Question
: May purchase orders be approved by ASB when the vendor is listed as "TBD" (To Be Determined)? I am under the impression that P.O.’s must state specifically the vendor when they are approved by ASB. Can you provide some clarification please?Response: The following are good internal controls for organized ASB schools when it comes to purchases and purchase orders:
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The principal needs to ensure that all club members, teachers, and advisors understand that they cannot obligate ASB funds until a purchase order is prepared and approved by the student club representative, advisor and principal. For example, if a teacher places an order for materials without a purchase order that has the appropriate signatures, the teacher is responsible for paying for the goods.·
Each school should have a purchase order form for ordering goods for the various clubs. The purchase order form demonstrates that the proposed purchase has been approved by all of the appropriate staff members and students.·
When the purchase orders are printed, they should be pre-numbered or assigned a sequential number that is tracked in a purchase order log to track each document and transaction. The purchase orders should be printed with multiple copies for distribution:·
The first copy is retained by the club requesting the goods.·
The second copy is for the club or advisor to acknowledge the receipt of the goods. Whoever will physically receive the goods should keep this copy and upon receipt confirm its accuracy, annotate the date/time the goods were received, sign the copy and forward it to the ASB bookkeeper.·
The third copy is sent to the vendor.·
The fourth copy is retained by the ASB bookkeeper and attached to the receiving report when the ordered items are received.At a minimum, the purchase order should include the following:
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The name of the student club or organization that is requesting the materials. This is the group that the ASB bookkeeper will charge for the goods.·
The name and address of the vendor, if known.·
The quantity of goods, including a description and the cost. The requestor should also estimate the sales tax and shipping charges.·
Three required signatures. These three signatures meet the requirements for approval in Education Code Section 48933(b). These signatures must include a student representative, a board designee (principal) and a certificated advisor. Because the purchase order has the three required approvals, the check only needs to have two signatures.·
Before any club makes a commitment to purchase goods, it must prepare a purchase order and obtain all of the required approvals.The purchase order will include the name of the vendor that the item(s) will be purchased from 99.9% of the time. That should be the protocol and the requirement. But, there may be exceptions where the actual vendor might not be known, if for instance a staff member is getting permission to purchase decorations for an upcoming dance and although the list of items needed is known (and listed on the purchase order), the staff member wants to shop at several stores so that she can purchase the most inexpensive items, so it is impossible to know the final result of the "shopping". So putting "TBD" (or even better — listing the stores that will be shopped at, if at all possible) would be appropriate as the purchase order is being completed and approved prior to shopping, which is required by Education Code, and listing as many specifics as possible, even though the actual vendor(s) won’t be known until after the fact. Then, when the shopping is complete, the invoices would be attached to the approved purchase order and the purchase order can be updated to state the correct vendor(s).
8/29/08
