iProc FAQs

Anyone can become a Requisitioner, if their line manager feels that it is appropriate for them to do so. A form is available here to request access as a Requisitioner, along with instructions for completion.

Request Access to iProcurement.

The person who requires the goods or services will always be the Requisitioner. However they can use a Preparer to create and manage Requisitions on their behalf. When operating as a Preparer it is important that default settings such as Delivery Location and Finance Codes are set to the correct details for the Requisitioner, and that the Requisition is routed to the correct Approver via the Requisitioner's Hierarchy.

Requisitions (and invoices where needed) should be Approved by the person accountable for the budget used. Each Requisitioner has a position in a Hierarchy of users and their completed Requisition will default in the first instance to the person immediately above them. If the Requisition value is higher than the Approval limit of the first level in the Hierarchy it will move upwards through the Hierarchy until Approval authority is met.

If the default Approver is planning to be off they should redirect their Approvals sideways to another Manager at the same level in their Section or Directorate. Please note that Approval rights cannot be delegated downwards. If the default Approver is absent unexpectedly the Requisitioner can use Manage Approvals to direct the Requisition to an alternative Approver. All Approvers, but particularly alternative Approvers, must satisfy themselves that the Requisition or Invoice is appropriate prior to approving.

Approval rights control the value level that a person can authorise, and also the Finance Codes that a person can authorise. These have been set up in a way that all Team Leaders in a Section can Approve each other’s Requisitions, all Managers in  Directorate can approve each other’s Requisitions, and all Directors can approve each other’s Requisitions.

Any Approval requests which are not completed will escalate to the next level in the Hierarchy, culminating at the Chief Executive. It is therefore very important that Approval requests are not left unprocessed!

Catalogue items:
A fixed list of goods or services  available through a contract, from a named supplier, at an agreed price. Items are selected from a Search results list and added to the Shopping Cart. As the conditions are pre-agreed Corporate Procurement will only require to approve Purchase Orders for contracted goods if the value is above a pre-defined threshold, or if a Requisition exceeds the agreed total value of the contract.

Contracted items:
An agreement with a named supplier, or suppliers, to supply agreed goods or services at an agreed price or rate, but where the nature or complexity of the goods or services covered prevent a catalogue from being offered. A Smart Form will be used to order Contract items. As the conditions are pre-agreed Corporate Procurement will only require to approve Purchase Orders for contracted goods if the value is above a pre-defined threshold, or if a Requisition exceeds the agreed value of the contract.

Items purchased following a Quick Quote or Tender Process are classed as contracted items.

Non-Contract Requisition items:  
Where a user wishes to request goods or services for which there is no recognised contract they must use the Non-Contract Request store. A number of Smart Forms can be found there. All non-contract requests are passed to Corporate Procurement for Purchase Order approval.

No personal or confidential information should be attached directly to the documents in the iProc system. A process has been created where a Requisition will be created in iProcurement but the Purchase Order will be emailed to the Requisitioner. The Requisitioner will forward the PO along with the additional personal or confidential information.

Please discuss this with the iProc Support Team as some special configuration is required.

Enter the best estimate you can at the Requisition stage. If a final price is agreed between you and the supplier the Requisition can be amended and an updated Purchase Order issued. If not, and the invoice total is higher than the Purchase Order it will be routed to you for approval.

Simply create the Requisition as usual, in plenty of time. When you receive confirmation of your booking carry out the receipt and the invoice will be paid in the usual way when it arrives in Accounts Payable.

Please note that advance payments are not usual practice and should only be used in exceptional circumstances. Please contact a Procurement Advisor before agreeing this process with a supplier.

All goods or services must be receipted in iProc before an invoice can be paid. Remember invoices are sent directly to AP and the receipt is part of the 3-Way-Match process.

If you have not receipted goods received when an Invoice is entered by AP then an alert will be generated and emailed to you daily until the receipt is completed.

If a receipt has taken place but there is a mis-match between goods receipted and goods Invoiced then a Notification will be sent asking you to take action. This will be to either correct the Receipt, or to Reject the Invoice.

This situation might arise in respect of council house repairs; road works; supply of household goods to Homeless people; or other circumstances. Normal goods must usually be delivered to council premises.

In each case of external delivery, a process should already exist to confirm that the correct items have indeed been delivered or works completed. Once this has taken place simply receipt the items within the system as usual.

Generally information to describe the goods or services required should be contained in the Requisition / Purchase Order line. However it is also possible to attach a document with additional details. In the  Attachment Summary Information, in the Category field, be sure to select To Supplier.

Please note however that a separate process is in place where data sent to the supplier is classed as personal or confidential data. Please see the relevant FAQ above.

