Standard Non-Catalog Requisitions in NUFinancials

The Guide will walk a Requester through the process of creating a Standard Non-Catalog Requisition.

Non-Catalog Requisition – Getting Started

 Are attachments required for a non-catalog requisition?

• BD-1 or SSJ-1 is required for non-catalog requisitions (excluding grant subcontract requisitions) of $25,000 or more. See the NUPortal under the Purchasing tab to find these forms.
• PPS approves requisitions of $25,000 or more.

Who creates non-catalog requisitions?

• Users with the Requester procurement security role.

What is a non-catalog requisition?

• A purchase request for goods or services not found in iBuyNU. Approved requisitions are automatically sourced into one or more purchase orders by NUFinancials.
• To learn how to complete a special non-catalog requisition including a blanket, grant-subcontract, or Receive by Dollar Amount requisition, see the training materials under FMS803 Requester Basic Topics > Non-Catalog Requisitions.

Step 1: Create a Standard Non-Catalog Requisition

Navigate to Standard Non-Catalog Requisitions

1. Log in NUFinancials.
2. Click the Requisition tile.

 

3. Click Create New Requisition.

 

4.  Click Special Requests to create a non-catalog 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. (The quantity must be at least 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 Look Up to see the list.
6. Click Look Up.

7. Select the Unit of Measure for your desired measurement.
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 Name magnifying glass to run a search for the supplier directly from this field.

11. Enter the name of the Supplier in the Name field.
12. Click the Supplier ID link to select the Supplier.

  

13. 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

14. Optional: Enter comments into Additional Information. Comments are applicable to the line item and not the entire requisition.
15. 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.

16. Click Add to Cart to add the item to your shopping cart.

 

 

17. Your item will appear at 1 Line next to the shopping cart icon at the top.
18. When you are finished adding line items, click Checkout at the top of the page.

 

Step 3: Checkout/Enter Ship to Codes

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

1. Enter Requisition Name (maximum of 30 characters).
2. Requisition Type defaults to Standard Requisition (ONL); no action is required unless you wish to:
   •  Hold PO from Further Processing. Please refer to the Appendix for more information regarding Hold PO for Further Processing.

 

Requisition Lines Section

Optional: Adding Attachments

3. To add an Attachment, click the Add button next to the comment bubble.
   1. Click Add Attachment > Choose File > Upload.
4. Once you’ve uploaded the attachment, click

Ship to Codes

5. To view the hidden section that contains the Ship to and chart string fields for a line item, click the triangle next to that line item in order to expand the section.

6. Click the magnifying glass next to *Ship To to look up the ship to code.

A Look Up window appears.

• In the Description field, type the first letters of the department name.
• Click Look Up.
• Click the Ship To Location code that matches your department. If there is more than one location for your department, select the one that designates the appropriate drop-off location / delivery point.

 

  At this time, you can input the Attention To field, if it hasn’t already populated with the correct name.

 

Step 4: Enter Chart String Fields

Accounting Lines Section (Within Requisition 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 chart string fields for a line item, click the triangle next to Accounting Lines.
2. Then, click Chartfields2.

 

3. In Fund, enter the Fund code.
4. In Dept, enter the Department code.
5. Scroll right to view Account. In Account, enter in the Account Code.
6. To add another Chart String, click on the "+" sign at the end of the Chart String row.

 

Step 5: Adding Comments and Check Budget

1. Requisition 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.  Approval Justification. If you want your comments viewable on the Approval Pages for PPS and all other Approvers, you should enter Comments in the ‘Approval Justification’ section.
3. Scroll down and Click 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.

 

4. A pop-up message appears regarding saving and budget checking the transaction. Click OK.

 

5. When finished budget checking, a Budget Checking Status appears.

6. Click Save & Submit.

  

Step 6: Save & Submit

1. After you save and submit your requisition, a Confirmation page appears.

• The Requisition ID is available on this page. This is for internal use ONLY.
• The Requisition is submitted to workflow for approval.

