Initiating and using a requisition with the intention of making a purchase.
A requisition is the first step in creating a purchase order. A requisition is required to generate a purchase order and is required for purchases over $5,000 but can be issued for purchases under $5,000 as well.
How to Set Up a Blanket Order for a Vendor that is On-Contract
A Contract Blanket Order is issued to establish an account with a specific external vendor for the purchase of specified commodities based on a competitive bid, or for items determined to be exempt from competition by the authority of a waiver. Please see “How To Set Up an Blanket Order to a vendor that is NOT on contract” which is describes in the next section.
Departments must order only commodities covered by the account code. There is no dollar limit per release unless stipulated in the referenced contract, waiver or bulletin.
Contract Blanket Orders for printing are issued only for departments with delegated authority to purchase printing.
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Procedure
Request a Contract Blanket Order by completing an external requisition through the external requisition generator in My UW and routing it through normal approval channels. The contract, bulletin, or waiver number should be noted in the item description entered on the requisition.
Contract Blanket Orders are issued for $1.00 in situations where no exact commitment is being arranged, e.g. for “as needed” purchases. To split funding on a variable blanket order each line of funding should be for $1. If there are three splits, the total amount on the requisition would be $3.
How to Set Up a Blanket Order for a Vendor not on contract
A Blanket Order is issued to establish an account with external vendors or with other State of Wisconsin agencies or municipalities for the purchase of similar commodities, supplies or services not covered by a contract or waiver. Please see “How To Set Up An External Contract Blanket Order” if the items ARE covered by a contract or waiver (above).
***No single transaction or release against a blanket order may exceed $5,000.00.
Blanket orders are NOT issued for printing except for allowable items under the $50 per transaction. (See “How To Get A Printing Job Done”).
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Procedure
Request a Blanket Order by completing an external requisition through the external requisition generator in My UW and routing it through normal approval channels.
Blanket Orders are issued for $1 in situations where no exact commitment is being arranged, e.g. for “as needed” purchases.
Determine the beginning and ending dates of the blanket order (make sure to fill them in on the requisition).The blanket order may be issued for a maximum of 12 months. Departments should not place a release prior to the beginning date or after the expiration date.
General Program Revenue (GPR) funded by 101 through 119 or 150 funds, must expire at the end of the state fiscal year, June 30. Any other funding sources may overlap state fiscal years but may not exceed 12 months or the ending date of the funding source.
Departments may begin to purchase using the blanket order AFTER the purchase order is shown as printed on the Purchasing Services Purchasing System Inquiry. The department should provide the vendor with the complete 13-digit blanket order number, verify the ship-to address and provide a contact name and phone number at the ship-to address.
How to handle Continuing Order Requisitions (CORs)
A Continuing Order Requisition (COR) is provided to enable you to renew your expiring blanket orders. Roughly 3 months before the end date on your blanket order, a new requisition is generated and loaded for you in the external requisition generator. This requisition has a new number, contains the same product or service information from your previous order and has appropriately advanced the beginning and ending dates of the order to cover the next 12 month period. Once completed, it should allow you to continue to order and receive the products/services specified on your blanket order without interruption.
Each month, once the new orders are populated in the external requisition generator, a COR summary sheet is sent out for each department to the departmental contact. The summary sheet lists the old and new requisition numbers, vendor, total amount, funding, shipping address, and the first line of the order description for every order expiring in the next 3 months. The electronic information about each individual COR listed on that sheet has been loaded for you in the external requisition generator.
Purchasing Services automatically generates CORs and distributes summary sheets monthly and for the June 30 fiscal year ending date. You will not receive a summary sheet unless you have orders expiring in the next 3 months.
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Fixed vs. Variable Blanket Orders
CORs for Fixed Blanket Orders will be encumbered for the exact dollar amount. CORs for Variable Blanket Orders will be encumbered for $1.
To split funding on a variable blanket order each line of funding should be for $1. If there are three splits, the total amount on the requisition would be $3.
Procedures for CORs
The external requisition generator will include the amount spent to date for the previous requisition number. This amount will also appear on the printed copy of the requisition. If there has been limited or no activity on the previous order, please do not renew your COR. Instead, consider whether the products or services listed on the requisition can be obtained from ShopUW+ or by using the Purchasing Card. If the amount spent exceeds $25,000, Purchasing may contact you regarding opportunities for contracting for the goods or services purchased. If you don’t want to renew your COR, simply ignore the entry on the summary report and take no further action.
To renew a COR and generate the paper copy for signature follow these steps on the Creating CORs document (PDF).
How to get an Emergency Transaction Order processed
An Emergency Transaction (ET) is a request for payment for goods or services or the creation of a purchase order where the initiator of the request cannot wait the time required for the normal payment or procurement process. The initiator must justify the need for a payment or purchase order on the same day.
The ET request is subject to the same accounting, purchasing and approval policies as a normal transaction, but is done so in an expedited fashion.
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Request emergency transaction treatment of a transaction
Prepare an ET request form and attach all necessary documentation for the transaction. Indicate on the ET request form whether the purchase order or check should be mailed or held for pick-up. An ET request form is required with each emergency transaction.
Route the ET request form and related document through the appropriate department and dean’s offices for approval.
Hand deliver the ET request form and documents to 21 N Park St, Ste 5301. If the request is received by 9 a.m., it will be processed for check pick up by the next business day. The ET must be presented to personnel to have your ET time and date stamped prior to putting the ET in the ET Basket. Requests received after 9:00 a.m. will be processed in two work days.
Purchase orders and checks can be picked up between 9-11:45 a.m. and 12:30-4 p.m. (no one is at the front desk 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m.) at 21 N Park St, Ste 5301. A copy of the ET request must be presented to the receptionist to ensure the appropriate documents are released. If documents resulting from ET’s are not picked up within this time frame, the documents will be mailed (campus mail) to the respective Dean’s/Director’s Office, who will distribute them to the initiator of the ET.
Ways to avoid the need for an ET
Where allowable and possible use procurement cards to make payments.
Plan ahead. PIR’s normally take 7-10 business days, and requisitions for purchase orders may take a minimum of 2 weeks to process. If you are able to accept this processing time, please do not use an ET request.
ET processing is possible under the following mergency circumstances
- An unexpected repair of a machine is necessary
- A significant dollar savings will be realized if purchased today
- Damage caused by weather
- A threat to health, safety or welfare
- Where bidding or special approvals are required to process a purchase order, the ET process may not be available due to timeframes imposed by the bidding process or the special approval
