The Limited Purchase Order (LPO) is one of three methods by which departments may buy eligible goods and services
directly from suppliers and have the University pay the supplier directly. Limited Purchase Orders are submitted in
the Oracle Integrated System application.
Uses
Use an LPO to purchase goods and services when:
- Total will be less than $5,000 (this total includes all invoices to be paid against a standing LPO) AND
- Goods and services to be purchased are not on the
restricted list AND
- There is no need for prior approval by Procurement Services.
Do not use an LPO when:
- Any of the above criteria is not met.
- Multiple LPOs are circumventing the $4,999.99 limit.
- Documents will need to be attached to the vendor payment, necessitating special check handling.
Departments should take care that their
internal procedures for placing orders on LPOs do not result in additional invoice
handling expense in Procurement Services.
Access to the LPO
Obtaining DMBE Minority/Woman Quote Prior to Purchase
All non-contract purchases on an LPO require at least one quote from a DMBE-Certified Minority- or Woman-owned (DMBE M/W)
vendor, unless one cannot be found. The old Minority and Woman designations in our vendor file are not sufficient to meet
this requirement - DMBE certification is required.
If any DMBE M/W vendor solicited meets the specified requirements and is the lowest responder, the purchase must be awarded to that vendor.
If you elect to make the purchase from a non-contract vendor that is not DMBE-certified as Minority- or Woman-owned, you must
document the DMBE M/W quotes you received in the files for the purchase. Acceptable documentation is a properly completed
Phone Quote Summary form or a printed quote from the vendor. Phone quote documentation must include all of the following:
- vendor name and address
- description of goods or services required
- delivery dates and F.O.B. point
- name of person giving quote
- name of person receiving quote
- date information was obtained
The purchase should not be made until the paper documentation is in hand.
Confirming Vendor in the Integrated System Supplier List
The vendor must be present in the Integrated System Supplier List before an LPO can be submitted.
Query the Supplier List by TAX ID, per your Integrated System training and
referencing
Integrated System Navigation Instructions as needed. Querying by name is not sufficient to make this determination.
If the vendor is present in the list:
- Confirm that there is a purchasing site for the vendor location you are using. If a new purchasing site
is needed, submit a Vendor Site Add/Update for Departments form. You will be notified by e-mail when the site has been added.
If the vendor is NOT present in the list, you may need to add them:
- Obtain the vendor's TAX ID and contact information.
Include mailing address, e-mail address and phone, if available.
- Query by TAX ID to be positive the vendor is not present, if you have not already done so.
If the vendor is still not found, you will need to add the vendor.
Adding a Vendor for an LPO
Add the vendor to the Supplier List per your Integrated System training and referencing
Integrated System Navigation Instructions.
Some Tips About Sites
- To use the vendor for an LPO, you must include at least one Purchasing Site.
You may also include a Pay Site if you have that information and if it is different from the
Purchasing Site. If the Purchasing Site and Pay Sites
are in actual practice the same, then one site can be both Purchasing
Site and Pay Site.
- Site uses are indicated by checkboxes in the "Site Uses" alternative region
of the "Supplier Sites" screen. Both "Purchasing Site" and "Pay
Site" are checked as a default on this screen.
If the Purchasing Site and Pay Site are not the same,
you will need to uncheck the box that does not apply for each
site.
- Please pay special attention to the instructions in the Integrated System NAV relating to Contact Information on the Purchasing Site.
Ensure Vendor Registration
When a Vendor Add form is saved in the Integrated System, the vendor
is added to the Integrated System Supplier list "on payment hold". The vendor
will be available for use, but cannot be paid until this hold is removed by our
Vendor File/1099
Specialists after receipt, review, and approval of registration information.
The vendor will be taken off hold within 3 days of registration.
The vendor cannot be paid without registration.
- Direct the vendor to register with the University on "Information
for Vendors" on this Procurement
Services website. Both printable and web-submittable Registration Forms are
available.
- If there is some
compelling reason why the vendor cannot access the vendor registration form online,
the departmental user should instruct the vendor to contact a Vendor
File Coordinator, who will provide whatever assistance is needed. If the vendor is unable to do this either, the department
should request assistance from the Vendor File Coordinator. Under no circumstances
should a departmental user submit the vendor registration form on behalf of a
vendor.
