Services

Purchasing

Departmental Services

Cores, Facilities, IACUC and IRB Links

 

Purchasing

Request for Purchase Order

It is expected that each lab have a dedicated ‘purchaser’ with requisitioner access to the Penn Marketplace.  For labs who do not currently have someone dedicated, the Business Office can assist with PO. Labs should use the Shopper role to complete a cart in Ben Buys and route to LaRue Rainone.  In the ‘cart name’, please insert your last name, first initial, ship to location, fund to charge for the order. For assistance with this process please contact MBoffice@lists.upenn.edu.

Equipment

Requests for purchase orders for equipment items over $5,000 not through a Preferred Vendor must have three quotes or a bid waiver. When the purchase order is entered, it will ask for a custodian. If it is considered lab equipment, the PI is the custodian. If it is departmental equipment, Don Pijak is the custodian. For assistance with this process please contact MBoffice@lists.upenn.edu.

Computing

N/A

Polaris

Polaris orders require approval by the business office by 12p each Wednesday. To ensure your requested delivery date, we ask that all Polaris requests be submitted by Tuesday at 5p. The office will approve all orders in the system Wednesday mornings. If an order is submitted after Tuesday at 5p, we cannot guarantee the order will be approved by the ULAR deadline.

Ordering Alcohol

Please submit your order online  and enter Derrick Bowman, mboffice@lists.upenn.edu as the approver. You will get a confirmation of the order within 24 hours. Matt Pijak will deliver the alcohol to the lab.

Shared Services

The Department of Microbiology provides research support services for Principal Investigators through a cost-sharing mechanism. These services include in-house technical support, service contracts for shared equipment, maintenance of shared equipment including parts and supplies, dry ice, liquid nitrogen, and biohazard trash disposal.

Current rates for Shared Services can be provided by the Business Office.

ProCard Policy

There are a limited number of procards assigned to each department in the School of Medicine, and all departmental procards cards are currently assigned to existing faculty members. Those who currently hold a university procurement card in the department have the following responsibilities:

Secure the procard in a locked location so only the cardholder has access to the number. Before initiating a transaction, refer to the University commodity matrix  to confirm that a PO or c-form would be a more appropriate method of payment. Each time the procard is used, email MBoffice@lists.upenn.edu to verify the authorized charge. The email must contain the following information:

  • the name of the vendor,
  • the total purchase price of the item(s),
  • the grant/account where the charge should be allocated,
  • and the type of item which was purchased (ie. scientific supply, office supply, book, computer software). This information is needed to transfer the item to the correct account in a timely manner.

At the end of every month, each procard holder receives a financial statement. It is the responsibility of the procard holder to review this statement, sign it, and return it to the Administrative Office with attached invoices and packing slips; the business purpose should be written on each invoice. Tax should never be charged to procard transactions. If tax is charged the vendor needs to be contacted to credit the procard account. Please contact MBOffice@lists.upenn.edu for any transactions involving tax. All procard receipts must be saved for seven years. In the event of an audit, the procard holder is required to produce all receipts in an organized manner. Failure to follow the above rules will result in card privileges being revoked.

Travel and Expense Reimbursements

All travel and expense reimbursements are processed in CONCUR. The system can also be used to schedule flights, with no out-of-pocket to the traveler. Department specific requirements are listed below. These are in addition to University guidance. If you have questions about your request or need assistance, please contact MBOffice@lists.upenn.edu.

  • For travel requests, please ensure your ‘Travel Approver’ in your profile is listed as 40 PSOM Rachel Curran. This will ensure the fastest approval.
  • PI approval must be attached to all requests. For flight requests in Concur, please forward PI approval to MBOffice@lists.upenn.edu. The approval MUST include the detailed list of travel/other expenses and the fund being used
  • Business Justifications need to include the benefit of the purchase or travel directly related to the Lab. If using grant funding, you must also justify why this purchase/travel is necessary to further the research project.
  • Receipts must show status of PAID and SHIPPED; please do not attach invoices or receipts indicating ‘not yet shipped’.
  • For travel: reimbursements for costs other than registration will not be reimbursed prior to your return date.  When preparing your request, you must attach proof of attendance as an additional receipt. Example… ID badge, brochure, etc.
  • Expenses submitted more than 182 days after being incurred will not be reimbursed. Any exception requests should be sent to the Director, Academic Business Operations prior to submission in Concur, for review.

Travel Forms

Please visit the Travel Office's website  for more information.