February 14, 2020
Supply Chain Management News
February 2020
Dear Campus Community,
  
Supply Chain Management (SCM) would like to inform you of important updates and events. 

This month's features:   
  • Integrated DNA Technologies
  • Blanket Orders and Chartstrings: Care and Feeding for Your Blanket Purchase Orders
  • Email Approval for Requisitions Coming Soon!
  • Update to Requirements for Transactions which Qualify for CA Partial Sales Tax Exemption for Research



If you have any questions, please contact the BearBuy Help Desk at 
510-664-9000 (options 1, 2) or  BearBuyHelp@berkeley.edu  for immediate assistance.

Thank you for your continued support, 
Supply Chain Management
Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT)
Want to get your IDT orders faster and reduce the work of reconciling invoices with blanket purchase orders?

Please use the IDT punchout catalog in BearBuy instead of blanket purchase orders. Catalog orders under $1,000 are auto-approved and sent directly to the supplier!
Blanket Orders and Chartstrings:
Care and Feeding for Your Blanket Purchase Orders
Please avoid changing chartstring values and amounts during the life of a blanket purchase order. Blanket purchase orders need to be set through the entire life of the blanket and a single fixed string or percentage that is unchanging through the life of a chartstring is required. If an invoice needs to be paid differently or funds need to be used up, departments are advised to journal such transactions. 
BearBuy Email Approval for Requisitions Coming Soon!
SCM is pleased to announce a new email approval feature that is only available to the following selected roles for requisition approvals: Requisition Org Node Approval, Authorizers, CF1 and CF2 Approvers.

Approval via email will allow approvers to approve requisitions or assign the requisitions to themselves for later action within BearBuy. Please be advised that approvers must log in to BearBuy in order to edit content or comment on a purchase requisition/shopping cart. In addition, all email approvals are secured with individual PIN numbers that are set by the approver.

Please stay tuned for further communication regarding this new feature as it is expected to go live in mid-March 2020. The BearBuy team is currently conducting testing with a small pilot group. 
Update to Requirements for Transactions which Qualify for CA Partial Sales Tax Exemption for Research
Please review the updated  list of qualifications  stipulating how research related equipment purchases may be eligible for the California partial sales tax exemption. Note that eligibility includes using research related chartstring values to record the purchases. Please share this information with your teams and especially the financial analysts responsible for processing BearBuy PO/requisition information. If you have any questions, please contact the Accounts Payable help desk at  disburse@berkeley.edu .  
Helpful Hints
Order Status

If you need assistance with determining the status of your order in BearBuy, visit the  How to Find the Status of Your Order  page on the SCM website . 

Please note that your SCM assigned Buyer will not receive the requisition until it has been approved by the department Org Node approver.
Expediting an Order

If an order warrants expedited handling, please change the priority on the requisition to "Urgent". If you have already submitted the requisition, please  contact your assigned Buyer  via email and be sure to include the requisition number.
Who is My Department's Assigned Buyer?

If you are unsure of how to start your purchasing transaction, contact your Buyer for assistance by using your Org Node and Department Name to find your assigned Buyer located in this  matrix .
Splitting Chart of Accounts (COA) At Header Level Vs. Line Level

Splitting COA at the Header Level will apply the split to all lines on the PO. 

Splitting COA by Line Level allows you to customize COA percentage allocated to that specific line. BEST PRACTICE for Subaward: Put line 1 COA at the header and then edit each line with their own unique COA. 

For any questions on how to split a COA, please contact your regional group:  https://regionalservices.berkeley.edu/home .
SCM Service Level Turnaround Times

Urgent requests will be handled on a first-in-first-out basis. Standard turnaround time (Service Level Agreements) for purchase and contract types are available on our  Service Level web page . 

Please be aware that contract negotiations with suppliers may cause delays.
Ship To Address vs Final Destination

A Ship To Address is the address that is sent to the supplier. When the supplier is delivering items, they will deliver to the ship to address (which is also visible on the PO they receive).

A Final Destination code is an address only associated to UC Berkeley. Final destination code are used when departments have a central receiving location. The ship to address is the central receiving facility. When the packages are received, the department central receiver looks the PO up in BearBuy and looks for the final destination code. The final destination code is then the office/room number of where shopper needs the items. Final destination codes are never sent to the supplier and are NOT reflected anywhere on the PO.  
BearBuy Resources
Below are links to the BearBuy homepage, instructional aids, training courses, and information on how to create Service Now tickets for BearBuy related issues.  
Whether you are an experienced or a new BearBuy shopper, it is always best practice to attend an in person training session with a designated BearBuy trainer. If you are interested in attending a BearBuy “Basics for Shoppers Training”, please click the training courses link above to sign up for our next class. We look forward to your attendance and being of assistance to better serve you!