How does your team make purchases?

[eneubec1]

Here is what our school had agreed to do for our team.
1.) blanket po with our primary suppliers. (Andy mark , vex, robot space,MCMASTER carr...). Try to do this as much as possible. It is the easiest way and has the greatest amount of " checks and balances" in place. They should also be familiar with this process and it will shouldn't make them uncomfortable.

2.) For generic purchases on the internet I submit a request for the school to place the order. This process needs 2 week lead time, so I obviously don't do this for critical items.

3.) For expenses at local stores ( hd, lowes, harbor freight), I request to spend "up to" a certain amount. Then I submit a check request for reimbursement. This process for #3 is an absolute pain. Most other schools just have a check reimbursement process. I have to gain approval in advance, and then also submit for reimbursement.

[kjohnson]

The blanket PO is a great idea, we may have to do that with AndyMark and Vex.

I need one more submission to reach 50 and I'll publish the results back here in the next few days. https://docs.google.com/a/virginiafi...1AyJw/viewform

[tim-tim]

Completed.
We are now running all money (fundraising, sponsors, expenses, etc.) through our non-profit. We were going to approach the school with a proposal to allow us to do this, but the school actually recommended that we use a non-profit for our program. So it was a win-win for us.

Now we can order things as soon as we need them. We can go make a trip to the hardware store and use the non-profit card to purchase things. All of this has the typical assumptions that there is enough money, within budget, proper approvals/procedures, etc.

Originally Posted by nukemknight

The blanket PO is a great idea, we may have to do that with AndyMark and Vex.

We tried this last year after RC from West Coast Products made the recommendation, and it was not successful - the school wouldn't allow us to this. We had to provide a line item request each time and it would still go through the same 2-3 week-ish process.

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by tim-tim

We had to provide a line item request each time and it would still go through the same 2-3 week-ish process.

Not all schools have this requirement. That is why they need to check with the school. My school has no problem with this and we are even in the same state.

[vertigo]

All our purchases (large and small) go through the personal credit card of a single mentor who is then reimbursed from the team's account with the school. While there is certainly the possibility of abuse with a system like this, there is a huge advantage to being able to buy any part right when it is needed.

[Team118Joseph]

Adafruit excepts tax exemptions for non-profits such as schools and school districts.
http://www.adafruit.com/faq

[WSlbl]

We have a team account for everything throughout the year and out head coach makes all of our purchases. A lot of things tend to get pretty expensive during build season, so if you start ordering basic things now and are ready to wait you'll spend a lot less. During build season you end up shipping things a lot faster. During build season it's hard enough to keep track of much, so your spending will always get pretty high. Just try to start build season with a big budget before you start building your $5000 pile of metal shavings on the floor