As a means of standardization and to enable the procurement of goods and services under the best possible terms, all purchases using Kansas Athletics funding must be made in accordance with procedures established by Kansas Athletics. The Athletic Business Office and, specifically, the Director of Business Operations are charged with ensuring compliance with all Kansas Athletics purchasing regulations related to acquisitions using Kansas Athletics funds or State funds allocated to Kansas Athletics.

Therefore, it is Kansas Athletics policy that all purchase transactions be channeled through the Athletic Business Office. Further, involved staff members are expected to only enter into purchase agreements which have been thoroughly investigated and prove to be in the best interest of Kansas Athletics.

Purchase Orders and Limited Purchase Orders are required for all purchases, prior to actual purchase. When a vendor does not accept Kansas Athletics PO or LPO, or is an on-line transaction, a purchase request needs to be submitted prior to purchase.

The Director of Business Operations is responsible for resolving disputes regarding the interpretation of relevant statutes or their applicability to any purchase.

Kansas Athletics owned credit cards will only be distributed to select full-time benefit-eligible staff members of Kansas Athletics. Students will not serve as an intermediary.

The Business Office currently places all on-line office supply orders with the selected vendor, Corporate Express. Other approved on-line accounts include M&M Office Supply and Office Depot. All departments have the ability to get a limited Purchase Order and physically go to the Office Depot store located in Lawrence or call in an order to M&M.

The Ticket Office/Mailroom staff handles all copy paper needs by accessing the state contract with Corporate Express. If individual departments require specific weight of paper or brightness for their laser printers, they are to order that on their own budget.

The Business Office handles and maintains the copier leases, folding machine lease, and postal meter lease.

Equipment over $5,000 is capitalized at Kansas Athletics. Every purchase requisition for equipment or an improvement to the building must have the supervising Associate/Assistant Athletics Director’s and Chief Financial Officer’s approval prior to issuance of a purchase order. Major improvements to any building are coordinated through the Design & Construction department at the University. A bid process is used in these cases. Design and Construction will then sign off on the improvements with a quote and periodic inspections by their department and all other city, county or state inspectors, as the state deems necessary, in any renovation to a state building. The University has negotiated specific vendors in some cases. This includes, but is not limited to, Coca-Cola machines & pouring contracts, The KU Union for food catering on campus, banking on campus including ATM’s, UPS for ground shipping, and FEDEX for overnight delivery. For a full list of University vendors, visit the University Purchasing Office on-line at http://www.purchasing.ku.edu/.

Purchase Approval

Kansas Athletics personnel with purchasing authority are allowed to place orders provided the goods or services requested remain within their cost center's allocated budget. Each department head with budgetary responsibility is given a monthly report of his/her budget's status. (See Policy 401B, Budget: Accountability, Control, Reports and Revisions in this Manual for additional information.) A purchase request may be instituted provided the required funds are available.

If there is not sufficient money remaining in the budget to cover the request, the request must be submitted to the Director of Athletics for approval. Monies may only be transferred from one department to another with his or her approval.

The forms required to initiate purchases for Kansas Athletics are outlined below. Care should be exercised when completing all forms, as incorrect or incomplete forms are returned to the originator. This may delay the receipt of requested items.

Purchase Orders

An official purchase requisition is required for all purchases over $250. Forty-eight hour advance notice is required.

In order to make a purchase for your office or sports program, the following procedures must be followed:

1. Fill out a purchase requisition form indicating what you want to buy, where you want to buy it, and the estimated cost (including shipping/freight).
2. Send the purchase requisition form to the supervising AD for approval and then to Chief Financial Officer or applicable budget captain.
3. After approval, the Athletics Business Office will prepare a purchase order to you for submission to the approved vendor.

In emergency situations, a purchase order number may be obtained from the Athletics Business Office prior to preparation of the purchase requisition.

Failure to follow purchase order procedure may result in the staff member being held personally responsible for the purchase.

Limited Purchase Orders (LPO)

Approval for limited purchase orders must be obtained from the Business Office Supervisor or other designated manager via email before making any purchases.

All requests for Limited Purchase Orders must be sent to the Business Office Supervisor (email with specific information, i.e., what is to be purchased and the amount if known). Following receipt, the Business Office Supervisor will respond with approval or non-approval and copy the Purchasing Coordinator The Purchasing Coordinator will prepare the LPO and notify the person requesting it when the LPO is ready.

Purchase Requisitions (for Purchase Orders) are reviewed by the CFO for approval based upon annual budget numbers after being reviewed by the budget captain of each sport or area. Purchases need to be charged to Kansas Athletics whenever possible and not paid for by employee(s).

