FAQs

According to the CIPS legal committee, it is advisable to include the following details on a purchase order:

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I want to know the thresholds for invoking the use of "EU procedures", and do the tenders I administrate have to be "open" or "closed"?

There is an excellent site that can help answer all your queries here.

It is... SIMAP: http://simap.europa.eu/A/2330efb7-0aab-b34c-04c0377ccce3f48d_en.html

The main rules in this area are derived from the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. In basic terms if you can agree with your supplier any period of payment terms (i.e. 30, 60 or 90 days) then you must pay within this period.

Any delay in payment will result in the supplier being able to levy a charge for any outstanding time period.

Bob Soames, chairman of the Utilities Procurement Group, writes: With all the constraints upon our time, it would be nice to be able to forget the contract we’ve just negotiated and move on to the next task. But while in many cases this is the right thing to do, most of those contracts that need purchasing’s involvement in the first place are likely to need an eye kept on them.

Jenni Ashwood, business systems manager at Bentalls, writes: Trading with someone is about value, not cost. Buying online at a low rate, then having to pay transportation costs, may be no cheaper than placing a phone order and paying a higher unit price but no carriage.

Yes, if you exceed the EU thresholds for a product or service then you must apply the rules irrespective of where you buy from.

My company has used an advertising agency for five years. It has a very good reputation for creative work and account management. But we’re worried that it is overcharging us. Is there a way we can get some transparency and accountability in the agency’s costs?

I have been asked to justify the claim I made in the business case that the cost of raising an order is £50. This is the figure most often bandied about, but I was wondering whether it is correct and what it comprises. How should I proceed?

This type of dispute is often called the 'battle of the forms'.

Jennifer Wolstenholme, purchasing officer at Manchester Metropolitan University, writes: First consider if there is a formal contract in place, and if so, what the terms regarding price fluctuation are. If the contract stipulates a fixed price, the purchaser should remind the supplier of this but should also be willing to explore how both parties can reach a win-win situation, thus preserving the supply chain relationship and stability.

I am responsible for buying polymers, such as polypropylene, and goods manufactured from polymers. How reliable are commercially available price guides, and should I base forward contract prices on them?

John Matthews, partner at ADR International, writes: There are a number of ways to gain the credibility you seek. The easiest is to demonstrate how much you spend with third parties, of which many senior managers are unaware.

We are trying to eliminate more paper from our organisation and would like to know whether we have to keep printed purchase orders. Common wisdom says that, as legal documents, they have to be kept for seven years. Can we rely on our computer records only? And what would the situation be if we faxed purchase orders directly from our system with no hard copy ever being printed?

Unfortunately we do not provide a sourcing service for members or non-members. We do this for a few reasons:

Our marketing department appears to commission advertising agencies on the strength of their creative work. However, there do not appear to be any objective criteria to evaluate this work. Can you suggest any?

As CIPS does not employ a solicitor at Head Quarters we cannot offer legal advice. If we did, we would need to know a great deal of evidence about the specific case, and then offer advice in the knowledge that our assistance would be used without recourse to be held liable for offering poor advice.