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Reminder

Compliance protocols MUST be approved and linked in SeRA to a SPO project record prior to award acceptance. 

See ORA's Award Acceptance Resources for additional information.

2.3 Purchases

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Policy Contact

Scott O. Ray, CPPM
Assistant Director
Property Management Office

1. Purchase Operational Procedure

Purchase requisitions are generated in the Oracle iProcurement system by departmental personnel. For more information please contact the Financial Support Center.

Note: Use of Stanford P-Cards, personal funds or personal credit cards to purchase capital equipment is prohibited by Stanford policy. See Administrative Guide Memo 5.3.3 for additional information.

A. Capital Equipment Purchase Requisitions

Purchase requisitions are generated in the Oracle iProcurement system. Proper selection of an account number (also known as PTA-Project/Task/Award), expenditure type (ET), and purchase order category are critical to ensure accurate completion of the transaction.

All requisitions require routing to the appropriate financial approvers. In addition to financial approval, requisitions for the following require approval of a DPA:

  • Capital equipment
  • Sponsor-owned equipment or materials
  • Equipment leases, loans, and donations
  • Fabrication components

BEST PRACTICE: It is recommended that the DPA be added as the first approver to any requisitions.

B. Pre-purchase Screening

To maximize utilization of equipment on hand and eliminate unnecessary purchases, internal pre-purchase availability screening is required by the Department Property Administrator (DPA) (or designee) on capital equipment acquisitions. Pre-purchase screening can be accomplished by preforming a query in the SFA DPA Screening section of SPARC.

External screening may be required on purchases made on federal contracts if specified in the award terms and conditions. Please contact the Property Management Office if your transaction requires a DD1419 or similar pre-purchase approval or screening document.

2. Purchases from other Universities

Occasionally property is sold by another university to Stanford at a negotiated cost. Preliminary due diligence and negotiation of this cost is the responsibility of an individual with financial authority within the acquiring department at Stanford. Final approval of the cost for capital equipment is reviewed within the Purchasing workflow process and may be adjusted prior to placement of the Purchase Order.

Criteria required for these transactions:

  • Reasonableness of negotiated cost
  • Payment made with Stanford unrestricted funds. Use of sponsor funding must have prior written authorization from the PMO
  • Ensure Stanford obtains any necessary software licenses 
  • Generate an itemized Oracle iProcurement Purchase Requisition
  • Acquiring department must obtain and provide to PMO an itemized listing of the assets involved from the releasing institution, including the following details:
  • Description
  • Manufacturer
  • Model
  • Serial number
  • Original acquisition date and cost
  • Negotiated cost to Stanford
  • Year of manufacture
  • Original funding source
  • Current title (ownership)
  • Condition
  • Auxiliary or accessory items, where applicable

3. Vehicle Purchases

Vehicles with an acquisition cost of $5,000 or greater are capital equipment and should be charged to ET 53140.  Non-Taxable vehicle license and registration fees are not included in the capital acquisition cost, and should be charged to ET 56510. Taxable vehicle fees should be coded as capital.

Fleet Garage approval is required for vehicle acquisitions.  Contact the Fleet Garage prior to creating requisition.

For additional information please see Administrative Guide 8.4.1 Vehicle Acquisition, Ownership and Disposition and Administrative Guide 8.4.2 Vehicle Use.