1. Purchases paid by employee(s) are not tax exempt
2. When reimbursing the employee(s) instead of the vendor directly, Kansas Athletics loses the necessary audit trail.

Whenever possible, purchases should be made at vendors who have an account with Kansas Athletics. If an employee wishes to purchase from a vendor where Kansas Athletics does not have an account, the Athletics Business Office will be happy to contact the vendor about establishing an account.

Purchases made by an employee(s) (to be reimbursed by Kansas Athletics) should be on an emergency basis only. Limited purchase orders for purchases of less than $250 are available without waiting in the Athletics Business Office, Monday through Friday from 8:00AM to 5:00PM.

Whenever an employee(s) make(s) a charge purchase, all paperwork from the vendor (including cash register tapes) must be approved for payment and immediately turned into the Athletics Business Office in order that payment can be made in a timely fashion. 

Check Requests

Check requests are used for items for purchase using Kansas Athletics corporate check when there is no invoice. Backup must be attached giving corresponding information for check request. An LPO or PO is still needed prior to this.

Reimbursement Requests

Reimbursement requests are used for a purchase personally made by employee. An LPO or PO is still needed prior to this.

State Contracts

Goods and services available under existing state contracts may be purchased from state contract vendors in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the contract.

Kansas Athletics Purchasing Requirements

Purchase requisitions should be submitted to the Athletic Business Office by the requestor. The Purchasing Coordinator makes the appropriate account entries, initiates processing and follows all transactions. A copy of the form used to initiate the purchase should be retained by the requestor.

For all material goods requested, the staff member responsible for initiating the request must provide the Athletic Business Office with a specific description of the required merchandise, a vendor name and the unit cost of each item requested. The completed purchase order is then prepared, approved and forwarded back to the requester who in turn provides it to the to vendor. Although responses to bid solicitations are normally due within 18 days after they are mailed to vendors, actual turn-around times may vary due to the complexity of the specifications and each vendor's ability to submit a comprehensive response.

Athletic Equipment Orders

Each Head Coach is responsible for initiating all requests for athletic equipment by providing the Equipment Manager with a description, style, model, estimated cost and suggested vendor for all items requested.

Uniforms, equipment and supplies that are routine for each sport should be requested at least 12 weeks prior to the start of the sport's season, to allow ample time for bids to be obtained, purchase orders to be processed and merchandise to be received.

Delivery Of Purchased Items

All athletic equipment or supplies are to be shipped directly to the Equipment Room and then distributed to the appropriate coach after the items have been entered into the appropriate sport's equipment inventory. (C.O.D. orders are not accepted.) The Equipment Manager deals directly with the vendor to rectify any shipping problems. The following steps are basic to the procurement of athletic equipment:

1. The appropriate purchase request form is given to the Equipment Manager to be completed. Head Coach and Sport Supervisor approval is required.
2. Once completed, the request form is forwarded to the Athletic Business Office for processing.
3. A purchase order is prepared and returned to the Equipment Manager.
4. The purchase order is given to the selected vendor for filling.
5. The order is received by Equipment Room, placed in inventory and stored until needed.
6. The all invoices for equipment are to approved by the Equipment Manager and forwarded to the Athletic Business Office, where it is processed for payment.

The reporting of partial deliveries may be delayed for no more than two (2) days to allow time for all items included in a shipment to be delivered to Kansas Athletics.

If there is a problem with the materials received (i.e. damages, overages or shortages), the vendor should be contacted immediately. The Director of Business Operations should also be notified of the problem so payment will not be issued until the problem is rectified.

University Physical Plant Services

The Assistant Athletics Director for Facilities is responsible for initiating work-orders to schedule University Physical Plant work on Kansas Athletics facilities. The Assistant Athletics Director for Facilities approves invoices from KU Facilities and Operations and submits them to the Athletic Business Office for payment of completed services.

See Policy 704B, Facilities: Maintenance for additional information.

Emergency Orders

Emergency orders are defined as: "those which, if not placed immediately, would result in:

1. The cessation of critical services (e.g. health care, police and/or fire protection, etc);
2. Loss of life or limb;
3. Significant property damage totaling $1,000 or more; or
4. Substantial financial loss in excess of $5,000."

Should any of these situations exist, purchase order numbers may be assigned via telephone.

Requisitions documenting emergency orders are to be delivered to the Business Office within 24 hours after an emergency purchase order number has been assigned. Emergency requisitions require the signature of the Director of Athletics or his designee and must be accompanied by supporting documentation detailing the nature of the emergency.

Emergencies occurring after business hours must be submitted on the first working day following the emergency.

