Fluid Blanket Order Requisition in NUFinancials (Training Guide)

The Guide will walk a Requester through the process of creating a Fluid Blanket Order Requisition.

Fluid Blanket Order Requisition – Getting Started

What is a Blanket Requisition?

A type of requisition that is created to encumber 'up front' an estimated or actual amount for a service, agreement or contract to which payments are made on an ongoing basis. When an invoice is received, payments are authorized by receiving the amount of the invoice on the blanket requisition.

What rules apply to blankets?

• If $25,000 or more, requires a BD-1 (Bid Document) or SSJ-1 (Sole Source Justification).
• All blankets are routed to PPS (Procurement and Payment Services) for approval regardless of dollar amount.
• Changes to POs (Purchase Order) need to be requested using the Change Order Request Process or the Change Order Form (which will route to PPS for processing).

When should you create a blanket requisition?

When should a blanket not be created?

• Not to be used as an open line of credit to purchase non-specific goods or services in the absence of an agreement or contract.
• Not to be used for one-time service.
• Not to be used to facilitate the use of phone orders.

 

Step 1: Create a Fluid Blanket Requisition

Navigate to Fluid Non-Catalog Requisitions

1. Log in NUFinancials.
2. If it's not already selected, select the Employee Self Service Home Page from the drop-down menu.

3. Click the eProcurement tile.

 

4. Click Create Requisition tile.

5.  Click Special Requests to create a blanket requisition.

Step 2: Enter Standard Non-Catalog Information Fields

Item Details:

These fields provide information that NUFinancials includes on the purchase order after the requisition is approved. Fields that are denoted by the asterisk * are required.

1. Enter *Item Description. (The description you enter should match the source description of the product)
2. Enter *Price. (Zeros after the decimal are automatically added if you do not provide them)
3. Enter *Quantity. (For all blanket requisitions, ALWAYS enter 1)
4. Click the *Unit of Measure magnifying glass to open a Look Up window.

5. Enter the first two letters of the unit into the Unit of Measure field.
   • Alternatively, click the magnifying glass to see the list.
6. Expand the Search Criteria to search.
7. Select the Unit of Measure for your desired measurement. (For all special requisitions, always enter EA)
8. Click the Category magnifying glass to look up the categories.

9. Click the Category link that best describes the kind of non-catalog item you are requisitioning (see example):

  

 

Supplier Information

10. Click the Supplier ID magnifying glass to run a search for the supplier directly from this field.
11. Click the triangle to expand the Search Criteria section to search by Supplier Name. Enter the name of the Supplier that you need in the Supplier Name. Then Click Search.
    • If the supplier is found but the address is wrong, update the address through Supplier Change Request process.
    • If no results are found for your supplier, you can request to add the supplier to NUFinancials using Supplier Registration process.
12. Click the Supplier ID/Supplier to select the Supplier.
13. For the Supplier Location field, click the Location magnifying glass to run a search for the supplier location directly from this field.

 

14. In Supplier Item ID, type the supplier catalog identification, if applicable. This could be the catalog number, quote number, or other unique identifier provided by the supplier. Not all suppliers utilize a supplier catalog ID, so you may not need to enter it.

Not all suppliers utilize a supplier catalog ID, so you may not need to enter it.

 

Manufacturer Section-NOT in use.

 

Additional Information Section

15. Optional: Enter comments into Additional Information. Comments are applicable to the line item and not the entire requisition.
16. Click the Send to Supplier checkbox ONLY if the comments should be sent to the vendor on the purchase order.

• Show at Receipt box is not typically used or generally recommended.
• Show at Voucher is not used.

17. Click Add to add the item to your shopping cart.

  

18.  Your item will appear in the shopping cart icon at the top right.
19. When you are finished adding line items, click Checkout at the top of the page.

  

Step 3: Checkout

The Checkout step is where you enter ship to codes, chart strings, budget check, and save and submit the requisition.

1. Enter Requisition Name beginning with BLK or other naming convention as determined by your school/department so it is easily recognizable as a blanket when viewing your list of requisitions (maximum of 30 characters).
2. Select Requisition Type as BLK, the Blanket Order type.

Note: All Blanket Requisitions will automatically be placed on "Hold From Further Processing" and will not be automatically dispatched to the Supplier.

Requisition Lines Section

Optional: Adding Attachments

3. To add an Attachment, click the Line Comments button below the line item.
   • Click Add Attachment > My Device > Select File > Open > Upload > Done.
4. Once you’ve uploaded the attachment, click Done.

 

Step 4: Enter Ship to Codes and Chart String Fields

Schedule Details (Within Requisition Overview Lines Section)

All chart strings utilize Fund, Dept, and Account codes, at minimum. If you do not know which chart string to use, see your manager.

