Campus Memos Archives:

March 22, 2004: Closure of Furniture Sales

TO: The Campus Community

FR: Julie Sears, Assistant Director
Business Services

RE: Closure of Furniture Sales

Effective April 10, 2004, the Furniture Sales unit of Central Stores will close its doors. Central Stores will continue to stock a number of Steelcase items for delivery within 4 days (e.g. several chair models, tall and short bookcases, lateral and vertical file cabinets, and a variety of ergonomic products). All other Steelcase furniture must be purchased through UCSB's authorized Steelcase dealer, bkm office environments (bkmoe). You may schedule appointments, arrange for design services, or ask questions of bkm office environments by calling 805.882.2120 or 805.339.6388.

Guidelines for furniture ordering can be found at www.purchasing.ucsb.edu/purchasing.htm. In addition, a new web site has been developed, enabling departments to shop for Steelcase furniture on-line. This site can be accessed at http://bkmsd.yourensync.com/ucsb

To utilize this web site, register with a user name and password. Shoppers can browse and view the web site, but only those with a valid low value purchasing authorization number can order from the site. Those without access to a low value number (graduate students, faculty, non-purchasing staff, etc.) can shop the site and save their cart for future reference or print their cart to give the information to the individual with departmental low value purchasing authority.

Furniture ordered on bkmoe's web site can be purchased using a low value number as long as departmental low value authorizations are adhered to. Furniture ordered in excess of your department's low value authorization needs to be ordered with a purchase requisition submitted to the Purchasing Office. In your requisition, reference the quote number provided to you by bkmoe, and email a copy of the quote to Randall Stoskopf, Buyer and Purchasing Manager (randall.stoskopf@purc.ucsb.edu). He will handle all furniture purchases.

Departmental low values cannot be used to purchase non-Steelcase furniture. All non-Steelcase furniture orders must be ordered via a purchase requisition. Please pay particular attention to the UC-Steelcase contract (http://www.ucop.edu/matmgt/ppp/steelcase.html) for a list of the types of furniture that must be bought through bkm office environments. Accounting and Financial Services will not pay invoices for furniture ordered inappropriately or off of the Steelcase contract.

Central Stores will continue to stock a variety of standard office furniture for delivery within 4 days. Please refer to http://www.busserv.ucsb.edu/stores/index.htm to view their selection of chairs, file cabinets and bookcases. In addition, UCSB's Furniture Services continues to offer furniture moving, surplus furniture and equipment removal, and seismic bracing services. Please call Jeff Goldmann at x2732 when you have a need for these services.

If you have any questions or concerns related to these changes, please contact me at either x2585 or julie.sears@buss.ucsb.edu.

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February 23, 2004: Department Access to Purchasing transactions

TO: Department Security Administrators (DSAs)

FR: Julie Sears, Assistant Director
Business Services

RE: Department Access to Purchasing transactions

Purchasing is pleased to announce on-line departmental access to all purchase and change orders through a new campus system called PORS (Purchase Order Repository System). On-line access will be available beginning March 8, 2004.

This new system will provide immediate access to purchasing transactions processed by the Purchasing Department, and will include email notification to all departments involved in funding the transaction.

When a purchase or change order is processed in Purchasing, designated people in the department initiating the order (or funding a part of it) will be able to receive immediate email notification with a link to the on-line Repository. They will then be able to view and/or print the order in PDF format.

Note: This does not replace the online electronic submission of requisitions via REx.

In order to access PORS, users must take 2 steps: authentication and authorization.

Authentication:

For authentication PORS uses the campus LDAP Directory. Users not already registered will need to register in the Directory providing their own User ID and Password. To register go to the UCSB Directory Service home page at the following web address, and click on "Register":

https://titan.isc.ucsb.edu/ldap/

If you have any questions or difficulty with this process, please contact a Directory Administrator at directoryhelp@isc.ucsb.edu

Authorization:

For the 2nd step (authorization) PORS goes to ALLN01 to get the security groups for that user.

For your department user(s) to view purchase orders in PORS, they must have access to COM-PLETE and ALLN01. Questions regarding these systems, and access to them, if not covered in the following paragraphs, should be referred to Terry Malosh in IS&C at x3521 or by email to terry.malosh@isc.ucsb.edu

If your user does not have a Com-Plete account or UserID, you may request one by completing the All-in-One Request Form at http://www.isc.ucsb.edu/osg/alln01/alln01-form.html

In PORS, access to purchase order records is restricted by Departmental Code. The Departmental codes are linked to Accounting LAFS (location-account-fund-sub) numbers. For example, the Purchasing code = PURC, and particular account numbers are attached to this code.

Access is assigned based strictly upon the Departmental Accounting codes you control. If the user has permission to access more than one department (or Accounting) code, ALLN01 access must be assigned to them separately under each departmental code.

For example, if a user has the authority to view the purchase orders of three departments (ACCT, BIOL, and CHEM), the DSA for each department must grant access separately in ALLN01 security.

To grant access to view purchase orders, assign the following ALLN01 Security Group Code:

Within minutes of an order being processed, it is available for viewing in the PO Repository. The following security group will authorize users to receive email notifications informing them of purchase order availability. This email message will also include a link to the PO Repository for retrieval and viewing.

To grant email notification privileges, assign the following ALLN01 Security Group Code:

Note: Up to 3 persons under any one department code can be assigned this authorization if your department wishes to receive multiple notifications.

A PORS Instruction Manual outlining the purchase order retrieval process is available for viewing or downloading on the Purchasing web site at

http://www.purchasing.ucsb.edu

This notification and access process will replace the current procedure of mailing the department a hard copy of the order. Departments will now be sent a "Property Tag Distribution Sheet" for each purchase order that includes an item of inventorial equipment. This form clearly identifies, on a property number-by-property number basis, item description, manufacturer, model number, custody code, location (building and room numbers), and user.