There are two things you can do here:

• Search for the item, select it and Add to Favourites.  Later select this from the Shopping Lists tab, add to your Shopping Cart and Checkout as usual
• Select a previous Requisition for the same items and select Copy to Cart. Checkout as usual. This will also copy through delivery location and Finance Codes.

A Funds Check can be carried out by either the Requisitioner or the Approver:

• Requisitioner. On the first page of checkout select the Charge Account and then select Check Funds. This is the best place to carry out this check, and notify the Approver if the results are negative
• Approver. At the Approval stage you can select Edit Requisition, about midway down the page. Then select Approver Checkout, select the charge account and select Check Funds. You have the right to change the charge account if you wish. Whether or not you make any changes select Apply and continue through the Checkout process to  Submit,  and then Continue. This will return you to the Approval  notification.

A Requisition, or Requisition line, can easily be cancelled before a Purchase Order is created and issued.

It can also be cancelled after a PO has been issued, but only with the prior knowledge and agreement of the Supplier as no notification will be sent to the Supplier.

In each case simply open the Requisition, select the line or lines to be cancelled, enter a reason for the cancellation, and click on the Cancel button.

Any remaining lines on a Requisition / PO can be Receipted and Invoiced as usual.

A change can be made to  Purchase Order and this confirms a change that has already been discussed and agreed between yourself and the Supplier. If there is a significant change this is good practice but the original goods must not have been delivered and the Supplier must be aware that this is a revision and not an additional PO.

A new document will be issued to the Supplier with the same Purchase Order number but with a new revision number. The PO Number will change from 30000001/0 to 30000001/1, meaning Revision 1 of PO number 30000001. If the original goods have already been delivered then an additional Requisition should be raised.

To initiate a change find and open the original Requisition and click Change to change one or more requisition Lines. Quantity can be changed on any item and Price can be changed on any non-catalogue item. Catalogue prices cannot be changed as these are pre-negotiated by Corporate Procurement.

A reason for the change must be provided, and this is sent on to the Supplier.

All Purchase Orders now contain an Invoice Address (Bill-To address) of Accounts Payable. 

AP staff will enter the Purchase Order number and match the Invoice to both the Purchase Order and the items Receipted. If this produces a clean 3-Way-Match then the invoice is released for payment. If not, the Invoice is put On Hold and routed to the Requisitioner and/or Approver who will be asked to take further action to Approve or Reject the Invoice.

More information on Invoice Holds is available elsewhere in the FAQs list.

No. Only processes where  goods or services are being provided will be managed through iProcurement

All suppliers are being asked to provide details for BACS payment. This is a more secure, faster and lower cost method of payment which benefits Suppliers as well as the council, and cheques should only be used in exceptional circumstances.

Before an Invoice is available for Payment through iProc there must be a 3-Way-Match, which means that the Price and Quantity must match between 3 documents – the Purchase Order; the Receipt and the Invoice.

If there is a difference in the Quantity Receipted and the Quantity Invoiced this must be corrected before the system will release the Invoice for Payment.

For other types of discrepancy, eg Price increase from PO to Invoice, or Quantity from PO to Invoice, these may be Approved online and the Invoice released for Payment.

Further information on Hold types is available elsewhere in the FAQs list.

If the 3-Way-Match of PO / Receipt / Invoice does not happen the Invoice is put on Hold, and further action is required. A Hold can be Quantity or Price but details will be included in the Notification you receive.

Quantity Hold:
This is due to a difference between the number of items Ordered and the number Invoiced OR between the number Receipted and the number Invoiced. A price increase on an Amount Based Order will also be treated as a Quantity Hold. Any variance between the number Receipted and the Number Invoiced must be corrected by the Requisitioner before the Invoice will be released for payment. In addition any resulting increase in price above the pre-defined variance thresholds must be Approved by the Requisition Approver before payment can be made.

Price Hold:
This is due to a difference between the Purchase Order price for an item or items and the actual Invoice price. Any variance above the pre-defined variance thresholds must be Approved by the Requisitioner and Approver before payment can be made.

More details on Hold types is available elsewhere in the FAQs list.

The following Holds may be applied where a 3-Way-Match does not exist:

Quantity Holds 

• Qty Ord: Quantity Billed exceeds Quantity Ordered. Where the number of items Invoiced and Receipted match, but exceed the number Ordered, this must be Approved by the Requisitioner and Requisition Approver before it can be released, due to the resulting cost increase. Once Approved by both users the Workflow will release the Invoice for Payment.
• Qty Rec: Quantity Billed exceeds Quantity Received.  Where the number Invoiced exceeds the number Receipted, this must be corrected on the Requisition and Approved by the Requisitioner.  As the number Invoiced does not exceed the number Ordered then no further action is required.
• Qty Rec AND Qty Ord: Where both of the above exist on the same invoice, ie where number Ordered and the number Receipted match, but the number Invoiced is higher; the number Receipted must be corrected AND the resulting price increase must be Approved by the Requisition Approver. Once Approved the Workflow will release the invoice for Payment.

