Approved Purchasing Methods

Understand the various purchasing methods available at the University—Purchase Orders, Procard, Direct Pay (Non-PO), and University Purchasing Cards (Travel or Meeting). This purchasing comparison offers a detailed look at each method's tools, access procedures, appropriate usage, categories, benefits, and new supplier processes to help you choose the best option for your purchasing needs.

Purchase Method	Purchase Order	Direct Pay (Non-PO)
Tool	buyND	Financial Toolkit
How to Get Access	Sign up for buyND+ training sign up on eNDeavor (NetID required)	On-campus or campus VPN connection required for Financial Toolkit
When to Use	For most purchases, recurring items, items under contract: Up to $50,000 - Only need one bid $50,000.01 - $250,000 - Three bids if not a Preferred Supplier Above $250,000- Formal RFP bidding process with Procurement For information, please review the University's bidding policy.	When purchasing select categories
Categories	Goods Services Consulting Restricted/grant/federal funds ND licensed items Chemicals & hazardous materials Research equipment Lasers/x-rays Equipment/tent rentals Drones	Individuals Special payments Payments to universities Utilities Dues & professional memberships Postage Periodicals Charitable donations Awards (Non-Service) Royalties
Benefits	Risk mitigation Negotiated contract pricing with strategic and preferred suppliers Procurement Services support	Method to pay special or recurring payments that do not require protection from PO terms and conditions
New Suppliers	24-48 hours to add new supplier	2-15 days to add new supplier (depending on supplier’s response)

Purchases Over $250,000

If a purchase exceeds $250,000, a formal bidding process must be performed by Procurement Services. Under this method, the following requirements apply:

1. RFXs must be publicized, and all evaluation factors must be identified with their relative importance.
2. Proposals must be solicited from an adequate number of qualified sources.
3. A written method for evaluating and selecting suppliers must be established.
4. Contracts must be awarded to approved suppliers.

To begin the bid process, please email buy@nd.edu.

Submit an RFX Intake Form

Need More Information?

• Purchase Order: Procurement Services Help Desk 1-4289, buy@nd.edu
• Procurement Card (Procard): Procard Administrator 1-6564, procard@nd.edu
• Financial Toolkit: Controller's Office, 1-7035