Purchasing Policy and Procedures Template

by All Templates

Regardless of the work experience of your current purchasing staff, developing a policy and procedures manual is well worth the effort. Some key benefits of having a purchasing policy manual:

  • it is an essential for in-company training program for junior members
  • it adds operational flexibility in facilitating the transfer of personnel from one job to another in case of vacation or workload
  • it establishes consistent standards. A written policy defines expectations, reduces ambiguity, and ensures everyone follows the same practices.
  • last but not least is useful in explaining to outside departments what and how things are done

Some Managers believe a purchasing policy is not required because the size of the department does not warrant the cost and effort of documenting procedures. This position overlooks the benefit gained in the actual task of preparing the manual and reviewing existing procedures. Sometimes, tedious and outdated tasks are streamlined in such a review and beneficial ways of performing routine tasks are discovered. Make the time!

RFQPro has a purchasing policy and procedures manual template which covers the following areas:

Purchasing Policy
Levels of Authorization, A.F.E.
Contracts
Quotations
Purchase Requisitions
”RUSH” Purchases
Expediting, Freight and Traffic
Receiving, Invoices and Payment
Repair and Return Transactions
Vendor Solicitation
Vendor “Gratuities”
Requests for Inventory
Warehouse Inventory
Warehouse Security
Direct Charge Order Notification
Asset Disposal

This template provides a solid framework and verbiage you need to present your policy effectively. All you need to do is tweak it to fit your existing work environment and your company’s specific requirements.

One final suggestion: have your chief executive write a short foreword endorsing the policy, supporting the department’s practices, and clearly defining its authority. Then, to avoid potential misunderstandings, take the time to schedule visits with each department to review the policy with the user groups.

In addition to RFQ98 – (25 page) Purchasing Policy and Procedures Template, our POLICY Pack includes all of our audit forms, insurance clauses, loss control manual, reporting tools, and other policy-related templates. Take advantage of the full collection today.

Our Policy Pack is now part of our Premium Pack which sells for only $37.00 — click below for payment and instant digital download.

Purchase order Terms and Conditions

by Free TemplatesTerms and Conditions

If you are looking for a BASIC Terms and Conditions (TC’s) template to use with your everyday purchase order, the following set will get you moving on the right path. If you typically do not include a set of TC’s with each purchase order you email or transmit to your Suppliers, at the very least you should have each Vendor sign off on your TC’s and have them agree that all future purchase orders they fulfill will be bound by such TC’s.

These days, digital storage is a cheap commodity, so you can have the Vendor sign off on your TC’s and store the documents by way of pdf for future reference. This will give you some  peace of mind, necessary back-up, and also allows you to avoid having to transmit them with each purchase order you issue.

Download a free sample set of our basic purchase order terms and conditions in PDF format here  >>>RFQ42 – Basic PO Terms

If you are looking for a more comprehensive set of conditions, you may want to check out this post: https://www.rfqpro.com/rfq-request-for-quotation/terms-and-conditions.

Consider subscribing, as a future post will include a set of Contractor Insurance Terms, which you may find beneficial in mitigating liabilities with high risk purchase orders or contracts.

By purchasing our Premium pack, you will receive both sets of our PO terms and conditions, along with the Contractor Insurance TC’s, all in edit-friendly Word format.

 

FOB Point

by All TemplatesFree TemplatesTerms and Conditions

Lets talk about shipping terms and where the responsibility lies for a shipment.  The correct definition for FOB Point is Free-on-Board aka freight on board and the term FOB is often misunderstood, even by the professionals.

The FOB point is important as it ascertains:

  • when legal title of the goods being shipped transfers to the buyer. Say you were purchasing a bulk liquid like a fuel or a chemical, the FOB point could be origin, destination, buyers tank or even the intake nozzle at point of delivery.  As you can see, depending on the commodity, having the proper FOB point is crucial.
  • who is responsible for handling damaged goods or freight claims with the carrier in the event they are lost or damaged during shipment. An example: FOB Destination, Freight collect means: Buyer — Pays and is responsible for freight charges, Seller — Owns goods in transit, Seller — Files any damage claims (if any). Another potential headache area so choose wisely.
  • who pays the carrier.

Many will suggest or argue that FOB destination is the most beneficial because the vendor pays the transportation charges, however upon further inspection you will realize the charges are to be borne by the buyer, since freight costs will be included in the delivered price charged by the vendor. In essence, you are licensing the vendor to spend your money.

Again, commodity dependent, a vendor may use a carrier which may not meet your safety standards or spill response guidelines, so do your due diligence and if it warrants perform a site audit on the carrier being used regardless of the FOB Point. By the way, included in the RFQPro Premium template pack is a comprehensive sample site audit form.

There are many variations in FOB terms – FOB origin, freight collect or FOB Destination, freight collect and allowed and so on. As a purchasing professional you need to know your FOB lingo. The following template explains all possible options and will help you select the correct terminology for your PO’s, supply agreements, RFQ’s, RFP’s and more.

Subscribe and this FOB template (RFQ33) will be included in your FREE Welcome Pack. Download, print and post it in your work area.