See the Approvals and Workflows guides for more information.

     

Appendix

Line Defaults

• In Requisition 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 in Review and Submit 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 available on the Information Technology Website > Financial Management Systems Security Access Forms > Ship To Codes

Chart Strings

Entering a Chart String

Use for Single Line Item requisition and Single Chart String.

• Click on Triangle/Arrow next to Accounting Lines
• Click on Chartfields2 to fill in the Fund, Dept, Project/Activity (when applicable), and Account Codes.

 

Mass Change function for Chart String

Use to apply chart string information to multiple line items, if the same chart string information is used for more than one item.

• Click on Mass Change

 

• In Shipping Information section, complete the shipping address for the line items.
• Fill in the GL Unit, which is always NWUNV

• Click Chartfields2 and complete the Chart String

• Click back to Chartfields1 and complete the Account code.

• Click OK.

Choose the appropriate Distribution Line in the prompt box:

Add an additional chart string to a single line item (distributed purchase):

• Click the + to create an additional line. You can add this line in either Chartfields1 or Chartfields2.

Chartfields1: Complete the Percent of distribution between the two lines when sharing the same Chart String information.

 

Chartfields2: Complete the Chart String information.

 

Hold PO from Further Processing

• Hold PO from Further Processing will be automatically applied to Blanket Order Requisitions and Grant Subcontract Requisitions.
• There is no Hold PO from Further Processing for Receive by Dollar Amount Requisitions.
• To Hold PO from Further Processing on Standard Non-Catalog Requisitions, you must select that option in Requisition Type:

 

Completion of Requisition Header Comments is also required and includes:

• The reason why you are putting the PO on Hold
• What action you want taken with the PO
• Why you need to prevent the system from automatically sending the PO to the vendor. 

Requisition Settings

This setting is used when you want to create multiple lines with the same supplier and chartstring information in the requisition.

Requisition Settings will help you:

• Apply consistent information to all lines entered.
• Reduces the risk of entering the wrong Supplier or Supplier Location.
• Makes the overall process of creating a requisition much clear. 

1. Click on Requisition Settings from they Create Requisition Page.

 

 The Requisition Setting page will appear.

2. Enter Requisition Name.
3. Click on the search icon Requisition Type.
4. Select a Requisition Type that best describe the transaction.

 

5. Under Line Defaults, click on the search icon in the Supplier field to enter the Supplier information.

6. Enter the supplier name in the Name field.

7. Click Find.

 

The search result will appears.

8. Click on the Supplier ID link from the search results.

 

9. The Supplier ID and Supplier Location is automatically populated.

10. Click the Category magnifying glass to look up categories.
    • You can also scroll down the list and choose a category.
11. Click the Category link that best describes the kind of non-catalog item you are requisitioning.

 

12. Click on the search icon by the Unit of Measure field.

13. Enter the first two letters of the unit into the Unit of Measure
    • Alternatively, click Look Up to see the list.
14. Click Look Up.
15. Select the Unit of Measure for your desired measurement.

   

16. Enter the ‘Ship To’ code in the Ship To
    • Alternatively, click on the search icon > select the Ship To code link/ enter the description in the description field > click Look Up.

 

17. Under Distribution Details, enter the Account

 

18. Click on Chartfield2.
19. Enter the Fund
20. Enter the Department

 

21. Click OK.

 

 

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 highlight the information that you wish to delete, and then click on ‘Delete’.

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 description of the line item and it will take you back to the Create Requisition page, make your changes to the line information, and then click ‘Apply’ to save the changes.

Why do I get the following message when I flag the Amount Only check box on the line details page?

This message is received when users flag the ‘Amount Only’ check box on the Line Details page before adding the Chartstring information.  In order to avoid this message, please add the line Chartstring information before flagging the Amount Only check box on the Line Details page.

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://www.northwestern.edu/financial-operations/policies-procedures/FAQ.pdf.

 

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