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April 2020


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What's New

Mike the Tiger

Procurement Services Business Operations

Procurement Services strives to provide the same level of service while working remotely. Staff should be contacted by email. Should the need arise phone calls and Zoom meetings can be arranged. We will continue checking office mail in the event documents need to be routed to our office for signature/approval. Official bids with public bid openings are being conducted electronically through Zoom. Bid Opening instructions have been added to solicitation documents on LAPAC. Questions regarding bids should be sent to the buyer-of-record. All business processes, policies and procedures remain the same unless otherwise communicated.

Novel Coronavirus image

Contract Continuation

In response to the current unprecedented situation resulting from COVID-19, Procurement has been looking ahead and reaching out to departments to confirm if some existing orders/contracts need to be suspended or cancelled due to the campus building closures and remote work status. Please email purchase@lsu.edu to let us know if you are aware of any existing orders/contracts that need to be suspended or cancelled. Be sure to include the PO-0000######, supplier name and/or contract title.

Spending Freeze

As many of you may be aware of by now, correspondence was recently distributed regarding LSU’s spending freeze. The operating guidelines, Implementation of FY20 Spending Freeze, became effective April 14, 2020 and will continue through June 30, 2020.  These guidelines apply only to LSUAM (Baton Rouge Campus) expenditures using unrestricted funds that are included in the University’s FY 2019-20 operating budget and so identified with a fund of FD100, FD101 and FD102 (newly added) in Workday.

The AgCenter has adopted a similar policy. For questions on AgCenter spending freeze, contact AgCenter Accounting Services.

Click here for more information on the spending freeze and LSU’s Implementation Plan.

Departments must add a comment in the Internal Memo section in Workday to identify the exemption the purchase falls under PRIOR to submitting orders and attach the required AS900 form. Procurement Services will be reviewing all requisitions to ensure exemptions are referenced and necessary documentation is attached.

For LSUAM punch-out catalog transactions using funds FD100, FD101 and FD102, the requisition business process has been amended to stop for Procurement Services review after the Cost Center Manager’s approval. Non-catalog requisitions will route to the buyer who will incorporate spending freeze documentation review in their normal compliance review procedures. Failure to add the exemption note AND the AS900 form will result in processing delays and may require the transaction to be returned to the requester.

Yearend Processing

Purchase Order Close Out

Departments must review Workday POs and request liquidation of those with unused balances by sending an email to purchase@lsu.edu requesting the PO be liquidated (closed).

The email should include the following:

  1. PO number
  2. Reason for liquidation request
  3. Written communication (email sufficient) between the supplier and the department confirming the remaining goods will not be shipped/services will not be rendered*

*For Professional, Specialty and Consulting Services Contracts or Construction POs: Contact the PO Buyer-of-Record directly regarding closure/liquidation since additional steps may be required.

The Mass Close Purchase Order process is currently being run by Procurement on a monthly basis to only close punch-out POs that are fully paid. The frequency of these Mass Close tasks will be increased as we approach June 30th. If punch-out POs are still open, departments should review outstanding PO lines that have not been received or invoiced in Workday to determine whether items were received and should have been invoiced and contact supplier to inquire about delivery/invoice. Departments can request a mass close of 10 or more non-catalog POs if PO contract term has ended (i.e. FY2018 or expiration 6/30/2019) or if encumbrance balance is $0. Mass Close Requests are to be sent to purchase@lsu.edu

PO Reports

Departments are encouraged to utilize the following reports in Workday to review purchase orders and their encumbrances.

  • Find Purchase Order by Program
  • Find Purchase Order by Project
  • Find Purchase Order by Gift
  • Find Purchase Order by Grant
  • Find Purchase Order by Funding Source
  • Aged Listing of Outstanding Encumbrances

Punch-Out Catalogs Shut Down

Please note the deadlines below that will affect procurement transactions in Workday for ALL punch-out catalogs. 