Price Holds

• Price: Invoice Price exceeds Purchase Order Price. This must be Approved by the Requisitioner and Requisition Approver before it can be released. Once Approved the Workflow will release the Invoice for Payment.

Invoice Rejection

Where any of the above Holds are applied but you have not received additional goods or services, or do not accept that any price increase is justified, then the Invoice should be Rejected through the Notification. This triggers an email to the Supplier alerting them to the rejection and advising them to contact the Requisitioner.

No. Good practice requires us to provide a written record, both for ourselves and for the supplier, of the goods or services requested. This avoids any doubt when an invoice is received whether the amount is correct or not.

Instead of phoning you will type up a Requisition which will be turned into a Purchase Order and emailed to the Supplier.

No, iProc expects an Invoice and an external Payment. Internal charges continue to be managed by Journal Transfers.

This is no longer necessary. One of the big advantages of iProc is that all spend committed through Requisitions and Purchase Orders is captured directly in the General Ledger. Your budget reports will now show Committed as well as Actual spend.

When emergency situations arise out of hours you should take action as required, just as you do now. However, the next day you should raise a Requisition in iProc to cover the goods or services requested, noting that an offline conversation has already taken place.

Contract Requisitions

You do not need to get multiple quotations for any items available through a Contract. However if there is no Catalogue available you may need to contact the supplier for a price for the specific goods or services you require. Some further information is available in the Contracts(link is external) area of the Hub on individual  contracts.

For any purchase above £16,500 where there is no Contract in place, contact Corporate Procurement for guidance on Tenders and Quick Quotes.

Non-Contract Requisitions

For any Non-Contract Requisition under £16,500 in value 4 quotations must be sought and details attached to the form - completing the text box will not suffice. A quotation may be verbal or written and telephone quotations are sufficient for goods valued under £5,000, however you must detail all your quotations in a document and attach this to the Requisition. For goods or services valued at or above £5,000 written quotations are required, which may include an email response. If 4 responses are not received this information should be included in your attachment, to inform the Corporate Procurement team.

Are you going to be off on holiday or for any other reason? Remember to set Vacation Rules so that notifications are not held up in your absence.

Delegate your iProcurement activities to someone on the same level as yourself to ensure that they are authorised to take appropriate action on your behalf. Do not delegate to a lower level in the organisation.

Instructions are available to read on how to set up Vacation Rules.

If you become aware that a Notification has been sent to a person who is absent there are short-term and long-term solutions to the problem

Changing the Approver for a Requisition

If you have sent a Requisition for Approval and then realise the Approver is not available simply use the Change function to recall the Requisition. This will withdraw it from the Approval process and you can then complete the Checkout process again use the Manage Approvals function to select a different Approver.

However if this is a higher level Approver and you are reluctant to start the process again at the beginning then contact iProc Support with the name of the new Approver and we can re-route the notification.

Changing the Approver for an Invoice

If an invoice has been routed for Approval to a member of staff who is not available due to unplanned absence contact iProc Support with the name of a suitable alternative Approver and we can re-route the Notification for you.

Using Worklist Access to process Notifications

For a longer term solution you can set up access to each other's Worklists. Your Worklist in iProc is the list of Notifications sent to you by the system, sometimes for information only, and sometimes requesting that you take action.

The Worklist Access  feature allows you to grant and be granted access to other people’s worklists, just like sharing your email or calendar with others. This allows one member of a team to view and action notifications sent by the system to other members of the team.

We recommend that team members grant access to each other to allow action to be taken when a person is absent.  However you should only share this access with people who have the same approval authority as yourself, for example, requisitioners with other requisitioners and Team Leaders with other Team Leaders. 

The Oracle Finance system has been configured for paying invoices for many years, but has not been configured for purchasing, which is quite different. Procurement and AP staff have been contacting suppliers for the past year to request the additional information necessary to upgrade the supplier to a purchasing site but not all suppliers have responded.

If you have previously used a supplier then contact the iProc Support team iproc.support@eastdunbarton.gov.uk who will contact the supplier for the information needed to upgrade their record.

You will not be able to place the order until this has been completed.

If a new supplier has to be set up on iProc then contact iProc Support Team iproc.support@eastdunbarton.gov.uk. Corporate Procurement will confirm that a contracted supplier is not available and then issue the new supplier with a form which collects all the details needed to set them up on the system for both purchasing and payment.

You will not be able to place your order until this process has been completed.