We Heard You – UShop improvements to make your life easier!

Posted September 17, 2015 in P2P, UShop, UShop Enhancements.

The Non-catalog/New Supplier form has been improved and is now available in the UShop Marketplace.

This form will provide more effective instructions in each section, as well as a new format that is easier to follow.

A direct link to the Sole Source form, and instructions for initiating a competitive bid through purchasing have also been added.

In addition to the improved form, links to UShop have been added to FBS section of CIS – so users have another convenient way to access UShop.

Keep sending your feedback!

Learn more about UShop here.


UShop is part of our overall P2P Initiative to improve efficiencies and procurement savings across the University.

Ask UsPlease ASK US if you have any questions.

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August 2015 Supplier Report

Posted September 3, 2015 in Supplier, UShop.

Supplier Report Date: 09/03/2015

  • 323 total suppliers available in UShop
  • 43 of these suppliers are contracted suppliers
  • $3,025,821 total dollars spent in UShop during August 2015

We are trying to consolidate as much University Purchasing to occur within the UShop Marketplace to:

  • Maximize the speed and efficiency of transactions
  • Realize the benefits of our consolidated purchasing power.

As the University consolidates all procurement to UShop, we strive to make available all appropriate suppliers to our University Shoppers.

To meet our objectives, requests for spend on new suppliers may be redirected to use of our existing contracted suppliers.

We will periodically report on the addition of new and important suppliers as UShop continues to expand.

Thank you for your continued support!

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We Heard You! – New UShop Enhancements

Posted August 24, 2015 in P2P, UShop, UShop Enhancements.

Thank you for sharing your ideas!

Following are recent changes we’ve made to UShop based upon your feedback:

  • Management Reports – The Journal Detail Description will now reflect the PO Number and Supplier Name.
  • We have removed the ‘Search Everything’ function from the UShop Shopping home page. The search results returned were limited, causing confusion among our users.
  • We have added a Fortis link on the Shopping homepage, allowing you to view your scanned UShop invoices for verification, or in order to create receipts.

Keep sending your feedback!

Learn more about UShop here.


UShop is part of our overall P2P Initiative to improve efficiencies and procurement savings across the University.

Ask UsPlease ASK US if you have any questions.

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UShop Tip: Do not reply to UShop system emails

Posted August 21, 2015 in UShop, UShop Tips.

We are not able to review or retrieve replies to UShop system emails.

If you would like to communicate in response to a UShop email, please log into UShop and add a comment to the appropriate document.

We appreciate your help.

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Did you see the new icons in Management Reports?

Posted August 5, 2015 in UShop.

Management Reports has been updated to take advantage of the electronic invoices provided by UShop.    Because the invoices are electronic, they are not scanned into the document imaging system (FORTIS) used by Management Reports.  Instead, a link directly into UShop is used with a UShop icon to view the invoice.

Management Reports UShop icon

We are also aware that few invoices from other sources may not have a document scanned into FORTIS.  We also created a new icon to indicate that no document exists.

No image exists

Learn more about UShop here.


UShop is part of our overall P2P Initiative to improve efficiencies and procurement savings across the University.

Ask UsPlease ASK US if you have any questions.

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UShop 15.2 Release Enhancements

Posted July 20, 2015 in UShop.

The release of 15.2 includes two major enhancements:

*The interface of the Requisition page will no longer appear in a horizontal line. Instead, section tabs will now form a list running down the left side of the page.  The functionality of each section will remain the same. 

*The “Document Actions”, formerly titled “Available Actions”, no longer require the user to click on GO after selecting an action.  The action will occur automatically after selection.

Learn more about UShop here.


UShop is part of our overall P2P Initiative to improve efficiencies and procurement savings across the University.

Ask UsPlease ASK US if you have any questions.

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GFA – 2 New Reports To Help Manage Alternates

Posted January 12, 2015 in GFA.

Great News! Two new reports have been added to the Financial Information Library to help you manage the Alternates on your Activities/Projects.

