Dept P.O. Assessment Goals

• To ensure the user departments do not exceed delegated authority
• That adequate review of the P.O has been obtained from other service departments for any risk issues such as insurance
• Essential information has been included on P.O.s (e.g., accurately referenced UC agreement numbers)

Common User Department P.O. Preparation Errors

• Use of vendor rather than UC agreements
• After-the-fact purchase orders
• Amounts exceeding delegation limits
• Failure to route for additional risks or input when required
• Insufficient information
  • Missing the vital reference number to other agreements when applicable
  • Unclear statement or description of business purpose
  • Missing insurance certificates

Assessment Process

Throughout the year all departmental P.O.s in excess of standard delegated purchase authority are reviewed for questionable activity, such as policy violations and/or procedural errors. Your department may be involved in any of these types of assessments, at one time or another:

1. Throughout the year any department may receive inquiries regarding individual high-dollar P.O.s, selected either at random or as representative of a particular category of risk.
2. Every year 12-15 departments are scheduled for first time department-focused assessments based upon volume of high-dollar PO activity and other management criteria.
3. Every year a smaller number of departments are scheduled for a comprehensive department-focused assessment based on volume of high and low-value transactions, and potential exposure in areas of high risk.

Depending on the assessment, we may initiate the assessment by contacting the P.O. Preparer and Approver (most individual P.O. assessments), or we may start by contacting the department business manager or equivalent business administrator (most typical of department-focused assessments).

Departments are generally allowed two weeks to respond to assessment requests. In some cases we will ask the department to submit documentation as part of the response. This documentation may include:

• Departmental administrative organization chart
• Completed self-assessment questionnaire
• Copies of purchase documentation, including:
  • justification for the transaction
  • purchase approval/authorization
  • 3rd party certification of goods received or work performance
  • itemized receipt/invoice

In some cases, the assessment of individual P.O.s will be initiated and/or completed over the phone; otherwise, the department will be contacted and the issues resolved by email.

For more complex assessments, a follow up meeting may be scheduled with department personnel, and/or an action plan will be requested of the department to address areas of non-compliance.