Purchasing, Travel & Reimbursements Submission Protocol
Please be advised that all Travel & Entertainment requests (with the exception of Business-Essential Activities) have been suspended at this time
All purchasing, travel, and reimbursement requests are received, reviewed and processed by the Psychology Business Office.
All requests must be submitted via email to psych-orders@psych.ucla.edu. The PI or Administrator responsible for the account being charged must be carbon copied on each email request. If the PI or Administrator do not approve of the request, they must respond by the following business day in order to prevent the order from being placed.
All emailed requests should format the subject line as follows: Cost Center, Request Type, Payee/Requestor Name (first and last). Example: JB, Office Depot Request, Josephine Bruin. Following this format will help your fund manager track an order should there be any questions.
Guidelines for Purchasing Computers, Printers or Software
Purchase requests for computers, printers, software, and other computing-related items are subject to review by Psych IT. This review process is intended to ensure computing equipment is compatible with Psychology Department networks and services, complies with UCLA computing policy, and meets IT Security requirements
Processing Time frame for Submitting Requests
Fully completed requests will be processed within 72 hours from the received date (again, this only applies to requests that are fully completed and do not require additional information for processing). For requests that require missing and/or additional information to be provided, please expect additional processing time of your request. Additionally, during high-volume periods of the unit, you will experience a delay in processing from our regular 72-hour time frame. We greatly appreciate your patience during these peak periods.
Need to order supplies and equipment for your lab? Want to receive reimbursement for a recent business trip? Each section provided under the Purchasing, Travel & Reimbursements will address the options available to buy goods and services, how to receive reimbursement for business travel to providing guidance on University payment and reimbursement procedures.
UCLA provides several options to purchase goods from vendors and has vendor agreements in place. When ordering, UCLA preferred vendors must first be considered given they provide discounted pricing on items and offer perks such as waived shipping fees. For an extensive list of vendors who have service agreements with the University, see the Vendor Agreements List.
Many Ways to Buy
There are several ways departments can purchase goods. This includes use of various approved purchasing methods such as:
- Agreements & Blankets (BruinBuy Electronic Catalog/Supplier Site/Vendor Agreement List)
- Low-Value Orders (LVO’s)
- Purchase Orders
- Procurement Cards (P-Cards)
All purchases must be in accordance with policies and procedures set forth by the University.
Tip: When orders above $10,000 for Federally-funded purchases, and $100,000 for non-Federally-funded purchases, the Source Selection & Price Reasonableness Justification Form must be filled out and included as an attachment with your order along with a quote from the vendor . Please know LVO’s cannot exceed $5,000 per vendor, per day, per account code, excluding transportation costs and sales and/or use tax.
Postage at the University is highly regulated under UC policy. UCLA Mail, Document and Distribution Services (MDDS) is the central mail unit for campus. To remain in compliance, postage for University business must be purchased through MDDS. Personal purchase of postage is not allowed.
For stamp purchases, please contact Areli Lucatero at areli@psych.ucla.edu.
Campus Purchasing is pleased to announce that UCLA will be moving to Amazon Business on Tuesday, July 24th, for P-Card transactions. This change to Amazon Business will allow departments to shop using UCLA’s muli-user business account. The benefits related to this conversion from Amazon to Amazon Business are:
- Unlimited Free 2-Day Shipping on ALL qualified orders
- Business pricing and quantity discounts on millions of items
- Business Customer Service Team
- Departments may purchase a tangible item for employee service or safety awards to be in compliance with IRS requirements
- Department members can be invited to the account as “window shoppers” to create shopping carts for review, approval and purchase
- Requests for reimbursements associated with personal credit cards for Amazon purchases should be avoided
- Shoppers will be warned on the description page if the item they are buying violates policy
- Improved data collection and reporting capabilities
*Further information to come
Campus Purchasing has changed the Login Name and Password to the non-BruinBuy users Office Depot browse site. New login name-UCBROWSE1a (case sensitive) & password-BROWSE4u (case sensitive) https://business.officedepot.com/
Note: The browse-only login credentials will suspend after 3 failed attempts.
Services purchased for University purposes requires payment for services to be paid directly by the University. Per policy, reimbursement for out of pocket expenses for vendor services is unallowable. Additionally, all services purchased with University funds must be approved prior to the commencement of service.
Note: Requestors are encouraged to submit purchase requests for services at least 10-12 weeks in advance of the service start date to the Psychology Business Office. This will allow sufficient review time of the request by both the Psychology Business Office and UCLA Purchasing.
Who can be paid as a consultant? Non-University person or organization for a specific service provided.
Purchasing requires the following documents:
- Contract Prehire Worksheet – to be completed by the department
- Independent Contract/Consultant Form
- Source Selection & Price Reasonableness Justification Form – if the work exceeds $10,000 for Federal funds & $100,000 for non Federal funds.
- Insurance waiver (if required for the vendor)
- Scope of Work
- CV/Resume – only if an individual (not a company or organization)
Consultants typically invoice after work has been completed, which can be monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on the terms between the consultant and faculty. The invoice must contain the following information:
- It must state “Invoice”
- Date of invoice, as well as dates of service for payment requested
- Name and address of consultant
- PO number
If an invoice is submitted by an individual or company who was not initially set-up as an official consultant, an After-the-Fact Justification form must be filled out and turned in to Purchasing along with the above forms. The Chancellor must sign the form before it is forwarded to Purchasing. In addition, a separate internal form will need to be filled out in Psychology.
- For International consultants who complete work in the US: In addition to the steps above, the consultant must also complete the Glacier process online
- For International consultants who complete work outside the US, no additional steps are necessary.
Tip: When orders are above $5,000 a Sole Source Request form must be filled out and include it as an attachment with your order.
Use of employee’s personal funds and reimbursements for procurement of goods or services is discouraged. Please note, not all purchase of items are reimbursable. Before incurring a personal expense, please consult with either your fund manager to verify whether you may be reimbursed for the items.
For Employee Reimbursements, please fill out the Reimbursement Form and email it to psych-orders@psych.ucla.edu with the following:
- All sections of the form filled out entirely
- Verify that FAU (account number) is accurate
- Include the authorizing PI/Administrator signature on form or as a carbon copy on email (sent to Psych-Orders)
- PDF copy of receipts
- Proof of payment, if not reflected in the receipts that are submitted
- Justification for going outside standard practice of having the good/service purchased by the department
For NON-Employee Reimbursements, please fill out the Reimbursement Form and provide in hard copy form to your fund manager with the following:
- All sections of the form filled out entirely
- Verify that FAU (account number) is accurate
- Signature (digital or handwritten) must be included on the form
- Original receipts attached to an 8/12 x 11 sheet of paper
- Proof of payment, if not reflected in the receipts that are submitted.
Note: Accounts payable requires that documents related to non-employee reimbursements be submitted in original, hard copy form. Please note this distinction in order to avoide delays in processing.
With the release of LVO policy 741 Policy 741, a $1000 limit has been established for reimbursements for purchases other than travel, entertainment, conference registrations, and tuition reimbursement.