- If the vendor does not submit the registration form and neither the departmental user nor the
vendor contacts a Vendor
File Coordinator for assistance, Procurement Services will attempt
to contact the vendor and obtain registration, provided sufficient information
for contact was supplied by the departmental user. This could result in delayed
payment.
Entering the LPO
Before Submitting the LPO
- Be sure that a proposed purchase is eligible for an LPO.
- If possible, compare prices from several vendors and make every attempt to obtain the best possible price.
- Negotiate prices with your chosen vendor, if appropriate.
- Confirm your vendor in the Integrated System Supplier list as described above.
- Have available your delivery location code and the PTAEO to charge.
In the Integrated System
- Create the LPO
Create and approve a Limited Purchase Order per your Integrated System training and referencing
Integrated System Navigation Instructions as needed.
You may also need to reference Instructions for entering
the required Vendor Diversity Confirmation flexfield on the PO or LPO, in
order to complete the new required flexfield for documenting how you met the requirement
for obtaining a DMBE-certified M/W quote (see above).
- Approve the LPO
If you are creating LPOs for future use or for others to use, make
your best guess as to amount and approve the invoice when it is created.
It is not necessary to know the exact amount of the order before approving --
your best guess is sufficient, from $1 to the LPO maximum.
Invoices up to the LPO maximum that are matched to the approved
LPO will be scheduled for payment, regardless of any discrepancy
between the amount on the LPO and the amount on the invoice.
Since our terms for vendor payment are net 30, you will have ample
time to review these invoices before they are paid.
Placing the Order
- Limited Purchase Orders must be approved at the time the order is placed.
If the order is being placed by someone other than the PO Purchaser on the LPO,
the LPO should be approved prior to giving the LPO number to the person placing
the order. If you do not know the exact amount of the order at the time it is
approved, any amount within the LPO limit will do.
- If possible, it is best to have the LPO open while placing the order, to ensure that the order
corresponds as closely as possible to the LPO.
- If the PO Purchaser is not the person placing the order, the PO Purchaser
is responsible for ensuring that all instructions in this section are carried
out by the person placing the order, and for correcting the LPO after the order
is placed as needed to ensure that the invoice can be matched to the LPO and scheduled
for payment immediately upon receipt in Procurement Services.
- You must supply the vendor with the
PO Number from the LPO you created. Please also emphasize
to the vendor that the invoice must be sent to
the correct
Procurement Services address and must reference this PO Number if it is to be paid.
- If you had to add your vendor to
the Integrated System Supplier List, be sure to inform the vendor at this time
that they must register with Procurement Services to be paid, referring them to
Information
for Vendors on this website.
- The departmental user is responsible for ensuring that the vendor is aware
that by accepting an order, the vendor is accepting the terms and conditions of
the LPO. If you cannot forward a hard copy of the terms and conditions to the
vendor, you must confirm that the vendor has access to this web site and provide
them with the following URL: http://www.procurement.virginia.edu/main/departments/LPOInstructions.html
Printing an LPO
A "plain paper" LPO may be printed in the Integrated System application
by requesting the report "UVA Limited Purchase Order" per your Integrated System training
and referencing the Integrated System Deployment & Support website's Integrated System Navigation Instructions as necessary. Some tips:
- Remember to provide beginning and ending PO Numbers when requesting the report, even if you are
printing only one LPO -- otherwise you may inadvertantly print a LOT of them.
- You may change "Copies" from 0 to 1 (or more) in "Completion Options" from your
"Requests" screen, designate any printer in your area that is registered to
the Integrated System as the target printer, and print a hard copy.
- You may also run the report request without changing "Copies" and without designating a
printer, and view the output in your browser, using the browser's print
function to print the paper copy.
Note: Terms and conditions will NOT be printed on this report.
You must forward a copy of LPO Instructions
for Vendors to the vendor when placing the order.
Supplements and Invoice Corrections
- If review of your invoice copies for LPOs shows that an invoice needs to be corrected prior to payment, use the
Invoice Correction Form to advise
Procurement Services as soon as possible.
- An LPO may be supplemented up to $4,999.99 by modifying the order in the Integrated System application, per your Integrated System
training and referencing
Integrated System Navigation Instructions as necessary. The order
will then route for approval again as appropriate.
- The Integrated System will not prevent a user from altering a PO entered by another user, even one
entered by a buyer in Procurement Services. An approved PO will be re-routed for approval if
altered, but users should excercise extreme caution
to avoid altering another user's PO by accident.
