Aggie Enterprise Glossary of Accounts Payable and Purchasing Terms

An approver is an Aggie Enterprise user responsible for reviewing a document and approving or rejecting it.

For the Requisition document, approvers are automatically assigned to the approval workflow based on department, dollar amount, and category names selected on the document. 

Although Automatic Purchase Order is not an "official" Aggie Enterprise term, it is used to identify a Requisition that doesn’t require buyer approval before the associated Purchase Order is created and issued to a supplier. In general, Requisitions less than $10K, not citing a capital asset or controlled substances, do not require buyer approval from Procurement & Contracting Services. 

A Blanket Purchase Order is a purchase requested by a department via a non-catalog Requisition for an ongoing good or service need, generally for year or longer. A blanket order can benefit a department with better pricing, especially if the cost of goods/services is likely to increase with inflation, for example. 

A buyer is a member of the UC Davis Procurement & Contracting Services team who negotiates with outside suppliers for the best options for purchasing goods and services.

A buyer oversees the Requisition process and is responsible for creating Purchase Orders for Requisitions over the Automatic Purchase Order (APO) threshold, as well as for those Requisitions requesting most services, controlled substances, and other restricted purchases. 

Catalog purchasing allows shoppers in Aggie Enterprise to purchase items, both supplies and capital assets, directly from multiple suppliers. Items include office, computer, custodial, hardware, medical, and scientific and lab products.  These catalogs are based on university agreements with each of the suppliers, ensuring the best pricing and terms and conditions. 

There are two catalog types in Aggie Enterprise:

• Hosted:  Catalogs available directly in the Aggie Enterprise system.  The majority of the hosted catalogs in Aggie Enterprise are for AggieSupply stores (Scientific Store, Central Storehouse, Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) Store).
• Punch-Out: Catalogs for which the shopper is taken to a dedicated site to shop and then return their items to the Aggie Enterprise system

Catalog purchasing is the recommended way to procure goods most quickly, with the most advantageous terms.

The automated process of setting funds aside for the PPM Project or Charge Account string when a Requisition is fully approved.

The commitment is automatically released when the associated Purchase Order is created.

If a fully-approved Requisition is canceled before a Purchase Order is created, the commitment is automatically released at that time.

The Invoice is the document provided from a supplier to collect payment for a purchase.

• Invoices for Purchase Orders created in Aggie Enterprise are automatically received, processed, and paid by the central Accounts Payable team.
• Invoice payment requests not associated with Purchase Orders are to be processed on an online request form to be submitted by the department.  Central Accounts Payable will then process the request to pay the supplier.

Financial status assigned to a Purchase Order indicating that it has been fully approved and is open for purchasing.

This payment term indicates that a payment has been issued to, but not yet cashed by, the payee.

Non-Catalog purchasing on a Requisition can be used for service procurement and when the desired item(s) is not available in a catalog.   Non-Catalog purchases can be issued to suppliers on agreements as well.  

The process of setting funds aside to pay for a purchase.   This is often referred to as an encumbrance as well, but identified as an obligation in Aggie Enterprise.

When a Purchase Order is created in Aggie Enterprise, an obligation is automatically created, and the commitment previously created by the associated Requisition is released. 

When the Purchase Order is fully invoiced and/or otherwise closed, all remaining obligations are automatically removed.

The Purchase Order is the contract for goods and/or services issued to a supplier, based on a fully approved Requisition.  The Purchase Order obligates (encumbers) the funds, so that they are available for payment purposes.

PO format is UCDPO followed by eight numbers, issued sequentially by the system (e.g., UCDPO12345678) for most Purchase Orders, with the exception of AggieSupply (Central Storehouse, Scientific Store, Chemistry Store, MRO Store) orders that create an internal transfer order number in lieu of the UCDPO formatted number.

Field in the Billing section of the Requisition used to identify if a capital asset purchase is eligible for a reduced California sales tax if it will be used for research purposes in California at least 50 percent of the time.

This payment term indicates that a payment has been issued to and cashed by the payee. 

A Requester is a person on whose behalf a Requisition is created in Aggie Enterprise.  The Requester can be the same person as the one creating the Requisition, or it can be someone else.  The Requester is a field in the Delivery section of the Requisition and can also be set as a Requisition Preference.

The Requester receives automated system and email notifications when the associated Purchase Order is fully approved.

A Requisition is the document in Aggie Enterprise used by departments to request the purchase of goods and/or services. A fully approved Requisition is used to create a Purchase Order that is issued to the supplier.

A Requisitioner is an employee who creates and submits a Requisition in Aggie Enterprise. A Requisitioner can create and submit a Requisition based on their own purchasing needs or on behalf of a Requester. A Requisitioner may also also be referred to as a Requisition initiator or preparer.

Financial status assigned to a Requisition, indicating it has been fully approved, and the funds have been encumbered, but the associated Purchase Order has not yet been created and/or fully approved and open.