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Tips and FAQ's

The Purchasing Department offers many services to aid departments in making purchases efficiently and cost effectively while carrying out the University's mission of education, research, and service. We hope the following tips will help you find the information you need to accomplish your purchasing needs.

Tips

Furniture Purchases
Contact Purchasing first when planning for you newly renovated office or new facility furniture needs. Furniture orders of a large size require longer delivery time and should be placed approximately 3 months prior to actual move dates. Planning and selections of furnishings should begin 6 months to 1 year prior to the substantial completion date. Purchasing can help you in planning your furniture purchase.

Printing
All specifications for each printing job must be included in the description of the requisition and must go through FSU Printing Services for approval. All jobs must be F. O. B. Tallahassee, Florida State University.

If the department obtains quotes, they must be forwarded to purchasing before the requisition can be processed. Purchasing can and will obtain quotes given the complete specifications.

Updating Departmental And/Or Vendor Information
Please update departmental delivery/invoice addresses when changes occur. Complete information pertaining to your department will ensure your merchandise is delivered to the proper locations in a timely manner. It is also important for that information to be correct when Purchasing or a Vendor needs to contact the requesting department. When entering a requisition, please verify the vendor data for accuracy (i.e. complete address, including zip codes, phone and fax number.) If phone or fax numbers are not present, please help us update these listings, especially 800 or 888 Toll-Free numbers.

Entering Requisitions
-Make sure you use the correct vendor for products being purchased.
-Ensure that contract items and non-contract items are not on the same requisition.
-Send not-contract orders as early as possible to allow time for competitive quotes or bids
Contracts & Grants Requisitions
-All orders over $1000 must be reviewed by C & G so input the requisition as early as possible to allow for this review time

Quote Levels For Non-Contract Vendors
Requisition Total below $ 6,000 – No quotes required
Requisition Total below $15,000 – Attempted competitive pricing – 2 or more quotes referenced on the requisition
Requisition Total between $15,000 and $50,000 – 3 or more written quotes faxed or emailed to the Purchasing Office
Requisition Total over $50,000 – Formal bidding is required
Requisition Total over $1,000,000 – Special Circumstances

Quote Levels For Contract Vendors
Depending on the contract you may only need to obtain the hard copy quote from the vendor from which you are ordering. Some contracts may require additional quotes. All quotes should be sent to the Purchasing Office so they may be filed with the Purchase Order.

Purchase Order Contract
The requisition and subsequent purchase order must spell out in complete detail all elements of the contract to include:
Technical Specifications: Brand name, model or part number, complete description of the item itself and any accessories you expect to receive.

Performance Specifications: task or capabilities the item should have (e.g. a LCD projector that is compatible with both MAC and PC computers) must be stated in the requisition.

Delivery Requirements: for items that must be received by a certain date. Please be sure the date is realistic AND that it allows time for purchasing to perform all the necessary tasks required of us.

FAQ's

My department already knows what vendor we want to use – is that a problem? Your department is responsible for providing the specifications for items or services you are requisitioning, but it is the responsibility of the Purchasing Department to determine the price and source for the items or services.

Who can I contact in Purchasing to add or update a vendor? Contact Stefanie Williams at 644-9721 or swilliams@admin.fsu.edu.

Where can I view purchase orders and change orders? http://purchasing.fsu.edu/cyberdocs.html

Can I get the bid process going even though I don’t have a budget number set up for my purchase yet? Yes, don’t delay the purchasing process just because you don’t know or don’t have a budget number and can’t enter the requisition into the requisitioning system.

I am not sure whether I need quotes or a bid or what process to follow. What should I do? Contact the purchasing agent immediately to discuss the type of pricing that will be required.

I have a quote from the vendor. Will this quote suffice for specifications that you require for bidding? Learn the elements of a complete specification and list all requirements on the requisition or specifications sent to Purchasing.

What is an authorized signature? An individual authorized to sign requisitions on behalf of his/her department. This person IS NOT authorized to sign contracts, unless given power of attorney by the President.

What is a contractual Service? Purchase of services, rather than a purchase of commodities (e.g.: consultants)

What information should be listed on a Blanket Order? Blanket Orders should include the item description, the beginning and ending dates of order, department authorized signature names, department’s ship to address, total dollar amount of order in the quantity field, unit prices is $1.00 and unit of measure is DOL.

How do I get assistance with an OMNI processing problem? You can first to https://supportcenteronline.com