The University uses procurement cards issued by US Bank. Cardholders are required to take online training, to follow purchasing rules and adhere to the procurement card handbook. The cardholder is ultimately responsible for following the rules and this includes ensuring all appropriate documentation is maintained.
Procurement card transactions are processed in the online expense system called Concur Travel and Expense System. Cardholders or their expense delegates prepare reports monthly to identify an expense type, business purpose, and allocate those transactions to the Finance system.
Cardholders must certify and submit their own reports. An Approving Official (AO) is assigned to each cardholder. AOs are also required to take online training. AOs review transactions, request additional justification when warranted, and approve their cardholder reports.
A key piece of advice is to be familiar with the list of prohibited transactions as well as our Sensitive Expenses policy to ensure due diligence on the front-end of a purchase.
Each Monday you will receive a list of the previous week’s transactions for your cardholders to help you maintain control over purchasing. Employees and non-employees may participate in the program.
If the applicant (Cardholder Approving Official or Expense System Delegate) is not an employee, the sponsoring department must first obtain a Person of Interest/POI # at the Type 15 level (Security Access) from the HRMS System for that individual.
Please note students and temporary personnel are not authorized cardholders. Refer to the PSC Forms page to download cardholder applications, approving official applications or update forms.
Before you affix your signature on a contract…Even though the Procurement Service Center may tell us we can sign contracts up to $5,000, our campus does not follow this blanket practice. Determining who can execute a contract depends on the dollar amount, type of contract, and whether particular language and terms are included. Be sure you are properly delegated in writing or even legally permitted to sign a contract.
Terms in procurement contracts that should be reviewed by legal counsel:
- Arbitration
- Attorney’s Fees
- Choice of Law State other than Colorado or International Law
- Confidential Information
- Colorado Open Records Act
- HIPAA
- FERPA
- Exclusive Purchase Agreements
- Indemnification
- Insurance Requirements – Additional Insured
- Intellectual Property – Name, logo, trademark, etc.
- Limitation of Liability
- Work for Hire
Never sign these kinds of contracts:
- Real Estates Leases (including storage lockers)
- Procurement of Legal Services
- Personnel Service Contracts (Scope of Work)
- License Agreement (Right to use property for a specific period of time)
Please refer to the following resources for more information.
Procurement Contracts =< $5,000 (Powerpoint Presentation by UC Denver Finance and University Counsel)
APS – Contracting Authority
Campus Policy
Campus Policy – Contract Matrix
Campus Policy – Appendix A
Campus departments should forward invoices to APinvoice@cu.edu for processing. Be sure to reference the vendors’ name and the corresponding CU Marketplace purchase order number so payment processing is assigned the appropriate technician.
Occasionally, you will need to research a purchase order, invoice, and payment voucher or expedite a payment. Basic information can be gleaned by reviewing the order in the CU Marketplace. More detailed assistance can be obtained by contacting Payables Services. A List of Reviewers shows who pays what assigned by a vendor’s initial or person’s last name. The technicians’ assignments change from time to time.
University-wide procurement, travel and payables functions are managed centrally for all campuses. The University of Colorado, as a public institution of higher education of the State of Colorado, is exempt from all federal excise taxes and from all Colorado State and local government sales and use taxes.
Our fiscal year runs from July 1st through June 30th each year. There will be end of fiscal year deadlines that are crucial to successfully closing out transactions and funding or carrying business forward for the next fiscal year. It is important to sign-up for newsletters and distribution lists to keep abreast of changes in procedures and upcoming timelines.
The University uses an e-procurement system for online purchasing called CU Marketplace. Shoppers can create shopping carts from our strategic catalog vendors or there are a variety of “non-catalog” options to obtain needed goods and services.
Please note the University uses mandatory vendors for copiers, furniture, moving services, and office supplies. User roles in CU Marketplace are defined as Shopper, Requester, Approver, Approver Invoice and Receiver.
Most everyone can be a shopper. Shoppers do not finalize orders. A requester must process carts for shoppers and can make their own purchases up to $5,000. Any purchase over the $5,000 threshold would require an Approver to process the order.
Approvers will need to be designated as an Expense Approver fiscal role on departmental speed types (separate UCD Finance and OGC processes) for orders to route appropriately within CU Marketplace. All payment vouchers require both a Requester and an Approver on the order for any dollar amount.
Purchasing Agents are assigned to commodities for the goods and services that your department will need to purchase. Refer to the PSC Commodity Listing to see who to contact for what you need to buy.
The university is permitted to use these agreements with vendor permission and as long as they do not conflict with state agreements. Click the blue arrow on the web page to expand/collapse the section.
The University‘s travel agent is Christopherson Business Travel. To book a non-employee travel request, complete and submit the following form. Christopherson will contact you with any questions. Departments and organizational units will be charged $9 per booking if handled electronically. If you contact Christopherson directly via telephone, then the charges will be $20 per booking.
The Policy Search tool is a useful for keyword searches and finding related policies. Procurement policies are called Procurement Procedural Statements (PPS) and typically work in conjunction with other University policies. Forms used for the procurement card program, honoraria, recognition reporting, scope of work, official functions (alcohol approval), study subject payments, and non-employee reimbursements are available from the PSC Forms page.