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Procurement FAQ's

What is the change to the RFQ process?

ANSWER: There are no major changes to this process.  As is the current procedure, Departments will have to review the hard copies of the bid (formal bids require signatures of bidders).

 

The dollar thresholds for RFQ’s are as follows:

Informal – telephone or fax - $ 5k+

Formal – written bids –  $25k+

 

The biggest change is that Departments will create RFQ document in SAP.

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What is the business process for goods that are not received by the central shipping Department?

ANSWER: The Department will have to go to the FAS website to obtain a “Request to Process a Goods Receipt Form”.  After completing the form, the Department will submit it to the Central Receiving Office of the Materials Mgmt Department via e-mail.  Central Receiving will use this form to complete a Goods Receipt and the form will also be used as verification that the Department received the goods directly.  The Department can verify (inquire) online that the Goods Receipt was processed for the Purchase Order.

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How many days will Departments have to notify Central Receiving that there was a problem with the goods that were sent by the vendor?

ANSWER: The 3 day measurement period starts from the day the Department receives their goods.  The 3 days is to notify Central Receiving that there is a problem with the freight so that Central Receiving may work to notify the vendor and/or freight line that there is a problem.  Of course the sooner the notification takes place the better the chance is that the problem can be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved.

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Will departments be able to print the PO?

ANSWER: Yes, there is a Tcode ME9F which allows a department to print out their own copy of the PO once Purchasing has printed out the original.

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What is the process for getting help with SAP?

ANSWER: FAS Help Support System Process Flow

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How will a green contact payment be processed?

ANSWER: Departmental users should access the website to obtain the  Personal Service Contract Payment Authorization Form.  The completed form should be routed to the AP Office.

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Approvals: There is confusion on the 3 day period after received. Will A/P pay automatically 3 days after the goods are received or 3 days after the invoice? One class has given 3 days after Receipt. One class has given 3 days after Invoice.

ANSWER: AP will pay automatically if the following criteria are met.  1)   the University processes the purchase order, goods receipt, and invoice,  2)  the number of goods on the purchase order and goods receipt match,  and 3)   the purchase order dollar amount and invoice dollar amount are within 1% or $50 of each other.  Departments will have 3 days to review delivered goods.  This 3 day period is not linked to payment  process.

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Currently, our POs & NPOs must be approved by Grants accounting prior to Purchasing approval. Will this check still be in place under SAP?

ANSWER: The Purchasing Office has been instructed to forward any grant related purchases to the Grants and Contracts Office prior to approving the requisition.

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Will PO's be required for all services? For example, we currently hire sub-contractors and use a contract for services form and a contract payment voucher Where will these fit into the new system?

ANSWER: A purchase requisition will be required for all service contracts.

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I have some concerns about other users reviewing our purchases. We buy a few items I do not want generally known.

ANSWER: We are examining the business requirements and will be implementing additional security on the transactions.

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If change default (ie., tracking # from 10 to larger) is there max overall list width to stay within? One line item-Distribute different account & contacts. Will have to make a different line items per quantity?

ANSWER: The maximum field length is 10 characters.

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How do you locate the change log for RFQ and when they occurred and who did them?

ANSWER: For an RFQ there is a log of changes made to the header, as well as the line items.  In ITS from ME43 (display) to view header changes select MENU and follow the menu path HEADER -> STATISTICS -> CHANGES.   To view line item changes select MENU and follow the menu path ITEM -> STATISTICS -> CHANGES.  The change log will show the date of the change, the new value, the old value and the UserID of who made the change.

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How does Purchase Req. flow when multiple account managers need to approve before purchasing office approves?

ANSWER: Multi-funded requisitions are allowed for both assets and non-assets.  The asset requisition  and non-asset may have multiple cost distributions on a single line item and will flow to each account manager for their approval of their portion of the asset before going to the Purchasing Office.    Each line will flow to the Purchasing Office after the appropriate account managers have approved the line.  It is advisable to show a note in the header text field that it is a multi-funded requisition and all line item must be approved prior to creating the purchase order.

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What will be the procedure for submitting "emergency POs?

ANSWER: A purchase requisition must be created in SAP and approved by the Department Requisition Approver.  In the header text field of the requisition it should be noted that it is an emergency.  As is current practice the department needs to complete an emergency justification form and send it to the Purchasing Office.  It would be advisable to call the Purchasing Office to let them know that there is an emergency requisition that needs to be converted into a PO.  Be sure to note the SAP requisition # on the emergency form when it is sent to Purchasing.

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How do you get approved for membership fees?

ANSWER: In accordance with UPPS 06.04.01 "Memberships in Professional Organizations", paragraph 1.05 "….the President delegates authority for approval of professional memberships to each account manager".  If department or divisional policy and procedures requires additional approvals these must be external to SAP, but may be noted in the requisition header text for documentation purposes.

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How do we deal with supporting documentation (quotes, etc) that we are now attaching to hard copy PO's when we submit them?

ANSWER: When  hard copies of supporting documentation are required in order to process a PO, this documentation should be sent to the Purchasing Office and the requisition number referenced so that the Purchasing Office may locate the appropriate requisition.  It is advisable to note in the requisition header text that the hardcopy documentation is being transmitted and include a screen shot of the purchase requisition after it is created.

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Does SAP affect the contracted services? In my office we put out bids and hire consultants to do work for the University. Should I attend the Req quote request class?

ANSWER: Yes.  Personal Services contracts, including consultant services will require that a requisition be created.  If you are doing competitive solicitations for consultant services it is advisable to attend the RFQ class.

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I noticed that the fund number on posted transactions is different from the fund number that was entered on the transactions. Why is this?
For departments, the fund number entered on transactions is the budgetary view of the fund. The fund center when combined with the fund represents the old CUFS "account" and is the level at which the budgets are controlled. This budgetary fund is displayed on the budget to actual report.

From an accounting perspective fund also represents the bank account that is used to pay vendors. So that departments are not required to break their budgets down into these "bank account" funds, SAP was configured to make the fund number change automatically. SAP derives the correct "bank account" fund number based on the budgetary fund number entered on the transaction and the fund rule established by FAS personnel as specified by the General Accounting Office. This derived fund number is posted in the system and displays on most posted financial transaction inquiry screens. If users view the budget screens they will see the budget fund. If users view a financial transaction (e.g., requisition, purchase order, invoice, IDT) they will see the “bank account” fund. Please see the attached flowchart for an example of how documents post in SAP.

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When I change my password in SAPGUI or the Portal, why am I unable to login to SAPGUI at a later time without the error message of “check the installation”?
When you change your password either in SAPGUI or the Portal, you must shut down your computer and restart. This is because you are logged in under the old password which the computer no longer recognizes.

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