An Automatic Purchase Order (APO) is a type of requisition available in the Kuali Financial System (KFS). APOs mirror both the Small Procurement Order (SM) and the Master Contract Release forms from the prior Electronic Forms System (ELF) system.

APOs for purchases below $5,000 must contain a vendor and the grand total should be greater than $0 but should not exceed $5,000. Items added to these APOs should not be restricted and the PO Total cannot exceed field in the Additional Institutional Info tab should be left blank.

APOs for vendor with an existing contract must contain a vendor that has been selected from the campus-wide contract list (formerly the Master Contract list).

To ensure a requisition is issued as an APO and routed properly, follow the recommended steps listed below: 

1. Connect to GlobalProtect Virtual Private Network client.

2. Open a web browser and go to kfs.umd.edu to access the KFS Portal.

3. Click the Requisition link in the Transactions section to open a new requisition eDoc.

NOTE: If not logged in, the Central Authentication Service (CAS) login window will open. Log into the CAS with a Directory ID and password in order to continue.

4. Click Collapse All to collapse all open tabs and allow for better navigation of the eDoc. Open each tab as needed by clicking Show. Close each tab as necessary by clicking Hide.

5. Open the Items tab. Enter the Item Type, Commodity Code, Description, and Unit Cost in the respective fields and then click Add to calculate the Grand Total.

NOTE: For quantifiable Items, select QTY from the Item Type drop down menu. Then, enter a quantity exceeding 0 in the Quantity field. For non-quantifiable items, select No QTY from the Item Type drop down menu.

a. Ensure that the checkbox in the Restricted column is blank.

b. For requisitions totaling less than $5,000, ensure that the Grand Total is greater than $0 but does not exceed $5,000.

6. Open the Vendor tab.

If the purchase order will be fulfilled by a vendor without an existing contract, scroll to the Vendor Address section and click the magnifying glass icon in the Suggested Vendor field to start a vendor search.

If the requisition will be fulfilled by a vendor with an existing contract, scroll to the Vendor Info section and click the magnifying glass icon in the Contract Name field to start a vendor search.

7. For requisitions that will be fulfilled by vendor without an existing contract, the Vendor Lookup window will open. To view all available vendors, click Search. 

For requisitions fulfilled by vendors with existing contracts, the Vendor Contract Lookup window will open. To view all available vendors with existing contracts, click Search.

8. Scroll through vendor results to locate desired vendor. Click return value in the Return Value column to add the vendor to the requisition.

Available information about the selected vendor will be displayed in the Vendor Address and Vendor Info sections of the Vendor tab.

9. Open the Additional Institutional Info tab and ensure that the PO Total Cannot Exceed field is blank.

10. Click Save at the bottom of the eDoc to save the requisition.

NOTE: KFS Best Practices recommend clicking Save after making any changes in order to preserve changes in the event of an unforeseen logout from the KFS.

11. Click Submit at the bottom of the eDoc to submit the eDoc for processing.

12. If the requisition has been submitted properly, the following message will be displayed on the eDoc: "Requisition did not become an APO". The requisition will then be routed to Procurement & Supply for processing.

13. Send electronic copies of any agreements and contracts associated with the submitted requisition to Tammy Yanulevich (tyanu@umd.edu) and Marty Newman (menewman@umd.edu) via email for review and approval.