1. To view the hidden section that contains the Ship to and chart string fields for a line item, click the Schedule Details next to that line item in order to open the section.

2. Click the magnifying glass next Ship To.

3. A lookup window appears. Expand the Search Criteria section to search by Ship to Location or Description.
4. Click Search and select the appropriate Ship to Location.

5. At this time, you can input the Attention To field, if it hasn’t already populated with the correct name.
6. Under Distributions, enter chart string fields for a line item, click Chartfields2.

7. In Fund, enter the Fund code.
8. In Department, enter the Department code.
9. In Account, enter in the Account code.
10. To add another Chart String, click on the "+" sign at the end of the Chart String row.

11. Click the Line Details tab.
12. Click the triangle to expand the Item Additional Information section.
13. Switch the Amount Only toggle to Yes.

14. A pop-up message appears regarding setting the quantity of the line to 1. click Yes.

15. Click Done when all information has been entered.

Step 5: Adding Comments and Check Budget

Adding Comments

1. Header Comments:  Enter a Comment to explain the reason you are creating a requisition, and any other information that will assist in getting the requisition approved.  For example: Office Supplies as requested by Professor Smith.
2. Justification Comments. Enter a Comment to explain the reason you are creating a blanket requisition, the length of time the service covers, and any other information that will assist in getting the blanket approved.  For example:  Blanket for cell phone services for 24 months as requested by Professor Smith. Comments entered here will be viewable on the Approval Pages for PPS and all other Approvers.
3. Click Save. Requisition ID is assigned.

Check Budget

1. Once Requisition is saved, click Checkout.
2. Check Budget.
   • The budget check ensures the chart string(s) is valid and has no spending controls against it that would prevent you from submitting the requisition.
   • Successful budget checking pre-encumbers or earmarks the funds.

3. A pop-up message appears regarding budget checking the transaction. Click Yes.

  

5. When finished budget checking, click Checkout. A Budget Check Status should now appear.

  

Step 6: Submit Requisition for Approval

1. Click Submit.

2. After you submit your requisition, a Checkout Confirmation page appears.
   • The Requisition ID is available on this page. This is for internal use ONLY.
3. The Requisition is submitted to workflow for approval. Click View Approval Chain to view approval workflow.
   • See the Approvals and Workflows articles for more information.

Appendix

Line Defaults

• In Default Settings (at top), Line Defaults may be used for non-catalog requisitions only -- do not use Line Defaults for catalog requisitions
• Enter applicable defaults for Supplier, Buyer, Category, Unit of Measure, Ship To, and/or Attention.
• If you use Line Defaults, it is not necessary to re-enter the same information in subsequent steps.

 Comments

• Requisition Header Comments on the Checkout page is where you enter comments that pertain to the requisition as a whole. If using these Comments to communicate to Approvers, ensure comments are entered in the Approval Justification comment box.

Shipping Charges

• Do not add a Line Item for charges associated with shipping, freight, or transport of goods.
• When an invoice is received, Accounts Payable will enter exact shipping charge which will be pro-rated across all chart strings in the requisition.
• Shipping charges do not impact matching tolerance thresholds, so it is not necessary to enter estimated charges at the requisition level.

 Ship To Codes

• If a ship-to location needs to be added or modified, fill out the Ship To Code Request Form located at NUPortal > Financials > Purchasing > Purchasing Resources and Forms.
• A list of ship-to codes with addresses is also available at NUPortal > Financials > Purchasing > Purchasing Resources and Forms.

 

FAQs

 

What should I do if my ‘Ship To’ code keeps disappearing?

Go to Requisition Settings and enter the Ship To code from there. This will allow you apply the Ship To for each Line.

What happens if you click the backspace button multiple times while creating a Requisition?

If you click your backspace button multiple times to erase information while creating a requisition, you may get kicked out of the requisition and your requisition will not be saved. Please remove the information that you wish to delete using NUFinancials funtionality.

How do I go back to fix my line item information for a Non-Catalog Requisition?

To fix the Line information for a Non-Catalog requisition, click on the hyperlink description of the line item, make your changes to the line information, and then click ‘Apply’ to save the changes.

What Happens when I forget to enter a requisition name in the Requisition Name field?

If you do not enter the Requisition Name when on the Summary Requisition page, the Requisition ID generated by the system, will automatically populate the Requisition Name field.

What should I do if the Budget check status is invalid or error?

If you get an error on the Budget Validation Status, review the following link for more information about the error: https://services.northwestern.edu/TDClient/30/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=1186

 

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For additional assistance please contact the IT Support Center at 847-491-4357 (1-HELP) or email consultant@northwestern.edu.