Frequently Asked Questions
Purchasing
# / Question / Answer / Date Posted
1 / Should agencies see Purchase Orders from multiple business units in the Purchase Order Dispatch report generated from the scheduled run of Purchase Order Dispatch? / Yes. Agencies should only print and dispatch those purchase orders for their business unit. For Vendors with a dispatch method of print and/or phone, Agencies will need to re-run Purchase Order Dispatch, specifying to run for only their business unit and/or for selected purchase orders. (See question #3 below.) This will produce a customized report without unwanted purchase orders. / 7/14
2 / What is the correct path to the worklist? / The Core-CT Financials worklist is accessed via the following navigation: Fin Worklist -> Worklist.
Clicking on the Worklist hyperlink in the header of the Core-CT Portal or navigating to Worklist -> Worklist will not bring the user to the correct worklist. / 7/14
3 / Should agencies be Dispatching their own Purchase Orders? / For Purchase Orders that are Dispatched by Print or Phone, Agencies need to run the Dispatch Process for these POs and transmit the purchase order form to the Vendor.
To dispatch POs, navigate to the Purchasing > Purchase Orders > Dispatch POs page. On the Run Control page, enter the correct Business Unit and in the Dispatch Methods to Include box, verify that only Print and Phone are checked (vendors will receive multiple copies of the purchase order if EDX, Email, or Fax are left checked). Also, select the Dispatched checkbox in the Statuses to Include box. After selecting all parameters, click the Run pushbutton, select the server of PSNT and the PO Dispatch/Print process and then the OK pushbutton. The user will be returned to the Run Control Page. Select the Process Monitor from the Run Control page and find the process instance for the initiated dispatch process. Once the Run Status is Success, click the Details link, click on the View Log/Trace link, and click on the PDF file. The PO Form will open and may be printed on a local printer. This information may then be transmitted to the vendor through the appropriate print or phone medium. (To avoid reprinting PO’s multiple times agency staff will need to narrow down the parameters, i.e. date range to the current date. Also, the test dispatch block should be unchecked.) / 7/16
4 / My Purchase Order says Unauthorized on the bottom even though it is an Approved PO? / To ensure that the Authorized Signature is populated in the Approved By section of an Approved or Dispatched PO, the PO must be printed from the Purchasing > Purchase Orders > Dispatch POs page. On the Run Control Page the Test Dispatch checkbox must be unchecked. If the PO is printed from the Purchase Order page, from the Purchasing > Purchase Order > Review Purchase Order > Print PO page, or if the Test Dispatch checkbox is checked, the PO will display Unauthorized even if it is an Approved PO. / 7/16
5 / When creating a new purchase order, what should I populate in the PO ID field on the Maintain Purchase Orders Page? / The PO ID should be ‘NEXT’ (which defaults in) when creating a new Purchase Order. By leaving the PO ID field as defaulted, the Purchase Order will be sequentially auto-numbered when initially saved. / 7/16
6 / What impact does changing the vendor location have on my Purchase Order? / The Vendor’s Email Address and Fax Number are assigned based upon each Vendor Location on a Vendor. If a Vendor is setup to receive purchase orders by the Email or Fax Dispatch methods, an overridden location potentially may not be setup with valid email and fax information. The user should verify that the new Vendor Location is setup with the correct Fax Number or Email Address or change the Dispatch to Print or Phone. To view this setup, navigate to Vendors->Vendor Setup/Maintenance->Vendor Information->Address Tab. Select the appropriate Address and verify the email and fax setup. / 7/16
7 / What transactions require a Contract/PO combination versus just a PO? / Legacy Core-CT
POS Reservation Contract & PO
PSA PS Encumbrance Contract & PO
MOU Transfer Invoice Contract & PO
RL RL Encumbrance Contract & PO
Any other legal document that requires signatures from both the vendor and the State. / 7/17
8 / What transactions would be considered a blanket PO in Core-CT? / Blanket PO’s would be used for transactions like utilities, fuel, and gas. The DPA for utilities is CGS with a line comment of 4a-57.
Blanket PO’s are not to be used for office supplies (i.e. Corporate express) or other commodities found in the item file. These may start as requisitions that will be sourced. / 7/17
9 / Is receiving required on services? Is there 2 way matching for services? Where do you mark receiving required? / On the PO Form page you must click on the 'Line Details' hyperlink to mark an item for receiving. In some cases the state does receive for some services: Janitorial, pest control, temporary help, rubbish removal. Also, when we install the UNSPSC we will be indicating if receiving is required by that code. If you need to change what is defaulted by the system, he/she can uncheck the receiving checkbox on the PO.
11 / Is there a maximum number of templates or favorites that you can enter? / No. You will be able to enter an unlimited number of favorites and templates.
12 / Do you get a message when contracts are close to expiration? What is the message? / Yes - if setup on the contract. You may specify the number of days prior to contract expiration that you want the notification to be sent. You also specify the Buyer that the notification is to be sent to.
13 / Can you search by item description for a PO or requisition? / No you can not search by item description for a PO or a requisition, but you can search the item catalog by item description to add items to a PO or a requisition.
14 / How do you receive for P-Cards? / You need to create the contract and issue a PO because the PO is the encumbering document. You can receive against the PO that has been created.
15 / Whose name appears on the PO besides the final approver? / A PO specifies the buyer and final approver. The buyer is listed in the upper right hand portion of the PO, where the final approver is noted on the lower portion of the PO.
16 / Will the contract number scheme relate back to the contract award? / Yes
17 / How do you know that there are problems with a vendor? / You should continue the complaint process with DAS, CRI Complaint Form.
If you entered a vendor into Core-CT and the vendor is not approved by OSC, you should look to the vendor conversations section of the vendor file to see what additional agency action may be required.
