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 Sometimes, tedious and outdated tasks are streamlined in such a review and beneficial ways of performing routine tasks are discovered.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.