Indiana University’s new Buy.IU procure-to-pay system, slated to go live July 1, is intended to make it easier for university employees to purchase the things they need more quickly.
The new system is the final piece of Project Recharge, a collaboration between the Office of the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer to upgrade or replace three university systems.
The first part of Project Recharge rolled out in spring 2018, when IU began using the newest version of the Kuali Financial System, which handles accounting and purchasing activity. Then, in summer 2018, IU began using the travel and expense management system Chrome River.
Now, Buy.IU will replace several modules within the Kuali Financial System that handled things such as requisitions, purchase orders, vendor management and accounts payable. It will consolidate various purchasing functions into a single marketplace to handle all shopping and invoices and offers other new tools, including electronic contract management, sourcing, supplier onboarding and analytics.
There are several key features to streamline the work of both IU employees and the companies that work with the university regularly, including:
- A portal that will allow suppliers to check the status of their own orders, verify contracts and track the status of payments.
- A contract tool that will create a uniform set of contracts and professional service agreements across the university, streamlining the current system.
- A more robust shopping experience. Currently, IU has about 50 catalog suppliers. Buy.IU will allow for a larger number of suppliers for a quicker shopping experience.
- A dashboard that updates in real time to reflect information employees want to see upon login.
“Buy.IU is focused on enhancing the purchasing experience at IU through more robust procurement options and a friendlier user experience,” Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Sejdinaj said. “This simplified process will provide users with user-configurable dashboards they haven’t had previously, which will give them the ability to prioritize and make more efficient purchasing decisions.”
Last week, Buy.IU opened for fiscal year 2020 requisition entry. Requisitions entered in Buy.IU will be held until July 1. Orders that must be released prior to that date should be entered into the Kuali Financial System. After July 1, all sourcing, shopping and payment activity will occur in Buy.IU.
Looking for additional information? Subscribe to the Buy.IU mailing list or contact the training and communications team at askbuyiu@iu.edu, and review the Buy.IU home page for training materials and videos.
Each campus has a specific staff member identified as a resource during the Buy.IU implementation.
