Finance and Purchasing
Advice and Guidance
For advice and guidance on all aspects of Finance in the Faculty of Education please contact the Finance Officer, Philip Vale.
Financial Regulations
All members of staff are required to comply with the University Financial Regulations which govern the University’s financial business, irrespective of the source of funding. Staff are also expected to abide by the ethical guidelines. The University’s Financial Regulations are available at:
www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/finance/regulations/index.html
Expense Claims
Claims for expenses incurred on University business should be authorised by the relevant budget holder, and submitted on the expense claim form to the Finance Office. The form is available in the forms and resources page.
Insurance
Details of the University’s insurance policy may be found at: www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/insurance/
For guidance on all aspects on insurance please consult the Finance Division Insurance Section website.
Travel Insurance for Employees
The University offers free comprehensive travel insurance for employees travelling on University business and members of supervised departmental fieldtrips. To benefit simply register your trip on-line or contact the Insurance Office for more details
Telephone: (3)32216
Email: insurance.online@admin.ac.uk
Purchasing of goods and services
All staff involved in purchasing must be aware of an comply with the University Purchasing Guidelines and recommendations.
Faculty purchasing procedures
All staff involved in purchasing must be aware of and comply with the University Purchasing Guidelines and recommendations, available at:
www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/purchasing/
Faculty purchasing procedures
All purchases must be made with an official University Purchase Order via the University Financial System.
You can do this by making a requisition. A Requisition Form is available from the Faculty Finance Office. Purchases must be coded and approved by an authorised signatory – for details, contact the Finance Office. If you are purchasing using external funds e.g. Research grants then you must ensure that you are purchasing according to the sponsors guidelines.
The University has a list of preferred suppliers of goods and services. See:
www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/purchasing/suppliers/
For purchases that are not of low value and from a preferred supplier, the value of the purchase should be assessed and the following financial regulations must be applied:
| Total Value* (before VAT) |
Procedure for inviting offers
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| Standard Purchases | Framework Contracts* | Marketplace* | |
| <£250 | no quote required | follow procedures recommended by CPO for the contract | only the quote provided is needed |
| £250 - £1,000 | telephone/web quotes | ||
| >£1,000 - £10,000 | 3 Competitive Quotations | ||
| >£10,000 - £25,000 |
3 Competitive Quotations***
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| >£25,000 - £50,000 |
3 Competitive Proposals****
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| >£50,000 |
3 Invitations to Tender
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| EU Thresholds, currently** >£156,442 (goods and services) >£3,927,260 (works) |
EU Tenders
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*see definitions in Schedule 5
**EU Thresholds as at January 2010 (updated biennially)
The decision as to which procedure to follow will be based on assessment of complexity, risk and value
***For standard, straightforward, low risk items being purchased above £10,000 but below £25,000, the competitive quotation is better suited for these purchases.
****More complex items with an increased risk which need greater security and certainty around the purchase and closer to £50,000 will be expected to invoke use of competitive proposal procedure. Research Councils require a more formal document for purchases above £25,000 and are therefore subject to the competitive proposal regime.