Purchasing

Use this step-by-step guide to submit a purchase requisition through the Chem Purchasing System.

Guide PDF

• A purchase order and requisition must be approved and processed for the purchase of goods and services.
• A requisition is required for all purchases. There are no exceptions.

1. Default to the use of vendors that are listed in iBuy first.
   1. The vendors listed in iBuy are contracted with the university at a discounted rate, and honor our university’s tax exempt status. Submitting Purchase Orders in iBuy will be the quickest and most effective way to ensure your orders are placed properly. This helps circumvent delays and invoice holds. If you have exhausted all vendor options in iBuy, and still cannot find the items you are looking to purchase, see No. 5.
2. Your First and Last Name should be on every Order Requisition Form submitted for processing.
3. When submitting an email for purchasing, the email’s subject line should say “First Name Last Name_Group Name_Vendor Name”.
4. When submitting Order Requisition Forms, they should be saved as a PDF document entitled:
   1. “First Name Last Name_Group Name_Vendor Name”.
5. If you must use an external vendor, you must get a quote. The quote cannot include tax or surcharges, as our Payables department will not honor them and this could delay the processing of your request.
   1. 1. When requesting payment to an external vendor, you must provide a Business Purpose/Justification for this purchase. See email attached for a detailed description of an acceptable Business Justification/Purpose.
      2. A simple rule of thumb to remember when providing your Business Purpose/Justification.
      3. Your explanation should always answer the questions, Who? What? Where? & Why does this benefit the university?
6. When requesting Amazon purchases, you must provide a Business Purpose/Justification. Amazon is considered an external vendor because it is not listed in iBuy.
7. When your order is placed, an email response is sent to your original email. The email will say “Requisition ______ Submitted”.
   1. If you do not receive this response within 24 – 48 hours, your order has not been placed and it is your responsibility to follow up on the requisition.
8. Incomplete requisitions will not be placed, no exceptions. A member of our team will follow up with you regarding the missing information, and your requisition will go to the bottom of our que.
   1. If any information on your requisition is incorrect or unclear, your order will not be placed and a member of our team will follow up with you for clarifying information, and your requisition will go to the bottom of our que.
9. Your order will only be placed based on the information provided in your Requisition, so it is best to be as detailed as possible.

Orders will not be placed based on pictures, screenshots, and email correspondences. There must be PDF documentation for every order, as we are required to attach that documentation to every PO.

Justification

When providing your Business Justification/Purpose for your P-Card Purchases, you must provide an explanation for this purchase that includes exactly how this purchase is beneficial to the university.

• For example, simply sending “lab supplies”, “membership dues”, or “conference registration” will not suffice.

A more appropriate example of an explanation would be:

• “These are annual dues for my memberships in professional societies. These get me lower registration fees for conference attendance and information relevant to my UIC research activity.”

• Accounting stops placing orders every year in the second week of December.
• Standing Purchase Orders are renewed every year on June 30^th.
  • This means vendors must be provided with the new SPO number if goods/services will continue to be provided after the start of the new fiscal year.

Exception Form

PCard Exception Form System for Computer software under $7,500.00.

Use this IT contact info to fill the following text inputs:

     • IT Department Contact Name: Anthony Briscoe

P-Card

• Policy as of Jan. 1, 2026

• P-Card Exception Form PDF

• Services and repairs cannot be paid with a P-Card. There are no exceptions.
• A requisition must be provided, and a PO must be in place to prior to the facilitation of any services or repairs.
• Services include, but are not limited to: Consulting, training, equipment repairs, machine repairs, sequencing, use of external facilities, etc. For a full list, please visit the Business Finance website, or contact OBFS.

• Storeroom Manager: Chris Dean
• A requisition is required for every order.
• Communicate with your group about who is picking up orders.
• Do not group orders together in one email. One order per email.

• Seek approval for reimbursements prior to using personal funds for payment. Reimbursement requests are not guaranteed.
• If you are a P-Card Cardholder, please ensure food/lodging charges will not be itemized on receipt prior to purchasing registration.