RSMLs & Term Contracts
for New Fiscal Year
Table of Contents
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RSMLs – Definition and Types (pages 3-4)
RSMLs – Purchase Assistance (page 5)
RSMLs – How to Enter (pages 6-13)
Term Contracts – Lists (pages 14-16)
Term Contracts – Contract Participation (page 17)
Term Contract Releases – When/How to Enter (pages 18-19)
Term Contract Releases – Restricted Contracts (page 20)
Obtaining Further Assistance (page 21)
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RSML Procedures and Tips
• What is an RSML?
– A repetitive type of order where a Term Contract does not
exist, for example, copier maintenance. These types of
orders are called Rental, Service, Maintenance or Lease
Agreements.
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RSML Procedures and Tips
• What are the types of RSMLs?
– Rental agreement
• Use of equipment where the University does not intend to take
ownership or title of it.
– Service agreement
• Unlimited repair work over a specified time period for a onetime price.
– Maintenance agreement
• “Pay-as-you-go” repairs, typically based on an hourly rate and
parts cost.
– Lease agreement
• Use of equipment where ownership or title of it will pass to UC
after final payment.
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RSML Procedures and Tips
• What if I need assistance with an RSML
purchase?
– Read the information packet that was sent to all Org Unit
Business Managers in February.
• Email Alan Weldishofer at Alan.Weldishofer@UC.Edu if your
Business Manager did not receive a copy of the information
packet. You may also request via email that you be placed on
the list for next year’s electronic distribution of the packet.
– If you need further help, contact the appropriate Buyer in
Central Purchasing prior to entering the requisition.
– If you missed the deadline identified in the packet and have
RSMLs that require bidding, notify the appropriate Buyer in
Central Purchasing as soon as possible.
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RSML Procedures and Tips
• How do I enter an RSML requisition?
– Use transaction ME51N to create a requisition.
– Use the NB Purchase Requisition document type.
– Create a “Flip-flop” for Quantity and Unit Price if the number
of invoices cannot be determined or a regularly scheduled
invoice amount varies.
• Use “DOL” (Dollar) as the unit of measure.
• On RSMLs, “Quantity” should reflect the total dollar amount for
each line item, and you should use “1.00” in the "Net Price" for
each line item. This will insure that your order quantity does not
get exceeded with multiple invoices being posted against the
order. Once the quantity exceeds tolerance, invoices will be
blocked by the system.
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RSML Procedures and Tips
– Checking the RSML indicator (described later) will
automatically cause the phrase "Rental, Service,
Maintenance, or Lease Agreement" to print as the first line
on the hardcopy of the resulting order created by Central
Purchasing. Do not type this phrase in text.
– Start the Short Text of the item with the type of agreement,
for example: “Service Agreement for IBM Server Model
310", or "Rental Agreement for Ricoh copier Model 850".
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RSML Procedures and Tips
– In the Item Text under the Item Details section of the
requisition, provide a more detailed description of the item
along with the detailed pricing structure.
– All text on an RSML, as with any requisition, should be
entered using both upper and lowercase, not all uppercase,
or not all lowercase. If copying from uppercase information,
be sure to change the case after pasting it.
– Enter July 1 or later as the “Delivery date" on EACH line
item for RSMLs that are to be applied against the next fiscal
year.
• The “Delivery date" is on the Item Overview and also appears
on the Item Details Quantities/Dates tab above the “Requisition
date” field. This date defaults to the current entry date and
should be changed.
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RSML Procedures and Tips
– Enter July 1 as the "Requisition date" on EACH line item
for RSMLs that are to be applied against the next fiscal year.
• The "Requisition date" is on the Item Details Quantities/Dates
tab underneath the “Delivery date” field.
• The “Requisition date” defaults to the current entry date and
must be changed to the July 1 date before saving the
requisition, or placing it on hold.
– Do not change the defaulted “Release date” on each line of
the requisition. It should be the current entry date.
• The “Release date” is on the Item Details Quantities/Dates tab
underneath the “Requisition date” field.
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RSML Procedures and Tips
– When copying requisitions to create an RSML, remember to
change the Requisition dates and Delivery dates.
– When copying a line on an RSML requisition to a new line,
the Requisition date on the new line defaults to the current
date and needs to be changed.
– Change the Ship-to code on the Item Details Customer Data
tab as appropriate. You should usually enter a code of “9”
(no shipping) for services and maintenance.
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RSML Procedures and Tips
– You must check the RSML checkbox on the Item Details
Customer Data tab of the requisition. If checked on the first
line item it should populate to all subsequent lines.
– In the Item text of the last item line, enter an effective period,
a departmental contact for the order, and a cancellation
clause, for example:
• Period: July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.
• UC Dept Contact: Name and phone number
• Cancellable with 30 days written notice by either party.
