Campus Purchase Orders

Policies and Procedures

(Revised December 21, 2005)

Campus Purchase Orders (CPOs) are used to record inter-departmental buy/sell transactions to the University's accounting system. CPO forms may be obtained from Financial Services, D-148 ASB 422-3662.

General CPO guidelines:

1. CPOs are only used between campus units to buy/sell products or services.
2. All CPOs must be processed within 30 days of services rendered or material purchased.
3. CPOs must be typed or legibly written in ink.
4. Any changes to a completed CPO must be approved in writing by the buying department.
5. CPOs written near the end of the year must be received by Financial Services before the announced year-end cut-off date in order to be included in the current year's activity.
6. Departments should keep their copy of the CPO on file for one year beyond the current fiscal year.
7. While capital equipment may be purchased through CPOs, special coding is required (contact Financial Services for assistance).

Instructions to initiate and complete a CPO:

The BUYING DEPARTMENT normally initiates the CPO by filling out the first section:

1. Operation Unit, Account, and Class.
2. Department name, address, phone number, and date.
3. Quantity and description and estimated cost (if known).
4. Authorized signature at the bottom of the CPO

After filling out the CPO, the buying department should retain the fourth copy (green) and send the first three copies to the selling department.

The SELLING DEPARTMENT completes the remainder of the CPO by entering:

1. Operating Unit, Account, and Class
2. Department name, address, phone number and date.
3. Rate, actual costs and total actual amounts for the buying and selling departments
4. Authorized signature at the bottom of the CPO

After completing the CPO, the selling department should send:

1. the first copy (white) to Financial Services, C-249 ASB
2. the second copy (pink) is retained by the selling department
3. the third copy (goldenrod) is sent to the buying department

Financial Services will return an incomplete CPO to the buying or selling department if:

1. Department name, Opertating Unit, Account, description, amount, or signature is missing
2. Actual Cost exceeds Estimated Costs
3. Estimated Costs have been altered
4. Total amounts in the buying and selling boxes and total CPO amount are not equal
5. Total CPO amount is less than $5