Purchasing Card Program

The issuance of a purchasing card will be considered for all full-time non-coaching personnel. Each department or sport will recommend who should be issued a card. The recommendation must be approved by the Head Coach/Department Manager, supervising AD, and the Business Office before a card is issued. Each person who is issued a card will be required to complete a training session and have to sign a statement saying he/she understands the terms of use and the other responsibilities of being a card holder.

Controls

1. Separate employees within the Business Office are designated as reconcilers and are not issued a card. They will make sure they receive all appropriate documentation for each transaction that appears on the card and will reconcile the card weekly.
2. The receipts for all purchasing card transactions will have an authorization form attached when they are dropped off in the Business Office. The authorization form must contain information about the purchase and be signed by the head coach or department manager.
3. A standard limit of $500 per transaction with the ability to request a higher transaction level has been established.
4. A standard credit limit of $5,000 per card with the ability to request a higher limit has also been established. Liability for the cards will be assumed by Kansas Athletics. Each card has fraud protection coverage of $100,000.
5. No cash advances are allowed.
6. A list of prohibited transactions is described below.
7. No pyramiding of payments is allowed.

Internal Business Office Procedures

The Business Office will reconcile the purchasing cards weekly. The reconcilers will verify that the purchasing card authorization form is completed correctly, will check to be sure that all receipts are attached, will check the amounts for accuracy, will verify that the purchase is within the guidelines of the purchasing card program, and will check to be sure the correct accounts are being used. After all the entries are reconciled, the Purchasing Coordinator will export them into an Excel CSV file. The Accounts Payable Coordinator will review the file and run Integration manager to load the data into the accounting system. Within the Business Office, the Accounts Payable Coordinator and Purchasing Coordinator will be issued purchasing cards. The Business Office Supervisor will reconcile the cards used by them. The reconcilers will immediately report any suspicious or fraudulent activity to the Director of Business Operations.

Procedures to obtain a card

Applications for purchasing cards must be submitted to the Purchasing Coordinator. The applications must be approved by the Head Coach/Department Manager and the supervising Athletics Director. After the application is approved, the employee must attend a training session on the purchasing card program responsibilities and procedures.

After the training session, each employee will be required to sign a cardholder agreement form and will then be issued a purchasing card.

Making purchases with the purchasing card

• The purchasing card should never be used to make a personal purchase. In the event of an inadvertent personal purchase, the cardholder will contact the vendor to reverse the charge and then inform the Purchasing Coordinator. If the charge can not be reversed, the cardholder will submit reimbursement for the charge to the Athletic Business Office immediately.
• The cardholder should be sure he/she is making an allowable purchase.
• It is the cardholder’s responsibility to notify the vendor of the corporation’s sales tax exempt status and obtain credit for sales tax incorrectly charged on a purchase.
• The cardholder should obtain an itemized receipt from the vendor at the time of purchase.
• After a purchase, the cardholder will complete a purchasing card authorization form which must be signed by his/her supervisor. The receipt will be attached to this form and immediately submitted to the Purchasing Coordinator in the Athletic Business Office. It is the cardholder’s responsibility to obtain copies of missing receipts.
• The cardholder will review his/her on-line account statement at least once a week to insure all transactions are valid. It will be the cardholder’s responsibility to dispute any unauthorized or invalid charges by contacting U.S. Bank at the telephone number provided on the back of the card.
• It is the cardholder’s responsibility to return defective or unneeded merchandise.
• The Purchasing Coordinator should be informed immediately of all disputed charges.
• The Purchasing Coordinator should be notified of any fraudulent charges or lost or stolen cards so the card can be cancelled and reissued.

Violations of the Purchasing Card Policy

1. The first violation will result in a verbal warning from the Director of Business Operations.
2. The second violation will result in a written warning from the Director of Business Operations in conjunction  with the employee’s supervisor with a copy to the Head Coach/Department Manager and the employee’s personnel file.
3. A third violation will result in a written warning from the Director of Business Operations in conjunction with the employee’s supervisor with a copy to the Head Coach/Department Manager, personnel file and supervising AD. The cardholder will also be required to take a test on the policy and procedures of the purchasing card program. Failure to pass the test will result in the loss of card privileges.
4. The fourth violation will result in the forfeiture of purchasing card privileges. The length of time for the loss of purchasing card privileges will be determined on a case by case basis.

Prohibited Purchasing Card Transactions

1. No alcoholic beverages

2. No donations or contributions

3. No payment to individuals

4. No payments for legal or medical services

5. No payments for awards

6. No payments for fuel

7. No payments for phone or gift cards

8. No computer or software purchases

9. No expenses for travel or on-campus visits

10. No payments for hazardous materials

11. No payments for vehicle maintenance

12. No cash advances

13. No payments for contractual services

14. No payments for travel related food or entertainment.

15. No payments for gifts or office decorations.

16. No personal purchases