Purchasing Overview
How Purchasing Works – An Overview
To purchase goods and services from University of Oxford-held funds you will need to raise a Requisition on the R12 Finance System. This will be checked and approved by the NDCN Orders team and will then become a Purchase Order (or PO). The PO is sent out to the supplier who then provides the goods or services to you, at which point they are Receipted. The supplier will then generate an Invoice, which needs to be matched to the receipted PO by the NDCN Payables team to release payment.
The correct order of events is:
R12 Requisition --> PO Goods/Services Supplied --> Items Receipted --> Invoice Matched and Paid
You can discuss a potential order with suppliers and obtain quotes, but at no point should you formally agree to or accept the supply of any goods or services from a supplier until a University Purchase Order has been raised.
To Raise a Requisition
You will need to have "Shopper" access to the Oracle R12 Finance system. This can be arranged with the NDCN Orders team who will take your details and then submit the correct paperwork. They will also give you the details of the Online Training Course you will need to complete to gain access.
Once you have a log-in as an R12 Shopper you can then raise Requisitions by entering all the product information into R12, including attaching any quotes or other supporting documents. You then code the Requisition with your Grant or GL Account information and submit it for the NDCN Orders team to check and approve.
Approved Requisitions become Purchase Orders three times a day (at 11am, 1.30pm and 4pm) and the number will then appear in your list on Oracle R12. The PO will also be emailed out to the supplier by the system so that they can process your order.
To Receipt the Goods
This is done in the receipts window on R12, and will mostly be done for you by the NDCN Orders team using the delivery notes attached to your parcels. If you ever get a package that still has the delivery note attached then please make sure to pass it on to NDCN Orders so that they can do this for you.
If you're ordering a service (Couriering, Travel Tickets, Catering etc) where there will be no delivery note then it is fine for you to receipt the order yourself when you know it's been received. The NDCN Orders team will also check on these so may have already receipted it for you, but please do check.
To Get an Invoice Paid
You'll need to make sure the Invoice is sent to the NDCN Payables team so that they can match it to the Purchase Order – for that reason the PO number must be either printed on the Invoice or provided with it by some means. Most Invoices are sent to NDCN Payables directly by the supplier, but if you ever receive a copy directly please make sure to pass it on promptly.
Once the invoice is matched to a valid, open and Receipted PO it will be ready to be paid in the next University Payment Run, which happens once a week. The money will then be transferred to the supplier's bank account within 3-4 working days and the ordering process will be complete.