Procurement– a trending topic discussed by organizations implementing the Uniform Guidance Procurement Standards. Governmental, not-for-profit and higher education organizations are searching for answers around questions resulting from this implementation.
The procurement standards under Uniform Guidance went into effect for fiscal years beginning on or after December 26, 2017. So, organizations with 2018 calendar year ends or fiscal years ending in 2019 now have new documented policies in places for five specific areas of procurement. These five areas relating to:
- Micro-purchases
- Small Purchases
- Sealed bids
- Competitive Bids
- Noncompetitive proposals
Implementation Challenges
As we all know, with change comes challenge. Organizations now face unanticipated obstacles in their operations as a result of the implementation of the Uniform Guidance procurement standards. Procurement departments are reevaluating their processes and resources to answer the following questions.
- Procurement department infrastructure:
- Do we enough staff on hand to support these new procedures?
- Have we evaluated organizational spending to see where these changes apply?
- Are we well equipped with the knowledge to effectively operate under these guidelines?
- Solicitation requirements:
- Where will we house solicited bids and for how long? [link to gated document retention guidelines]
- What defines an ‘adequate number’ of bids?
- What are the cost analysis requirements and how do you ‘negotiate profit’?
- What is the best way to include SMWBEs as part of the solicitation process?
- Do we need pre-qualified vendor lists? How do we maintain these?
- State-by-state guidelines:
- Are were aware of which purchasing thresholds apply – state thresholds or federal thresholds?
- Have we modified our policies and procedures to account for that?
- We have multistate operations and programs that are funded by federal monies. How many different state and federal thresholds do we need to comply with and track annually?
Navigating significant changes in your operations can be difficult. If your organization is struggling to answer these questions, we can help. Complete the form below and someone from our Not-For-Profit and Education Services team will be in touch.
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