Methods of procurement as well as information on University-approved vendors. Learn about shopping through the Penn Marketplace as well as AmazonBusiness. Helpful hints regarding Purchase Order bid waivers and contracts/agreements. Explanations for use of Purchasing Card and Meeting Card.

Penn Purchasing Website

Supplier Search (PennKey required)

Penn Marketplace (PennKey required)

This link directs you to the Penn Marketplace where you can make purchases with select vendors without training.

Procurement Methods

Penn Purchasing Services - How to procure?

• Direct billing using your program’s 26-digit chart of accounts (budget code)
• Individuals paid by Purchase Order
• Individuals paid by Non-PO Payment Request
• Companies paid by Purchase Order
• Companies paid by Non-PO Payment Request
• Procurement Card (JPMorgan)
• Meeting Card (JPMorgan)
  • Ken Zeferes and Sherri King hold the only accounts for Penn GSE
• BOA Travel Card
  • The Penn Travel Card is for faculty and staff who anticipate traveling at least once per year or incurring qualifying business-related expenses on behalf of the University. The card helps to keep work-related travel/entertainment expenses separate from personal expenses. Transactions are automatically loaded into your Concur expense account, making it easy to generate an expense report without the need for manual entry.
  • Apply for a Bank of America Travel Card here.
• Personal Credit Cards or Out-of-Pocket Cash for acceptable and approved purchases.

Vendors

There are three classifications of suppliers: Strategic, Preferred, and Approved.

• Strategic suppliers are long-term, cooperative business partners that are committed to leveraging the strategic and operational capabilities of both organizations to achieve significant ongoing benefits for each party.
• Preferred Suppliers are BEN Buys approved suppliers that have been awarded a University-wide discount pricing agreement by Purchasing Services to supply products and services required by the University. Competitive bids are not required for purchases from preferred contract suppliers, regardless of the total aggregate coast of the purchase order. Preferred suppliers are identified as the “least total cost source” for Penn purchase requirements in a particular commodity category and are the preferred contract supplier for those products or services.
• Approved suppliers provide basic products or services. Pricing is generally comparable to market rate or may be preferred pricing based on a single purchase transaction. In order to issue a University purchase order to a supplier, the supplier must be approved and entered into the BEN Buys approved supplier database.

Contracts

Please forward your agreements and contracts to the Business Office for review and signature by Sourcing (Penn Purchasing)

At no time is a University faculty or staff member authorized to sign a supplier document. All supplier quotations, contracts, terms and conditions, or any other document related to a purchase require a signature from a University representative and must be forwarded to Purchasing Services. Please forward your documentation electronically to the Business Office. 

Sheraton and Inn at Penn Hotel Contracts can be signed by the Department or Program Teams. This is the only contract is permissible to sign. Please be sure to send a copy to your Business Office contact as well.

Competitive Bidding and Bid Waiver Requirements

Whenever you engage with an approved supplier who will be paid via Purchase Order, please be sure to bid out your project to at least three different suppliers to ensure commitment to the one with the most competitive pricing as well as service. In instances where you cannot provide competitive bids, you may complete a bid waiver. This process is only need when total contracted work is $10,000 or more. Penn purchasers are encouraged to solicit bids whenever possible regardless of dollar value.

Purchases made using funds from grants (sponsored projects) must be consistent with Penn’s Sponsored Projects Policies, including the retention of documentation of the purchase and information related to how the purchase benefits the sponsored project as well as support for any allocation decisions if multiple funds are being used for the purchase. These requirements are independent of the competitive bid process.

Purchasing Card

Penn GSE has a select number of allocated Purchasing Card. Please contact your Financial Administrator if you are interested in learning more.

The Purchasing Card application doesn’t go against your personal credit score nor is it reported to credit agencies.

If you have been given a purchasing card for your department or program, your card is set with a spending limit of $4,999 per month and you have up to 25 transaction per day, totaling no more than $1000 in each transaction.

If you have a purchasing card, be sure your notes are in PaymentNet and your receipts/documentation, along with your signed monthly statements, are uploaded to Penn+BOX

Should you need to increase your single spending limits or your month total, please complete one (or both) of the following forms and include Ken Zeferes’ email address (kzeferes@upenn.edu) and phone (8-5694) so that your request may be reviewed and approved.

Purchasing Card Single Transaction Exception Request Form

Purchasing Card Monthly Spending Limit Increase Request Form

AmazonBusiness

If you need access to AmazonBusiness, please contact Ken Zeferes. Note: only the Purchasing Card is to be used when making purchases from AmazonBusiness.

Penn has a contract with Amazon to provide us free prime access as well as tax-exempt purchases.

GSE-based Commodity Matrix 

Penn Purchasing Commodity Matrix

Full listing of expense types and other categories are listed in detail on the Penn Purchasing Site.