains, and for encumbrance purchase orders, i.e. rent of facilities or maintenance and repair agreements with West Plains local vendors, generated by the Springfield campus are to be processed for payment by the West Plains campus. Invoices received by the Springfield campus for such purchase orders will be forwarded to the West Plains campus for processing. Other invoices for West Plains purchase orders generated by Springfield are to be processed for payment by the Springfield campus.

Payment Request Invoices

Invoices for the payment of services or products previously performed or received may be submitted via a Payment Request Form to Accounts Payable. Payment can be issued for items up to $10,000. Items over $10,000 will be directed to the Office of Procurement Services for approval, and payment will be issued by Accounts Payable if approval is granted.

Acceptable examples

  • Advertising for telephone yellow pages
  • Athletics
    • Payments to officials of any dollar amount. Some without independent contractor form before game, form provided after-the- fact
    • Training services and medical payments for athletes
  • Awards, with no supporting documentation, such as homecoming event prize winners, essay contest winners, science fair winners
  • Bookstore special orders, UPS charges, and freight charges of any dollar amount
  • Bursar
    • Voucher payments of any dollar amount, over $1
    • BearPass Card payments of any dollar amount, over $1
  • Capital projects encumbered through Financial Services of any dollar amount
  • Collection filing requests for collection litigation from Financial Services
  • Credits/Overpayments from Accounts Receivable
  • Food meal plans and BearPass Card meals to Chartwells for any dollar amount
  • Fuel bill for monthly vehicle expenses of any dollar amount
  • Foundation payments
  • Grant awards
  • Independent contractor invoices, services completed
  • Library
    • Invoices any dollar amount
    • Refunds of fines, lost book payments, or refunds
  • Office supply charges from the contracted office supply vendor (Office Depot) campus-wide from the Office of Procurement Services, of any dollar amount
  • Performance contracts and expenses for the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts and Great Southern Bank Arena, non-requisition accounts of any dollar amount
  • Pharmacy retail invoices of any dollar amount
  • Postal service
    • Mailing bills of any dollar amount
    • Replenishment of postage machines of any dollar amount
  • Purchases of products and services over $10,000 not involving the Office of Procurement Services
  • Refunds
    • Cancelled events from departments with documentation; i.e. a copy of the check used to initially pay for the event and money received report showing the deposit are requested
    • Financial Aid Scholarships and Perkins loans
    • Housing deposits, or housing cancellations
    • Other, such as grant refunds
  • Rent payments from the rental of facilities budget regardless of dollar amount
  • Reimbursement requests from individuals for items purchased outside of the university travel expense policy, petty cash policy, or procurement policy, of any dollar amount over $1
  • Telephone bills
  • Transcript fee requests to universities from the Office of the Registrar
  • Travel advances, team or student group
  • Utility bills

Payments of Invoices Processed Without an Actual Payment Request with No Dollar Limit

The above is defined as selected invoices for the payment of services or products previously performed or received and submitted without a Payment Request Form to Accounts Payable. Payment may be issued for amounts of any dollar amount.

Examples

  • BearPass withdrawal requests
  • Bookstore inventory invoices approved by the Bookstore
  • Catering Services, Chartwells
  • Garnishments of payroll
  • Reimbursements for CPS testing
  • Utility bills, city bills, or others approved by Energy Management
  • Visa payments, monthly

Required Documentation for Reimbursement

Payments by cash – Submit the original register receipt with signature of purchaser.

Payments made by credit or debit card – Submit the original register receipt. If the cardholder's name is not preprinted on the receipt, submit a copy of the card statement reflecting the cardholder’s name, the last four digits of the account number, and the charge posting to the account, or a copy of the charge/debit card reflecting the last four digits of the account number and the holder’s name along with the original receipt. (Please cover the account number except for the last four digits on either the card image or the card statement.)

Reimbursement for Food – When submitting a payment request for payment on an invoice for food, banquet, et cetera. The invoice should provide a detailed list of food and beverages provided and a detailed pricing reflecting the charges and potential sales tax included in the invoice total.

Pick-Up Checks

To maintain better internal control, the following is a listing of checks that can be held for pick-up:

  • Financial Aid
  • Human Resources insurance checks
  • Officials, WBB/MBB only
  • Payroll
  • Performers
  • Perkins
  • Postage
  • Residence Life background checks
  • Student Engagement, student organizations only
  • Travel Advances
  • TRIO
  • Visas for travel and immigration

Other payment requests or purchase orders marked hold for pick-up will be reviewed and determined if they need to be held for pick-up.

Rush/Priority Designation

A rush payment has the highest priority. The payment request or purchase order will be paid before any other payment request or purchase order. Items considered rush:

  • Payroll
  • Postage, paying the Postmaster or Hasler for postage permits
  • Rents
  • Travel Advances
  • US Citizen/Immigration
  • Utility bills, usually not on a payment request, and directly from Energy Management
  • Voyager, fuel bill

A priority payment has the next highest priority. The payment request or purchase order will be paid after the rush payments, but before the regular payments. Items considered priority:

  • Accounts Receivable requests
  • Bursar Vouchers, process as indicated
  • Capital projects
  • Collection/Litigation
  • Human Resources requests
  • Invoices over 30 days old
  • Invoices with discounts
  • People payments for officials, cooperative teaching, performers, et cetera.
  • Registrations/Memberships/Subscriptions
  • Requests from the Perkins Loan area
  • Telephone bills
  • Vehicle payments

Check Printing

For efficiency, checks are only printed once a day. In order for a check to be ready by noon on a particular day, it must be received with all approvals by the Accounts Payable office on the fourth floor of Carrington and marked as Rush by 3:00 p.m. the prior day.