Buying Goods

Overview:
Services purchased for University purposes must be paid directly by the University.  Per policy, reimbursement of personal payments for vendor services is unallowable.  All services to be purchased with University funds must be approved prior to commencement of service.

Note: Departments are strongly encouraged to submit approval requests at least 3-6 weeks in advance of the service commencement date in order to provide UCLA Purchasing with sufficient time for review.

How to Purchase Vendor Services:

1) Contact the vendor to obtain a quote for the services to be provided.
2) Submit all of the following to your Business Office Fund Manager:

• Completed Universal Form (click here for instructions) 
  • Full detail of the services to be provided
  • Funding source (FAU)
  • Business justification
  • Approval signature
• Vendor proposal
  • Total amount to be charged
  • Itemization of how the total amount was computed
  • Period of performance
  • Detailed description of provided services
  • Scope of work
  • Location of where services will be rendered

3.   Services provided by an Independent Contractor/Consultant require additional forms (see Independent Contractor/Consultant).
4.   Be sure to include the complete vendor name, address and tax ID (if it is a new vendor).
5.   Forward the Universal Form and attachments to your fund manager in the Business Office.
6.   Your fund manager will review your request for completeness.
7.   If your fund manager does not require further information, he/she will approve your request by assigning an order number to your request.  In some instances, your order may exceed the Business Office approval level, and be forwarded to the UCLA Purchasing Department for approval.
8.   You will be notified of your order number via PAN notification.

How do I check my PAN notices?

9.  Once you have your order number, you may hire the vendor to provide services.  An order must be in place before services are rendered.  Please give your vendor the order number assigned to your request.  Your vendor will need to include the order number on their invoice to ensure prompt payment.

How do I fax an order to a vendor?

10.  When you have received the final invoice from your vendor, please verify that the invoice is correct and that the correct order number is referenced on the invoice.
11.  You may then approve the invoice for payment and forward it on to your fund manager in the Business Office.

Depending on the workload of Accounts Payable, payments should be processed within 2-3 weeks.  If you would like to check the status of payment, please contact your fund manager with your order number. You may also check payment status through Bruinbuy.

How do I check payment status?

*Certain products and services require special handling and must be ordered by requisition regardless of value.  So please submit your requests timely.

Please be aware that a UCLA Purchasing Buyer’s signature is required on all contracts and licenses, including service and maintenance not covered by established agreements.  The UCLA Purchasing Department website at http://www.purchasing.ucla.edu provides access to the latest policies and procedures regarding vendor agreements, purchasing protocols, and all other information related to purchasing at the University.

Please note:
Class R orders should not be sent to the vendor and are not valid orders until approved by the Purchasing Department. When your request is approved by Purchasing, your order will be assigned a P order, which will be sent to the vendor by the Purchasing Dept. You will be notified of the  P class order by your fund manager.

Updated 1/18/11