Purchase Goods & Services between $500 – $5,000

Check with the country program (or regional office, if there is no CP) before implementing this procedure.  They may have established value limits and processes that are different from the ones we describe here.

Process Outline

  1. Requester submits approved Purchase Requisition Form to Procurement Department.
  2. For purchases of $1000+, the Procurement department gets at least 3bids when possible, to maximize competition to a reasonable extent (Bid Request Form).  Vendors can email or fax bids back to CRS.  Bids do not have to be sealed.
  3. Procurement department puts all information about those bids on a Bid Comparison Form.  You do not need a bid committee.
  4. Procurement department brings Bids and Bid Comparison Form to Approval Authority and Requester.
  5. Approval Authority, Requester, and Procurement Staff Person discuss the options and make a decision.
  6. Approval Authority writes the decision about where to purchase on the Bid Comparison Form.  If they decide not to buy from the bidder with the lowest price, the Approval Authority writes the reason why on the form.
  7. Approval Authority signs Bid Comparison document as approved.
  8. Procurement department fills out a Purchase Order for the vendor selected on the Bid Comparison Form, and has the Approval Authority sign it.  Procurement Officer brings the Purchase Order to the Vendor, gets Vendor signature, and arranges for pick up or delivery of item(s).
  9. Items are delivered to or picked up by Receiving Staff, not Procurement Staff.  This is because of the need to segregate duties.  See here for instructions on Receiving items in the office.

Forms

Purchase Requisition Form (PRF)

PRF Log

Purchasing File Contents Sheet

Bid Request Form

Bid Comparison Form

Purchasing Research Notes Template

Purchase Order

Process Outlines for Other Values

< $50

$50 – $500

$500 – $5,000 (this page)

> $5,000