In the Kuali Financial System (KFS), Blanket Order requests had been processed on a Purchase Agreement document. That process has changed, and Blanket Orders are now processed on a Requisition document.  

With the upcoming transition to Aggie Enterprise and the Oracle system, scheduled for January 2024, there are changes to the way Blanket Order requests are processed.

• What is a Blanket Order?
• Why the Change?
• New Process for Creating Departmental Blanket Orders
• Setting Up Accounts on Blanket Request
• No Change in Process for UC Systemwide and Campuswide Agreements
• KFS Purchase Agreement is Still Used in other Situations

What is a Blanket Order?

Blanket Orders are purchase agreements that allow a specific department(s) to purchase specific goods or services from a specific supplier for a specific period of time for a specific dollar amount.  A Blanket Order is generally set up by department when there isn't an existing university purchasing agreement that meets departmental business needs. 

An example Blanket Order might be where the Smith lab creates a Blanket Order for ongoing lab animal cage cleaning service for two years, not to exceed $15,000.

Why the Change?

Agreements in the Oracle system cannot be restricted to a specific department, so departmental blanket requests are set up outside of the agreement process, to ensure that only departments who should have access to the blanket order are able to purchase against the blanket order.    To prepare for the Oracle transition, the new Blanket Order process is to be used now in the Kuali Financial System (KFS).

Process for Creating Departmental Blanket Orders (Effective Now)

1. The department creates a Requisition Document.  In the Explanation field:
   • Identify it’s a Blanket Order request.
   • Include the specific terms and conditions and timeline (start and end date)
   • Enter the approximate total dollar amount expected to be spent on the Blanket Order.
2. Select the appropriate Item Type:
   • Qty should be selected when creating a blanket request where there is a fixed payment schedule (e.g., monthly payments), or a fixed number of discrete items that will be fulfilled on the blanket order
   • No Qty should be selected for other situations.
3. For encumbrance purposes for a multi-year request, the Requisition can be:
   • amended each year to encumber just the funds for the upcoming year, or
   • established for the full amount of the requested Blanket Order, encumbering all the funds at one time. 
4. For Blanket Order requests that are at or exceed the APO (Automatic Purchase Order) limit of $10K, or contain any restricted commodities, including most services, the Requisition routes to Procurement & Contracting Services where it is reviewed by a buyer, negotiated with the supplier, and a Purchase Order is issued to the supplier. 
5. Once the Purchase Order is issued, either by the system or the buyer, the department then contacts the supplier to make purchases against the approved Purchase Order, citing the PO number each time.
6. The supplier invoices the university, and central Accounts Payable processes the invoice to pay the supplier.

With this process, there is only ONE document, the Requisition, required to create a Blanket Purchase Order. And, purchases are made with the supplier, citing that Purchase Order number each time.

If your department needs to modify an existing KFS blanket agreement prior to January 2024, please complete the steps above.  

If you are not creating a new blanket request, or modifying an existing one, the steps above do not need to be completed at this time.  Purchases against previously-created blanket orders can continue to be processed with a Requisition citing the agreement number. 

• If you have an existing agreement that you wish to convert to the new format, please reference that existing agreement number in your Requisition request.

Refer also to the Oracle Purchase Order Transition Information to learn more about what KFS (AggieBuy) Purchase Orders and Purchase Agreements are transitioning to Oracle and how they will be used in Oracle.

Setting Up Accounts on Blanket Request

How a department sets up accounts on a blanket request is best determined in conjunction with the fiscal officer(s) assigned to the account(s) and/or the departmental business Management Services Officer (MSO).  A standardized approach per department is recommended, but there isn't a "one size fits all" solution or recommendation to how accounts are established.

• Some departments may prefer to do a change order each year to indicate the account(s) to be encumbered for just that fiscal year, while other departments may want to include all accounts up front for a multi-year order, encumbering all funds at one time. 
• There isn't a best practice recommendation, but following a departmental standard practice is helpful.

No Change in Process for UC Systemwide and Campuswide Agreements

There is no change to how campus and UC system-wide agreements are used; this change only impacts how departmental Blanket Orders are established, modified, and used.

Existing active KFS blanket agreements, as well campus-wide or UC system-wide agreements, will be automatically transitioned to Oracle in January 2024.  More information on how this transition will occur will be posted at a later date.

KFS Purchase Agreement is Still Used in other Situations

• The KFS Purchase Agreement document should continue to be used for the submission of
  • No Cost Agreements that require a university signature by a buyer in Procurement & Contracting Services, and
  • Revenue Agreements
  • Other Business & Revenue Contracts Agreements

Questions? Please contact procure-help@ucdavis.edu.