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DXARTS Purchasing Procedure
All orders are managed through DotProject. You'll find detailed instructions below. Once you've filled out the order details, DXARTS staff needs to be notified by email after a purchase request is approved in dotproject (Dotproject does not send any automated notifications). This email should include a link to dotproject request and any other additional information—for instance, an invoice number for pre-ordered items.
Purchasing methods
1) UW Catalog Purchases - a preferred method. Billie would have to place an order.
Find an item you need on the supplier's website and email Billie the link or the catalog number.
Current suppliers list can be found here: https://finance.uw.edu/ps/how-to-buy/catalog-purchases
2) Cash Reimbursement for purchases out-of-pocket should be used for rush / last minute items and small purchases related to student research projects. You can give your receipts to Billie. Reimbursed purchases still need to be entered in DotProject.
3) ProCard
Purchasing with a ProCard generates a substantial amount of paperwork for several UW employees, and adds an additional cost for the University. It should be used only for items that cannot be purchased through other methods.
4) Purchase Orders - for purchases over $10,000.
Purchases exceeding $10,000 have to be made via a Purchase Order (PO) by Billie.
If you don't know what method of payment should be used, select "Billie - you call" and move the dotproject status to "pending."
Sales tax
University of Washington is legally required to pay the Seattle sales tax on all purchases. There are no exceptions, even if the vendor is out of Washington state or in a different country. This amount will eventually be added to every credit card transaction, even if you don’t see it when preparing the purchase request.
Always select CURRENT Seattle Sales Tax from the drop down menu.
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Be sure to include the cost of shipping as a line item in the order (and for your budget!).
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If something is a rush order, you must contact the staff directly to let them know. Indicate to the staff, as well as in the order “Notes”, the specific shipping method you would prefer (or at least arrival date). Consider the added cost of expedited shipping in your budget, and add this as a line item in the order. Marking it in dotproject as “rush” is does not trigger any action automatically.
Other
DXARTS staff works within their established work schedules. Purchases, including rush orders, can only be processed during our work hours. Please plan accordingly.
DotProject Instructions
What is dotproject? It is a database that allows requests for purchases to be approved by authorized personnel (usually the administrator). The approval process is important because it insures a separation of duty to prevent fraud and errors (internal “checks and balances" for audit control). Its function is to identify legitimate business purchases, and prevent our department from going over budget.
Dotprojects also allows the administrator to track expenses for research, courses, room renovations, projects, general operations and events.
Entering expenses into Dotproject
Log On
- Go to: http://sparse.dxarts.washington.edu/dotproject/
- Enter login and password. If you don’t have a dotproject account please contact Ewa Trebacz <trebacze@uw.edu> to set you up with one.
- Go to the “Purchasing” tab in the top left of the web page.
Three tabs that you need to know
- Building: is the status of an order when the "enterer" is in the first stage of constructing a purchase request. It is best to start the request here if the entry is incomplete before logging out or if more items will be added at a later point.
- Pending: is the status of an order when it is waiting for instructor or researcher approval (in instances where the "requester" is different from the "enterer").
- Released: is the status of an order when it needs final administrator approval.
Entering A Purchase Request
Click on the “new purchase” button on the top right of the web page.Subject Fields
To ensure that the information that you’ve entered gets saved, click “submit” on the bottom right corner after each* subject field.* Alternatively, fill out all the text fields and dropdowns on the main "Edit Purchase" page and then make sure to click "submit" before clicking "add item" or any other links on the page (these links load new pages, losing un-submitted changes in the process).
Enter the following information:
- Purchase Name: enter a brief description that succinctly defines your purchase
- Purchase Method:
- eProcurement - this is the preferred method. Billie handles eProcurement orders.
- Procard - name of the Purchaser. Procard is a University owned credit card, with a single transaction limit of $3,500 and monthly limit of $20,000. Travel-related expenses (including conference registration) cannot be purchased with Procard.
- Purchase Order for items over $10,000
- Enter “check reimbursement” if you have already purchased the item and are seeking a reimbursement
- Vendor Quote #: if applicable
- Notes: enter the business purpose of your expense. Please be specific. If you are traveling for business included the travel dates, location, and business activity you are there for. If you purchased items for your research include the research project name and how the expenses related to the project.
- Vendor: select from drop down button. If the vendor is not on the list, select “new” and enter the vendor information. Please include name, address, phone number, and website address
- Enterer: your name
- Requester: If the item is for a course, enter the course instructor’s name. If it is for research, enter the researcher’s name.
- Budget: "100570 (Cost Center #:100570)" is the default budget for operations and research expenses. If buying for a specific lab or faculty member, confirm the appropriate cost center with Billie.
- Project Code: select from the drop down menu
- Task Code: select from the drop down menu
- Option Code: enter the appropriate quarter code from the drop down menu
- Add item: click on the “add item” link to enter the expenses name, catalog #, cost, quantity, tax (select CURRENT Seattle tax from the drop down menu), and the item url. Please note it is very important to enter the exact information into the item field if other people are ordering for you.
- NOTE: Please also add shipping as an item, even if it's an estimate.
Item Fields
When you select Add Item, another page is displayed where you'll enter information about each item.
- Name: Name of the item
- Order ID: optional - if the item has a particular ID on an invoice, etc.
- Catalog #: When applicable, if the item has a vendor code which could be used to look the item up on the vendors website. This is common e.g. large AV suppliers (B&H), or electronics suppliers (Adafruit, Sparkfun, Digikey)
- Cost per Unit: pre-tax cost of one unit.
- Item Count: How many of the item to buy.
- Tax Code: Unless you've been given specific instructions otherwise, select CURRENT Seattle Sales Tax. Even if the item isn't taxed online, the University will still need to pay WA sales tax (unless you know that the particular item is tax exempt). If the item cost already includes tax, you can put "no tax".
- Item Status: Requested.
- Item URL: IMPORTANT! put the link to the direct item page (not just a company website). This is likely how the purchaser will order the item.
- Object Code: ignore this field (leave default value)
- Subobject Code: ignore this field (leave default value)
- Item Notes: IMPORTANT! Include any specification or option details for the item, e.g. color, processor specs, version, size, etc.
Finished?
Don't forget to click on your order's status from the drop down menu at the bottom left corner of the page. If it is ready to be approved click "released." Note that "released" won't be an option from the "building" stage; you first need to update to "pending."
If you need a purchase to be approved right away send an email to the department administrator, Billie Grace.