Managing procurement

Tracking procurement 

Use a procurement tracker to monitor and report progress of requests and procurement processes, highlight obstacles and delays. This is to be shared with programme team and requestors at agreed frequency and should inform monthly project meetings. In case of significant obstacles to timely procurement, programme team/requestors must be consulted.  

Supplier database 

Maintaining a list of known suppliers per category is useful for multiple reasons: 

• open tenders or RFQs can be sent to all relevant suppliers 
• registration documents can be shared in advance, saving time when the need arises 
• can be used to record number of transactions done with supplier, or total amount spent over a year, etc..  

Note: in the UK, CPT do not keep a supplier database but they maintain lists of pre-qualified suppliers for specific items who can be called upon for higher-value procurement, so always good practice to reach out to them or to International Logistics to check whether such a list is available for specific requirements. 

Managing contracts and suppliers (performance).  

Maintain a separate list of ongoing contracts included contract validity date and total value. Monitor supplier performance against contract SLA and hold 1 or 2 meetings per year to review performance and amend contract where needed. The supplier performance evaluation sheet can be a good guide to the supplier performance meetings. Suppliers can be appraised against all the terms of the contract, some standard indicators to track: OTIF, order turnaround time and delivery claims. Especially when managing long term contracts, it is recommended to have standard KPI’s in place against which performance is measured over time.  

Managing deliveries 

Delivery of goods/services against approved POs/contracts must be planned, prepared and documented.  

Agreeing deliveries: this can be done in the contract/PO, through a schedule and agreement on responsibilities. It is good practice to agree delivery terms against the official list of incoterms to ensure all parties understand their responsibilities, in particular in cases where the goods/services are sourced internationally. The expected receiver of physical goods (warehouse officer, storekeeper, receptionist) must be informed at least 48 hrs in advance of the planned delivery so he/she can plan for space, resources and time to process the receipt. 

Documenting deliveries 

Delivery of goods must be accompanied by a delivery note prepared by the supplier and a GRN, raised by whoever is processing the delivery internally. The GRN will eventually have to be signed by the requestor of the goods. The GRN should mention any discrepancy against the expected delivery (in quantity or in quality) and be signed by the delivering party, the receiver and the requestor. What is stated in the GRN must match what is reported in the stock records. See warehouse chapter for more details.  

Processing payments 

Payments can only be processed by a finance staff, based on a fully documented procurement process. Invoices for delivered services or goods must be addressed to finance (NOT to the signatory of the GRN/Certificate of Completion) and matched with the procurement files handed over to the finance focal point. Where a claims form is attached to the procurement file, finance should consult with the receiver to ensure the contents of the claim is matched in the payment. No payment can be issued to suppliers without a completed GRN/Certificate of Completion. 

Documenting and filing  

Procurement files must be completed and handed over to finance for payment and filing. Copies of original requisitions, POs, contracts and GRNs must be kept by Logistics, either by procurement file or by type of document. See procurement process flow diagrams to see which documents are mandatory per threshold and always check for donor requirements in terms of retention time. 

Documents retention requirements – procurement files should be kept on archive for various durations depending on the requirements that apply. 

UK (HMRC)	6 years
ECHO	5 years
BRC GAD standards	Invoices, Purchase orders: 6 + current year  Contracts: end of contract + 8 years  Supplier selection documents (tenders, meeting minutes and evaluations): 3 years

The CPT in UK retain copies of the tender documents and procurement process as well documents relating to ongoing frameworks and supplier performance. International Logistics can retain a local copy as well for quick reference. Copies of original requisitions, POs, contracts and GRNs are kept by Logistics in separate, organized files in the BRC’s International Quality Methodology filing system (PIMS). 

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