Automatic Purchase Order (APO) Limit

The Automatic Purchase Order (APO) limit is the amount that an Aggie Enterprise non-catalog Requisition can generate a Purchase Order (PO) without the requirement of a Buyer in Procurement & Contracting Services creating the PO on behalf of the department.

The APO limit is $49,999.99, effective Monday, May 4, 2026.

Overview of APO Limit

In Aggie Enterprise, a Purchase Order is automatically created after the non-catalog Requisition is fully approved by all other required approvers (including department financial approvers) when there are no restricted commodities, and the total dollar limit does not exceed the APO limit.

There isn't a document called an "Automatic Purchase Order." This term refers to the automatic creation of a Purchase Order in those cases where review and approval by a Buyer in Procurement & Contracting Services is not required before a Purchase Order is created.

What's Required for Purchases At/Below APO Limit?

Price justification is generally required for ALL purchases, including those at/below the APO limit.
Depending on the products and/or services being purchased, there may also be specific supporting documentation and Small Business First considerations.
- NOTE: With the recent APO Limit increase, many more purchases that once required Buyer involvement will now require that the Requisition initiator ensure that all the necessary documentation is included.
There may still be situations where a Requisition under $50K needs buyer review, such as in the case where a supplier is asking for a university signature on a document legally obligating the university to specific terms and conditions. In those cases, the Need Buyer Review box must be checked when completing the cart checkout process on the Requisition, to force route the Requisition to the Procurement & Contracting Services team.
Printed PO PDFs still need to be sent to supplier by the department when a buyer is not involved for non-catalog orders. There will be many more Requisitions that will fall into this category with the higher APO limit.

Requisition Routing

Aggie Enterprise Non-Catalog Requisitions at/below the APO limit	These requests do not route to Procurement & Contracting Services at/below the APO limit unless one of the following conditions is met: Restricted purchasing Category (such as for a repair or service) is cited, without citing an existing purchasing agreement. One of these special restricted* purchasing Category names is cited on the Requisition. regardless of whether an existing purchasing agreement is cited or not. Any purchasing Category using one of these applicable funds at or over $10K.
Capital Asset Purchases	The Capital Asset threshold is $5,000 ($4670 in Aggie Enterprise to account for applicable taxes). Non-catalog Aggie Enterprise Requisitions for capital assets at or above $5,000 and at/under the APO limit route to Equipment Management for review/approval but do not require approval by Procurement & Contracting Services, unless a restricted commodity is included on the Requisition as indicated above.
Procurement Card	The default purchasing limit on the Procurement Card is $9,999.99 (including tax, shipping and handling). Capital asset purchases are NOT allowed on the P-Card. Capital asset purchases are to be made in Aggie Enterprise. A request can be made for a higher-dollar card purchasing limit as needed.
Aggie Enterprise Catalog Orders	Catalog ordering is the preferred method of purchasing goods, supplies and capital assets. Routing to Procurement & Contracting Services for their review/approval occurs for orders at or above $50,000.

NOTES:

Artificially splitting a request to bypass/avoid the APO limit is prohibited per university policy.
Refer to UC Davis Procurement Policy 350-10 for more information.
Questions should be directed to the Procurement Help Desk.