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RSML Procedures and Tips
• What if I forget to use the July 1 date on
every line of my RSML requisition?
– The dates cannot be corrected across fiscal years, either on
the requisition itself, or when the Buyer in Central
Purchasing adopts it into the PO.
– The Buyer in Central Purchasing will need to delete your
requisition and ask you to reenter it.
– You can copy the incorrect one, but make sure to fix the
dates and anything else that is wrong in the copy before
saving it.
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RSML Procedures and Tips
• When can I enter my new FY RSML
requisitions into UC Flex?
– Usually during the first two weeks of May. Refer to the letter
packet that was sent to Business Managers.
– If not entered during this period, Purchasing cannot
guarantee processing of the Requisition into a Purchase
Order by July 1.
– Watch for any updates to this information on the UC Flex
Financials page.
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Term Contract Tips
• How do I list available Term Contracts?
– Find Term Contract lists for the current FY on the Purchasing
web site at http://www.uc.edu/af/purch_dept/contracts.html .
– For researching old contract information, use transaction
ME3C.
• On the selection screen, first start with making sure that all
fields on the selection screen are blank, except for the Scope of
List field which should contain ALV.
• Add any other of your own selection criteria. Then execute.
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Term Contract Tips
• Note that when the new FY contracts are loaded, all previous
FY contract records continue to reside in the system. If you run
ME3C without any further selection criteria, you will see the old
contracts along with the new ones.
• When listing contracts for a particular fiscal year, you will need
to select them by using the document number. To do this,
utilize the single wildcard character (plus symbol) and the last
two digits of the fiscal year in the character string. For example,
if you want to list all FY 10 contracts, you need to enter T+++10*. If you want to find all contracts that are in the 600 series,
you enter T6++-10*. Note that you can use the * wildcard
character after the 10, since it is not necessary to tell the
system specific character placement for the rest of the string.
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Term Contract Tips
• For your convenience, selection variants have been set up for
each fiscal year. They are called FYxx_contracts, where xx is
the last two digits of the fiscal year. Use these variants so you
don’t need to remember and type in the selection for the
document number. However make sure you remove “UC” out
of the Plant and Purchasing Org fields, if it is defaulted by the
system. Then you can add any additional criteria when you
want to narrow the search further.
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Term Contract Tips
• What if my org unit didn’t complete the Term
Contract Participation form that was
distributed in February?
– Only primary users of contracts need to complete this form.
Your org unit is a primary user if:
• The contract was initiated for your org unit
• Your org unit generates releases frequently
• The sum of the dollar amount for your releases is large.
– If your org unit is a primary user of a contract and overlooked
completing the form, contact the appropriate Buyer in
Central Purchasing via email as soon as possible, to ensure
your org unit appears on the contract and receives a paper
copy.
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Term Contract Tips
• When can release orders be entered for the
new FY contracts and how do I enter them?
– New FY contracts that have been completed are usually
loaded into UC Flex by the third week in June. Check the
planned dates on the letter that was sent to Org Units and
any updates in the UC Flex announcements. Contracts are
loaded early to provide an opportunity for you to enter any
releases for contract shipments or services that start July 1.
– Enter July 1 or a later date as the document date above the
Header section.
– Enter July 1 or a later date as the delivery date on each line
in the Item Overview section
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Term Contract Tips
– Make sure to clearly state in the text of the release that the
service or shipment is to performed July 1 or later.
– During this interim period both the current and new FY
contracts will be available. You should process releases
against the current FY contracts for anything that is to be
delivered or provided prior to July 1.
• Prices on the new FY contracts are not valid until the start date
of the contract.
• A goods receipt or invoice cannot be entered into SAP prior to
July 1 for releases against the new FY contracts.
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Term Contract Tips
• Why do I sometimes get messages that a
contract is restricted?
– A term contract can be restricted to certain org units and
release amounts due to safety issues or other necessary
central controls. For these contracts, if your org unit is not
authorized to use it or the dollar amount of the release is too
high, you should get an error message after you enter the
storage location and net price on the line item of the release.
– Contact the Buyer in Central Purchasing if you have
questions regarding contract restrictions, or feel your org unit
should be included on the contract.
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Further Assistance
• What do I do if I need further assistance for
RSMLs, Term Contracts and Term Contract
Releases?
– If your question is non-system related (policy, general
procedure, etc), contact the appropriate Buyer in Central
Purchasing. The Purchasing directory is available on the
Purchasing web site at
http://www.purchasing.uc.edu/direct.asp .
– If your question pertains to how you enter, change or display
information in the UC Flex system, or problems you
encounter in the system, contact Alan Weldishofer via email
at Alan.Weldishofer@UC.Edu or via phone at 556-2387.
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