Methods for Purchasing

There are four main methods of obtaining goods and services needed by employees of CSS:

      Also see Creating_a_Purchasing_Ticket and  Tracking_of_Purchases

Using Petty Cash-- this is a program that allows small purchases under $200/receipt. You can either get reimbursed for purchases or get a "cash advance" and then have to return the change and the receipts. This requires a form approved by the Associate Director. Link to Petty Cash website for more information is :

         http://www.washington.edu/admin/purchstores/yourdept/pettycash.html

University Procurement Card ProCard-- This is an actual VISA card where purchases up to $2,000.00 per receipt can be made by authorized users in CSS. We currently have 10 cards in CSS, contact your Supervisor for those individuals. Link to the UW ProCard web site for further inforamation is:

          http://www.washington.edu/admin/finserv/procard/

eProcurement-- This is a program where approved users can use a web site to place on-line orders through University Purchasing to: Dell Computers, Troxell, OfficeDepot, GovConnection, VWR, Sigma-Aldrich Chemical, Daigger and Fisher Scientific. Through this process once can purchase items from the approved Vendors without going through Purchasing in the traditional manner. There is no limit and has an internal approval process that requires the approval of the Associate Director. A limited number of CSS Staff are approved users, contact your Supervisor for submitting through this system. The link to eProcurements web site for a review of the process is:

          http://www.washington.edu/admin/stores/eprocurement/

UW Purchasing Office through UW Purchase Orders-- This is a formal process where an order is input online and requires a formal review and approval process. If items cost less than $3,000.00 (including Tax) a confirming order can be placed with those Vendors that accept them and a UW Purchasing Buyer is not involved in the process. If the items cost more than $3,000 then the Buyer's are involved and can require either formal bids or phone quotes. The more formal bid process can add significant time to the process and should be accounted for in your planning. To start this process fill out a Purchase Request form located at

        \\server\cssshare\Purchase\Generic Purchase Order.xls

Copy this file under a different name and then submit it to your Supervisor or the Associate Director for approval.