Requisitions and Purchase Orders

This information serves as a guideline for the creation of requisitions and purchase orders pertaining to all CSUSM Corporation Business Operations. For Campus Programs and Sponsored Projects, these guidelines are applicable after the Project Agreement Form has been setup and approved.

Requisition Basics

• What is a Requisition?
  A requisition is a request for goods or services, with necessary documentation and approvals, for use by your department. CSUSM Corporation uses requisitions to create purchase orders. Requisitions are required to create purchase orders and are done online through the CSU-wide CSUBuy Procure-to-Pay (P2P) system. 
• How is a requisition different from a Purchase Order?
  A requisition begins the process to create a purchase order. A purchase order is an official contract that indicates prices, quantities, and terms & conditions to spend funds within the CSUSM Corporation guidelines or award guidelines. 
• Do I need to submit a requisition in order to have a PO created?
  Requisitions are required when requesting services and products to be purchased from SMURS accounts. Requisitions are submitted completely online through the CSUBuy Procure-to-Pay (P2P) system. This site can be accessed with campus login information at CSUBuy. Once a requisition is properly submitted, it will route automatically through the appropriate approvers, including CSUSM Corporation. Once complete, the requisition will be turned into a Purchase Order.

Creating Requisitions

Guides for creating the various types of Reqs can be found on the CSUSM Procurement CSUBUY Procure-to-Pay (P2P) webpage.

Once the Req/PO has been created

• What are the next steps once submitted?

  Once it has been submitted...

  1. OSP requisitions will be reviewed by the relevant SPA for appropriate documentation and approvals.
  2. Campus Program requisitions will be reviewed by CSUSM Corporation Business Operations Specialist for appropriate documentation and approvals, then submitted to Executive Director for final approval.
  3. CSUSM Corporation Business Operations Specialist will convert the requisition to a purchase order.
  4. Completed purchase order will be emailed to the vendor at the contact information they submitted during Supplier Setup. The requester will receive a notification from CSUBuy that the purchase order is complete based on their notification settings.
• How do I print a Requisition once submitted?
  (guide to come)
• How do I print a PO once created?

  (guide to come)

• How do I see what charges have been made against the PO?
  To see what charges have been made against the PO, check the PO Life Cycle Report
• How do I pay an invoice against a PO?
  • Send invoices to apcorp@csusm.edu 
  • Include:
    • Proper fiscal authority approval signature
    • Indication of the PO number.
  • For Final invoices on the PO:
    • Indicate on the invoice to “Close PO” or “Final Payment on PO” so that Accounts Payable will know to complete the purchase order.
    • If a final payment is not indicated, the PO may remain open unnecessarily. 
• How do I change/amend a PO once it has been created?

   All Change Requests are processed directly on the Purchase Order in CSUBuy

  Change Request Process for Requesters

  Video Walkthrough: Add a Line to a PO via Change Request