Number: SOP-PURCH-02
Subject: Automatic Purchase Orders (APOs)
Summary: Describes when an order may bypass Purchasing review and how restricted purchases should be captured in BUY.IU.
Source: University Purchasing Department
Date of Issue: 07/03/2019
Date of Revision: 02/07/2025
Rationale
An Automatic Purchase Order (APO) is an order that bypasses review by Purchasing staff. APOs are reviewed by the FO Approval workflow step and Org Review workflow step, as applicable. Approvers in these workflow steps are responsible for ensuring the order complies with all IU policy, state, and federal rules and regulations. APOs are issued to the supplier after these department and organization workflow steps approve the requisition. Purchasing does not review these orders.
An order must meet the following criteria to qualify as an APO:
- Total cost is less than $50,000.
- Does not involve a restricted item as listed in this procedure.
- Does not involve a situation defined in SOP-PURCH-12: Purchasing Contracts and Signature Authority.
Departments may not split a high dollar (greater than $50,000) order into smaller orders to avoid Purchasing review. This process is known as “stacking” and is not permissible.
Procedure
Restricted items that required the "Order Restricted?" option
The goods and services listed in this procedure may be purchased with IU funds but require additional review by Purchasing. If an order involves any of the items listed below, the “Order Restricted?” option in the General section of the requisition must be marked and the “Order Restricted Reason” “Restricted Item” selected. These form options route the requisition to Purchasing for review.
- Cell phones
- Furniture, furnishings
- Gift cards purchased from a supplier other than the Blackhawk Network catalog.
- Online auction sites such as eBay, Etsy, etc.
- Vehicles including cars, boats, trailers, or any other type of equipment that requires a title
- Weapons, ammunition, or personal protection devices
- Software and Software as a Service (SAAS)
- Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS, drones)
System-enforced restrictions
Several APO restrictions are enforced via BUY.IU system rules. In these situations, the order is automatically routed to Purchasing due to completion of the Compliance section of the requisition or the commodity code or supplier record used on the order.
Review the “What’s Next?” part of the Summary Section of the requisition to determine if the order will route to Purchasing for review. Purchasing’s review is represented by a “Buy Desk” workflow step.
Change Log
| Date | Change description | Completed by |
|---|---|---|
| 02/07/2025 | Refined restricted list to reflect current processes. Removed outdated instructions. | Dawn Bodle, Sarah Chavez, Michelle Dugger, Jason Dunn, Kathi Sipes |