18 / What are the most common sourcing errors? / 1. The Contract has expired.
2. The Contract maximum amount has been reached.
3. Vendor item price is incorrect.
19 / Who monitors the PO dispatch process? / The General Buyer can run and monitor the PO dispatch process at each agency.
20 / Will the source document always show up on the PO? / The source document will show up on the requisition and contract. To see the source document for the PO the user must navigate to the 'Document Status' page.
21 / Can approvers add comments to a requisition or a purchase order when approving? / Yes, there will be a comments field available. The approver adds it on the Requisition Approval page. You get to this page by clicking the link on the worklist. When approving purchase orders, the worklist page takes you to the approval page.
22 / Is there a reason to give someone security access to both General and Casual receiver roles? / No. General Receivers have greater access than casual receivers. General Receivers can receive against any purchase order and also view the source documents. Casual Receivers can only see their own requisitions.
23 / What will the turnaround time be for vendor approval? / 4-48 hours - depending on the accuracy, completeness, and volume of vendor information entered.
24 / Can you do a search on the vendor's FEIN? / Yes. This is the vendor shortname field in Core-CT.
25 / How would you know if a dispatched PO has been rejected? / An error log will be generated that the General Buyer will need to monitor.
26 / How long can the budget approver change chartfield information? / The Budget Approver can change chartfield information at any point.
27 / If you have multiple vendors, how do you number future contracts? / When a contract is awarded to more than one vendor the following example should be followed for contract numbering (ie; The first contractor awarded would 02DOT0001AA, the second contractor awarded would be 02 DOT0001AB, and so on)
28 / Why can't services be entered in item file? / Currently, there is a 500k item limit.
29 / Will spec sheets be available for items (pictures)? / No due to security access.
30 / How will users be able to report on set-aside vendors? / A query has been developed that allows users to download information into an Excel spreadsheet and modify as appropriate.
31 / Why are contract numbers entered manually? / An intelligent naming convention has been put in place for contract numbers to allow agencies to easily identify contracts.
32 / Does the name of the vendor appear on the contract? / Yes, the name of the vendor and the vendor number appears on the contract.
33 / If the Amount Approver and the Budget approver are the same person in workflow will they have to approve the item twice? / No - it will only appear on their worklist once.
34 / If there are multiple Approvers in the same role - who approves it first? / Whoever gets to the requisition first. Once the req is approved - it will automatically disappear off of the other approvers' worklists who are in that same role.
35 / How will a user know if a vendor is a set aside vendor? Can inquiries be performed that identifies this information? / Users can go to the DAS website to verify if a vendor is a set aside vendor. An inquiry can be done on Core-CT once those vendors have been identified. On the Vendor Information page the user must click on the 'Government Classifications' hyperlink. When selecting an item all vendors offering the item are listed and those that are set aside are also identified.
36 / Who enters W-9 information into Core-CT? Does W-9 information need to be sent to OSC? / OSC will be verifying the vendor information entered, and it is the agency's responsibility to obtain the W-9 and forward this form to OSC when necessary. OSC will enter W-9 information into Core-CT.
37 / How should contracts be encumbered for a quarter, via a change order? / Contracts are not the encumbering transaction, a Purchase Order is the encumbering transaction. If additional funding needs to be added to a Purchase Order, a Purchase Order Change Order must be created.
38 / Do vendor forms need to be sent to OSC (ie: CO802A)? / The form that you are referring to is the Personal Services Agreement, in Core-CT this information will be entered as a Contract and a Purchase Order is to be created to encumber the funds.
39 / Will security access limit your view to vendors? / No, the vendors that are included in the State vendor file include all state vendors.
40 / What is the maximum amount of lines of coding that can be added to a requisition? / 99999
41 / Will we still need to do PO amendments when there is a change in dollar or hour amount of a service PO. If so, how is it done? / Yes, you will need to create a change order on the PO. This will require re-approval, budget checking and dispatch of the PO.
42 / When you save an item as a favorite, will the coding also be saved? Templates? / The coding will not be saved for favorites. For personal templates, coding will be saved. Using a personal template on a new requisition will copy in the coding/distribution information as well.
As far as Company Templates, we cannot specify the entire coding string when creating one. However we can specify an account code for each item in the template. For templates converted from DCC, if an account code is specified at the item level, then the conversion program will use that value on the company templates.
43 / Will the purchasing authorities be revised? / General Letter 71 was revised in November 2002. When an agency needs to invoke a subsection of the authority they would quote GL 71 a, b, c, d, e, f, or g. General Letter 71 can be found at the DAS website.
http://www.das.state.ct.us/Purchase/Info/GL_71.pdf
44 / Does the PO Balance Report show Account coding? Can this report be downloaded to Excel? / Yes, the report shows account coding. No, it cannot be downloaded to Excel.
45 / Contracts - Will the new system be able to cross reference the old contract number? / On the DAS web site there will be a cross reference for DAS contracts.
46 / Does training cover the SP-10 and ITAR process and explain that they essentially remain the same? / SP-10 and ITAR will continue outside of Core-CT. They do not go away.
47 / If an agency uses different funding sources to pay for something, can they default the percentage charge to each funding source? Then can it be defaulted by User ID? / Yes, through use of Speedcharts. May be setup by percentage to each funding source and re-used. This can not be defaulted by User ID.
48 / Is receiving required on services? Is there 2 way matching for services? Where do you mark receiving required? / On the PO Form page you must click on the 'Line Details' hyperlink to mark an item for receiving. In some cases the state does receive for some services: Janitorial, pest control, temporary help, rubbish removal. Also, when we install the UNSPSC we will indicate if receiving is required by that code. If you need to change what is defaulted by the system, the receiving checkbox on the PO can be unchecked.