SOP 13
Version 1
Issue date:
01/07/2012
Page 1 of 4
Procurement & Contracts Office
Purchase Order Procedures
University College Cork
Purchase Order Procedures in UCC
Introduction
On line requisitioning functionality was introduced to UCC in 2010 and all staff
(excluding Tyndall) have now been trained on the Agresso purchasing module. During
the transition phase UCC has been operating a dual system of both manual and on line
purchase orders. To ensure that UCC can take advantage of the efficiencies that the
Agresso functionality offers the following changes are now required to the UCC
purchase order procedures.
Proposed Policy changes
1. A Purchase order should be raised for all expenditure items through Agresso on line
purchasing apart from purchases identified in point 3 below. Manual Purchase
order books should no longer be used for the purchase of goods or services by UCC
staff from 1st August 2012.
It is proposed to withdraw all manual purchase order books by 1st August 2012.
2. Interdepartmental Purchases: In UCC, Departments can purchase goods/services
from other departments. These purchases should be requisitioned using Agresso eg.
Items from the Computer Centre, Visitors’ centre and Audio Visual services etc.
3. It is accepted that for the following two categories of purchases it may not be
practicable to create requisitions through Agresso.
a. Utilities. Heat/Light/gas – No purchase orders are required.
b. Telephone: Fixed Line and Mobile Bills – No purchase orders are required.
4. Couriers: An Agresso Purchase Order is required for all courier transactions. Please
refer to the Procurement & Contracts’ Office website (www.ucc.ie/procurement) for
details of preferred suppliers.
SOP 13
Version 1
Issue date:
01/07/2012
Page 2 of 4
Procurement & Contracts Office
Purchase Order Procedures
5. Purchase of Equipment:
Currently equipment is being purchased by individuals on their credit cards and then
recovered through the expense claim system. Examples include computers, laptops,
shredders, printers and miscellaneous computer consumables. As these are assets of
UCC, it is important that they are purchased through Agresso. This ensures all
equipment purchased is bought off the University contracted suppliers and where
appropriate maintenance and insurance agreements are entered into. From 1st
August 2012 such expenditure can only be processed via Agresso.
6. Professional services:
It is not always possible to know with certainty the final invoice amount in relation
to such services. However, Departments are still required to create a requisition on
Agresso using the best estimate available.
7.
Catering:
Kylemore online website should be used to requisition regular day to day catering
requirements such as tea/coffee/sandwiches etc. See
http://www.kylemore.ie/ucc/. For conference catering direct contact should be
made with the Kylemore Office on campus and an Agresso on-line requisitioning
should be used. All order details should be outlined in the product text of the
requisition.
8. Punch Out
For some of the larger suppliers (Sigma Aldrich, Office Depot) UCC has the ability to
shop directly on the suppliers website after logging in to Agresso and selecting the
punch out option. Agresso integrates with the suppliers systems to create, send and
receive requisitions, purchase orders and invoices electronically. UCC is currently
looking at adding other suppliers to this method of procurement.
9. Taxis:
Employees should recoup taxi costs via the Agresso expenses system. Any other taxi
expenses should be met from petty cash except for taxi costs associated with the
delivery of documents for which an Agresso PO can be created. A framework of taxi
suppliers is in place and can be found on the Procurement & Contracts’ Office
website (www.ucc.ie/procurement).
SOP 13
Version 1
Issue date:
01/07/2012
Page 3 of 4
Procurement & Contracts Office
Purchase Order Procedures
10. Travel
Club Travel has been appointed as the sole travel service provider to the University
sector. All travel should be booked through the Club Travel portal
(http://www.heatravelportal.ie/admin/login.aspx). . The portal is also available for
hotel and car hire. No Agresso purchase orders are required.
For all domestic rail travel, staff should buy their tickets from Club Travel. Although
there is a small transaction charge it is still better value to purchase the ticket via
Club Travel as UCC receive a 10% discount.
11. Conferences
All conference fees are to be paid directly by staff and recouped through the Agresso
expenses system.
For conference fees greater than €150 it is possible to receive an advance from the
University or to make payment through the Procurement office credit card facility.
The Procurement Office credit card facility allows conference attendees to take
advantage of any early bird /credit card bookings.
12. Restaurants & Hotels
Staff should recoup these costs through the Agresso expense claim system except for the
costs of conferences and large events hosted by UCC.
As advised at 7 above, where conferences are held on campus direct contact should be
made with the Kylemore Office on campus and Agresso on-line requisitioning should be
used.
Where UCC is hosting a significant event off campus the Procurement credit card may
be used to facilitate payment.
13. Stationery and Office Supplies
All staff should be aware that all such purchases must be made from the University
contracted suppliers. Please refer to the Procurement & Contracts’ Office website
(www.ucc.ie/procurement) for details of these suppliers. These orders should be
purchased via Agresso.
SOP 13
Version 1
Issue date:
01/07/2012
Page 4 of 4
Procurement & Contracts Office
Purchase Order Procedures
14. Purchase orders
All purchase orders will be closed when the value of the invoices presented is equal or
greater than the purchase order value. From 1st August 2012 it will not be possible to re
open these purchase orders and a new purchase order should be created on Agresso for
future expenditure.
15. VAT:
VAT should not be included in the Purchase order price for all external suppliers as
these costs are automatically calculated by Agresso. For internal Agresso Purchase
Orders VAT needs to be included as part of the purchase price eg. PCs from Computer
Centre.
16. Non Compliance with Contracts
Non adherence to UCC contracted suppliers poses a serious risk issue with potential
legal actions against the university. Whilst the university has made significant efforts in
increasing compliance levels there is still an element of non-compliance. Examples of
this include the purchasing of consumable items such as toners, stationery and
consumables. In addition, it has also been noted that IT hardware such as pc’s, laptops
and printers have also been purchased from non-contracted suppliers.
Compliance will be monitored in the period between August and December 2012. If
compliance remains an issue for the University, it is proposed that a levy of €200 be
imposed on all cost centres for each instance of non-compliance with non-contracted
suppliers.
Finance Office
July 2012