purchase ordering and logging procedure.html - frc971/website GitHub Wiki

This is the full procedure for purchasing including logging the purchases.  In order to control costs, all purchases must be approved prior to purchasing.  Except in a few specific circumstances, the team prefers to limit actual purchasing to a few approved mentors. 

  • Whenever possible, use the "team" credit card that has been set up for purchasing whenever possible.  This is actually a credit card set up by the Schuhs but only used for robotics.  All card benefits are donated back to the team.  Also, the school district has requested that we use purchase orders whenever possible so the MVHS bookkeeper has set up PO numbers for our major suppliers such as McMaster, West Coast Products, and VexPro.    
  • Use [email protected] when setting up accounts . These emails are forwarded to the Spartan robotics purchasing group - [email protected].  We have a generic password and do not store any credit card information to these store accounts.
  • Parts that need to be ordered need to be entered on the current season 971 Purchase List form even if you intend to order the part yourself rather than having the purchasing team order it for the team. This allows us to figure out where stuff was purchased in case we need more. 
  •  Parts on the purchase will be reviewed prior to ordering and need a reviewer name. 
  • As long as the school will be open when the items will arrive, have them shipped to MVHS, 3535 Truman Ave. Mountain View, CA 94040 attn: Wyn Schuh, Robotics Lab Room P5.  That way the packages get signed for when they are delivered.
  •  When a purchase is made, the following steps need to be followed
    • Assigned it a 971 order number (year and sequential number - different from part #). This number is obtained by going to the appropriate season Accounting Log and using the next available number.  
    • Put this order number in the purchase list with the 971 order number in the “Order Number” column. 
    • Color each line in the purchase list that are associated with the order. This helps to visually see what has been ordered. 
    • Copy and paste the formula in other items under total cost.  Unfortunately, this can't be done automatically.
    • Note: There are various Purchase Order Scripts available to aid in ordering and part tracking.  They will be described below
    • Enter the order into Purchase Order Log tab in the current year Accounting Log spreadsheet. Info to be entered should be 
      • 971 order number
      • Cost - sometimes shipping is added later such as McMaster and Mouser. You can put the preliminary cost and NS after it. 
      • Order date 
      • Who needs to be reimbursed -  If it is on the “team” credit card (Schuh’s but only used for robotics), put VISA.  If a school open Purchase Order is used, put PO here.
      • Vendor name
      • Comments - this can be a brief description of the order or any other helpful information. Other useful information might include shipping type (ground, 2Day, 3Day, 1Day) and estimated ship date. 
      • Status - This is a drop down menu to indicate the status of the order.  Also can be used to indicate that only a partial order has been received.
      • Vendor order number - not essential but sometimes helps tracking.
      • Indicate the category(ies) that the order falls under with the correct amount for each category.  Most orders belong to a single category.  Notable exceptions are Amazon and McMaster.  Be sure to include shipping and tax into the totals so that the sum of the categories add to the total order cost. Use the purchase order form as a guide.   There is a tab in the purchase list to help divide this up.  It determines the fraction of the order that belongs to each category.  The order total is then multiplied to each fraction to determine the breakdown.
    • Shipping 
      • When an email arrives confirming shipping enter the shipping information into http://www.packagetrackr.com with the generic password.
      • Upload the receipt to Spartan Robotics FRC 971 Google drive in the Purchasing\\Receipts sub-directory in a pdf format and put a link to the receipt in the Purchase Order log tab of the Accounting log. Format is as follows (the order number format allows sorting) OrderNumber Vendor.pdf (example: 2012001 McMaster.pdf) Copy the link to the receipt into ‘Receipt Uploaded’ column in the Purchase Order Log tab of the Accounting log. If the order was made with a school PO, email the receipt to the school bookkeeper.
      • Reimbursement - See How to get Reimbursed.

Purchase Order Scripts - There are various scripts in the Purchase List to facilitate ordering.  The first time you use these scripts, Google will ask for permission to use your files.  Say yes.  

  • Generate List to Order - When you select this script, enter the exact Vendor name and then when it says script finished, go to the script output tab to see which items need to be ordered for that Vendor.  Do not type anything into the script output tab because it is uses a filter function and will break the script output.  Put the order number information in the Purchase list tab only.
  • Numbers and Quantities (selected) - after you have a list of items to order in the script output tab, you can highlight the lines in script output of the items you want to order and choose this option.  This will generate a block list of items that can be copied and pasted into the vendor site.  The only vendor we use regularly that this is useful for is McMaster.
  • Show order - This is kind of the opposite of Generate list to order.  Once an order is placed and the order number is entered, you can enter the order number and see all items in the order in the script output tab.  Again, do not type anything into the script output tab because it is uses a filter function and will break the script output.
  • Other tabs
    • Not ordered - A list of all items that do not have an order number.  This does not include items that have been striked through.
    • Ordered but not received - A list of all items that have an order number but have not been checked in.
    • Tally sheet - temp - This is useful for proportioning costs over several categories.  If you use the Show order script and then copy all of the lines of the order and paste special - values only into this sheet.  The fraction of the order for each category will be calculated.  This is why you need the total cost formula above.  You can then use these fractions in the Accounting log categories.
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