Deadline Description
 Monday,
 6/29/2020
 Last day departments can create punch-out requisitions & POs for
 FY20
 Last day suppliers can push invoices into Workday
 Tuesday,
 6/30/2020
 All punch-outs catalogs disabled (No Reqs/POs or Invoices can be
 initiated)
 Wednesday,
 7/1/2020
 Reopen punch-outs for requisitions, purchase orders and supplier
 invoices

Announcements

Training & Roundtable Meetings - CANCELLED

All in-person training sessions and roundtable meetings have been postponed. All classes and meetings will be rescheduled once we are given permission to return to work and have large gatherings. Participants who were signed up to participate in the training sessions will be notified once the new classes are scheduled.

Extension of Purchasing Agent Delegations

In light of the postponing of training, purchasing agent delegates whose delegations are set to expire during the remote work period have been extended 6- months. Delegates will be notified when training resumes in order to meet their required training credits.

Reminders

Term Contract Deadlines

The term contract renewal season is underway. Term Contracts are defined as a recurring procurement in which departments can make repeat purchases of goods and services from the same supplier using the same purchase order number in a 12-month period. Also referred to as a standing or blanket order, term contracts are established based on the department’s annual need and supplier must hold prices firm during the contract period. These contracts are typically established for a 1 year period with 2 annual renewals as long as the department still has the need for the contract and the supplier agrees to keep the same prices and abide by the terms, conditions and specifications of the original solicitation.

Notices regarding your contract renewal or rebid options have been sent. Departments are reminded that if a master contract exists or we can consolidate multiple bids Procurement Services can make the determination about the path to proceed.

Requisitions to renew/rebid term contracts were due Friday, April 24th. If you have not done so already, assess the needs of each contract to determine if there is still a need for a contract or if quantities should be revised due to an increase or decrease in demand. In addition, if a rebid is required the specifications should be revised to clearly state the department’s current need. Revised specifications must be attached to the requisition in a Word document prior to submitting to Procurement Services. 

Due to COVID19, Procurement Services has taken the liberty of requesting a one-time extension on all terms contracts where possible in order to make sure contracted products/services do not lapse during this period. If a rebid is needed due to significant changes needed to the scope, contact the buyer-of-record for assistance.

Requisition Deadlines

The FY20 Requisition Deadlines memo was released in February and Procurement Services will adhere strictly to these deadlines. The memo can be found on the Procurement Services website at: https://www.lsu.edu/administration/ofa/procurement/pdfs/fy20_req_deadlines.pdf.

Individuals Enrolling as Workday Suppliers

Individuals enrolling as a supplier must have the same name and address on the application as the W-9 attached to the application. Departments should ensure this requirement is included in their communications advising suppliers to enroll. Failure to provide matching information results in processing delays and may cause denial of application.

Workday Suppliers: Categories vs Groups

Supplier Categories are used in Workday to separate the population of suppliers available for Procurement usage versus those created by Accounts Payable & Travel through their Miscellaneous Payments process. For Procurement usage, the supplier must be in the 'Supplier' category meaning they have completed the supplier onboarding process (submitted a LSU Supplier Registration form, W-9/W-8 and be vetted) to conduct business with LSU. Entities in the 'Non-supplier' category must go through the supplier onboarding process prior to a supplier change being created to switch the supplier category. Questions regarding switching a supplier category should be sent to the Supplier Help Desk at suppliers@lsu.edu

Supplier Groups are used in Workday to categorize suppliers by the type of goods and/or services their company provides. At time of registration, all suppliers must select at least 1 supplier group but can pick as many as they want to best describe their product offerings. Selection of all appropriate supplier groups aids the supplier in visibility by departments searching the system. The list of supplier groups increases as more business types, products and services are utilized in Workday. If a supplier provides a more specialized service, they can request new groups in the comments of their application. Department recommendations for new supplier groups can also be sent to the Supplier Help Desk.


If you have a topic you’d like to see included in a future edition of the Procurement Newsletter, please email your suggestion to purchase@lsu.edu

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