Procurement Office > Frequently Asked Questions > Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous
- What is item 7553 (Previously Item 300)?
- Update to SUNY Administrative Procedure Manual Item 7553.
- As a result of legislative action to help SUNY fulfill its educational mission, changes have been made to Item 300 of the SUNY Administrative Procedure Manual. Simply stated, SUNY and the State Comptroller's Office have enacted new rules to simplify the procurement process, and these procedures are now known as Item 7553.
- The State no longer differentiates between commodities, services and printing when it comes to procurement rules. There are no longer any special rules differentiating how items are purchased. Pre-approval by other State agencies (Office of the State Comptroller, Attorney General's Office) are no longer required on purchases under $250,000.00. This one change should significantly shorten the timeline now required to provide for campus needs. Bid requirements have also changed greatly. This applies to all open market purchase (purchases made from other than preferred sources or State P-contracts) The thresholds and requirements are listed below:
- Purchases under $20,000: a statement of reasonableness of price and justification of the selection process should accompany your purchase requisition. If acceptable, orders can be placed within five working days.
- Purchases from $20,000.01 to $50,000.00: require the procurement to be advertised in the New York State Contract Reporter. Orders, accompanied by a statement of reasonableness of price and justification of the selection process, can be placed 15 days after the ad appears in the publication.
- Purchases from $50,000.01 to $125,000.00: require advertisement in the New York State Contract Reporter, and a minimum of three formal quotes or sealed bids and a related bid analysis. Orders will be placed a minimum of 15 days after the ad appears in the publication and a thorough bid analysis review has been performed by the Procurement Office.
- Purchases from $125,000.01 to $250,000.00: require the same advertisement in the New York State Contract Reporter and a minimum of five sealed bids. Orders will be placed a minimum of 15 days after ad appears and a thorough bid analysis review has been performed by the Procurement Office.
- Purchases above $250,000.01: requires the same bid and advertisement requirements listed in Part IV, along with pre-approval of the State Comptroller and Attorney General's Office. This process takes a minimum of 45 days.
- A statement of reasonableness of price and justification of award can be based on informal quotes (telephone or fax), the demonstrated cost to other government agencies (GSA contracts), and/or historical cost or price comparison. When formal quotes are required, the assistance of the Procurement Office is highly recommended. All sealed bidding will be performed by the Procurement Office. The analysis for all formal quotes or bids will be performed by the Procurement Office, who may reject them based on their final analysis. If you have any questions relating to these changes, feel free to contact the Procurement Office at ext. (631) 632-6010.
- What should I do with invoices?
- All invoices should be sent directly to the Accounts Payable office. Purchase Order number must be identified on the invoice. If material is shipped to department, or picked up by department, please notify Central Receiving, and forward an approval to pay to Accounts Payable.
- Where do I go with a travel request?
- All travel requests, for food, lodging and transportation should be processed on travel vouchers and submitted to the Travel section.
- Important Telephone Numbers
- Purchasing - Main Phone: (631) 632-6060
- State Requisition Status: (631) 632-6050
- Research Purchasing: (631) 632-6064
- Service Contracts: (631) 632-6066
- Expediting, State: (631) 632-4155
- Central Receiving: (631) 632-6305
- Accounts Payable: (631) 632-6010
- Travel Office: (631) 632-6021
- Food Purchases
- Requisitions for the purchase of food require a memo on letterhead with signature explaining the purpose of the function, a roster of those attending, and a quotation or invoice from the vendor.
- Prior to making arrangements for food purchases, contact Purchasing Department to determine the appropriateness of the purchase using state funds.
- Note: Functions of a personal nature (i.e., christmas parties, office barbecues, retirement parties) will not be paid by the state.
- Return of Goods
- Contact Central Receiving prior to returning merchandise to a vendor. They will advise you of the proper steps to take.
- Rules of Thumb
- Whenever you're transferring funds interdepartmentally it should be done on a Materials & Services Requisition through Accounting.
- All Advertising gets paid on an Advertising Requisition through the Communications Dept.
- All freight payments charging State Funds should be sent over without a requisition. You should write okay to pay, your account number and provide a signature on the invoices. These payments will be paid directly from the free balance in your account.
- Freight bills on Research should be attached to a requisition and sent to grants if you're using Sponsored Program money, or to Procurement directly if you're using IDC money.
- All Lodging and Travel expenses should be submitted on a Standard Voucher for non-employees and a Travel Voucher for university employees.
- All purchase requisition requests that do not fall into the above categories should be sent as an ereq. This includes reimbursements that cannot be paid directly by the Bursar's office, such as hospitality.
- All honoraria should be submitted on an Independent Contractor form and be approved by Payroll prior to submittal to Procurement. Payroll will send the documents over to us once they have completed their approval process.
- All orders should be placed by the assigned purchasing agent after receipt of an approved ereq. It is discouraged that a department place orders with the vendor since it could be duplicated by the Procurement department. If you have a special situation and have a conversation with a buyer and they give you the PO number to place the order then that would be okay, but I am not aware of any circumstances where this would be necessary.
Documentation Requirements
According to SUNY Central Administration we are allowed to purchase up $30K directly from a certified MWBE without the need to advertise in the NYS Contract Reporter providing we can demonstrate fairness of price and reasonableness of selection.