Please contact Lisa Klock at x4073 or by email to lisa.klock@purc.ucsb.edu if you have any questions about PORS, or Terry Malosh in IS&C at x3521 or by email to terry.malosh@isc.ucsb.edu if you have any questions about ALLN01 security.

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February 23, 2004: Department Access to Purchasing transactions

TO: Management Service Officers and Administrative Assistants

FR: Julie Sears, Assistant Director
Business Services

RE: Department Access to Purchasing transactions

Purchasing is pleased to announce on-line access to all purchase and change orders through a new campus system called PORS (Purchase Order Repository System). On-line access will be available beginning March 8, 2004.

This new system will provide immediate access to purchasing transactions processed through the Purchasing Department, and will include email notification to all departments funding the transaction.

Note: This process will not replace the on-line electronic submission of requisitions via REx.

PORS will provide departments with:

• Email notification when a purchase or change order has been processed
• The ability to view and print all purchase and change orders (processed after 3/1/04)
• The ability to search the purchase order database by:
  • LAFS
  • Purchase Order/Change Order Number
  • Purchase Order Type
  • Vendor ID or Name
  • Description
  • Order Date Range

When a purchase or change order is processed in Purchasing, designated people in the department initiating the order (or funding a part of it) will receive immediate email notification with a link to the on-line Repository. They will then be able to view and/or print the order in PDF format.

Access to PORS is controlled through LDAP Directory registration and ALLN01 security. Your DSA (Department Security Administrator) can grant individual access in ALLN01 and assist you with LDAP registration. A separate notice is being sent to all campus DSAs to explain the process.

A PORS Instruction Manual outlining access and use of the purchase order retrieval process is available for viewing or downloading on the Purchasing web site at http://www.purchasing.ucsb.edu

Please note that the implementation of PORS replaces the current procedure of mailing a hard copy of the order to the department. Departments will now be sent a "Property Tag Distribution Sheet" for each purchase order that includes an item of inventorial equipment. This form clearly identifies, on a property number-by-property number basis, item description, manufacturer, model number, custody code, location (building and room numbers), and user.

Please contact Lisa Klock at x4073 or lisa.klock@purc.ucsb.edu if you have any questions.

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October 25, 2002: Petty Cash Reimbursement Requests

TO: MSO's, Administrative Assistants

FROM: Sandra Featherson
Associate Director of Controls

Julie Sears
Assistant Director, Business Services

RE: Petty Cash Reimbursement Requests

Accounting Services & Controls is reviewing Petty Cash Reimbursement Requests submitted to the Cashiers Office. We have discovered several instances of departments not following the appropriate policies for purchasing or for submitting the reimbursement. This memo discusses the following areas:

1) Items that may not be purchased with petty cash
2) Proper forms and information required for reimbursement
3) Purchasing sources

Items that may not be purchased with petty cash:

1) Food, flowers, decorations. This includes food for department meetings, water or coffee for office consumption, or any other type of food purchase. All food purchases, and related event expenses such as flowers or decorations, must be in accordance with UC Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-79, Entertainment, and must be submitted to the Accounting Office using a Business Meeting & Entertainment Payment Request.

2) Purchases for personal use, including individual office decorations, i.e. plants, flowers, pictures.

3) Parking permits. Departments are not to pay for parking permits or parking meter fees for employees.

4) Anything prohibited under the UCSB Policy 5342, Low Value Purchases. Petty cash purchases should follow the Low Value purchases guidelines - if you cannot purchase something with a Low Value Purchase Authorization, you may not purchase the item with petty cash.

5) Subscriptions. Subscriptions to periodicals need to be purchased using either the Payment Request for Memberships (if membership to an organization is required) or a Miscellaneous Form-5 Payment Request.

Proper forms and information required for reimbursement:

1) All Petty Cash Reimbursement Requests must be approved by someone other than the person incurring the expense.

2) The receipt must be original. If you do not have an original receipt, a completed "Declaration of Missing Receipt" form must be attached.

3) The receipt must be itemized (including a description of items purchased). A cash register tape or credit card receipt that does not describe the items purchased is not acceptable.

4) The receipt must be signed by the purchaser.

5) New Requirement
The Petty Cash Reimbursement Form now includes a "Justification for Expenditure" section. This section must be completed. The new form may be found on the Accounting Services & Controls web site at http://accounting.ucsb.edu. Please use this form for all future reimbursement requests. Be sure to accurately complete the form, including the correct object code. The most recent Object Code Listing can be found at http://accounting.ucsb.edu/Forms/. Departments should also retain a copy of the completed Petty Cash Reimbursement Form as documentation for the General Ledger.

Purchasing Sources:

We have noticed that departments are buying items from outside vendors that could or should be purchased from a source on campus or available to the UC system at a discount. Whenever possible, we encourage departments to use these primary and secondary vendors for their purchases. For example:

You can access the list of UC Planned Purchasing Agreements at http://www.ucop.edu/matmgt/ppp/ . These are system-wide agreements that offer the best price for a variety of commodities.

UCSB has also negotiated agreements with vendors for the campus. Please see the Purchasing web site at for more information on these local agreements. http://www.busserv.ucsb.edu/purchasing/goods_services/vendorcontract_purchasingpolicies.htm

Departments are urged to review their petty cash reimbursement procedures. If we find that departments continue to ignore policy, we will reexamine the petty cash reimbursement process, as well as the dollar threshold of $150.

If you have any questions regarding the policies or procedures mentioned above, please contact either Sandra Featherson at x7667(sandra.featherson@accounting.ucsb.edu) or Julie Sears at x2585(julie.sears@buss.ucsb.edu).

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