Stanford Report, January 11, 2006

RPO, PCard transaction limits increasing

Effective Sunday, Jan. 15, maximum transaction limits for Rapid Purchase Order (RPO) requisitions and procurement card (PCard) purchases will be increased to $2,500, from the current limit of $1,500. The Procurement and Disbursement offices have implemented this change in order to streamline purchasing activities for the Stanford community. All other RPO and PCard policies and procedures will remain the same.

Rapid Purchase Orders (RPOs)

Rapid Purchase Orders are non-catalog requisitions that can be placed directly with the supplier upon department approval. When placing an RPO, the department acts as the official "buyer." To take advantage of the new spending limit, no immediate action is required. Beginning Jan. 15, Oracle iProcurement will be updated to allow staff to create RPO requisitions when the total is less than or equal to $2,500 (including taxes, not including freight). For specific questions, contact Procurement at 725-BUYS (2897).

Procurement cards (PCards)

PCards are university credit cards used to charge Stanford-related expenses within specified limits. To take advantage of the new $2,500 spending limit, cardholders must submit a PCard Change Request Form located at http://co.stanford.edu/resources/forms/tr_online.html. Upon receipt of a signed and approved request form, PCard Administration will notify the bank to increase the maximum transaction limit on the individual or department card. A confirmation e-mail will be sent once limits have been increased. For specific questions, contact PCard Administration at 736-0354.

Authority Manager

Authority Manager is a web application that is used to grant requisition approval limits to Stanford employees. Both RPO and PCard transactions are approved by individuals who have the "requisitions" approval privilege. Beginning Jan. 15, managers with responsibility for granting authority also may choose to increase requisition approval limits to $2,500 to match the new RPO and PCard transaction limits.

Other related business process improvements

In an effort to further improve work productivity, two additional changes will be implemented beginning Jan. 15. First, the required receiving limits for non-capital purchases will be increased to $2,500. For more details, go to http://www.stanford.edu/service/oracle/purchasing/receiving.html. Second, requests to change PTA (Project, Task, Award) values on standard purchase orders or CWAs (campus-wide agreements) will be accepted via e-mail for order amounts less than or equal to $2,500, including tax. For details, go to http://docushare.stanford.edu/Get/File-37561/Change_PTAE_on_PO_JA.doc.