GFA Act/Proj w/o Alternates

This report will bring back the Activities/Projects in an Org (with rollup) that do not have Alternates assigned to them. With the large number of Activities/Projects in some campus departments, it can be easy to miss assigning Alternates to each. This report will help identify Activities/Projects without an assigned Alternate. NOTE: For business reasons, some Activities/Projects do not need Alternates assigned. Just because an Activity/Project appears on this report does not mean an Alternate needs to be assigned.

GFA Alternates by Org/Proj/Act

This reports lists all Activities/Projects in an Org (with rollup) that have Alternates assigned. The Account Executive for the Org and Activity/Project is displayed. The status of each Alternate is displayed. Also included is the date range for each Alternate.

Keep those suggestions coming. These cool new reports came from you!

Learn more about GFA here.


GFA is part of our overall P2P Initiative to improve efficiencies and procurement savings across the University.

Ask UsPlease ASK US if you have any questions.

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GFA Replaces Signature Cards

Posted December 1, 2014 in Accounts Payable, GFA, P2P, Purchasing.

Beginning today, December 1, 2014, transactions requiring financial approval will rely solely upon the digitized signatures and the financial ORG information verified in Granting Financial Authority (GFA).

All financial transactions require approval of the Account Executive listed on the Activity or Project or an approved alternate.

To date, over 75% of all Account Executives have captured their digitized signature, and over 64% of all designated alternates have been approved by the Account Executive. While we anticipate some have not completed GFA tasks and may be unprepared for this change, we feel we have the critical mass to move forward with the planned implementation date. GFA is a critical component to changes being designed for the Procure to Pay (P2P) initiative.

What can campus users expect?
Documents that are signed by unapproved alternates, or Account Executives without captured signatures will be delayed until appropriate GFA action is taken by the Account Executive. Accounts Payable, Purchasing and Travel Services will notify departments when they are unable to process financial transactions.

What can be done to avoid delays?
Account Executives can login to GFA now to capture their signature, designate their alternates, or approve pending alternates. Follow this direct link to login to GFA.

Administrative support staff can use Financial Information Library (FIL) queries designed to show missing signatures or approvals within GFA. FILs are available within CIS: CIS>Financial & Business Services>Reports>Financial Information Library.

Still need help? Send us a request using our GFA Ask Us form.

Learn more about GFA here.


GFA is part of our overall P2P Initiative to improve efficiencies and procurement savings across the University.

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Payment Request Process Changes

Posted November 18, 2014 in P2P.

As part of the overall Procure-to-Pay changes underway  Accounts Payable has collaborated with Purchasing to align the requirements of the future UShop marketplace with current and future purchasing practices.

This will affect the processing of Payment Requests received by Accounts Payable for an amount greater than $5,000, which may be reviewed by Purchasing and possibly redirected to a Requisition where appropriate. Reviewing these PR’s in this way is important for two reasons:

  1. In the future UShop marketplace environment, these transactions will likely be routed through Purchasing.
  2. University Rule 3-100D states that “Requests for procurement of supplies and services between $5,000 and $50,000 must be submitted by organizational units to the Purchasing Department on a requisition. Purchases within these thresholds may require competition but may not require a formal process.”

Ask UsPlease contact Perry Hull, Manager of Accounts Payable, with questions about this specific change in the PR process, or ASK US if you have any questions.

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Formal P2P Announcement

Posted October 30, 2014 in GFA, P2P.

Modernizing Procure to Pay (P2P)

We are excited to introduce an initiative that will streamline end-to-end purchasing to payable processes. Several P2P projects will converge to eliminate paper forms, better align purchasing practices with institutional goals, and most importantly, this initiative promises to produce a system that will save campus departments time and money.

UShop – the University of Utah Online Marketplace: Consolidating Steps and Improving Workflow

Financial & Business Services (FBS) leads a team working with a P2P industry leader, SciQuest, to develop “UShop.” This online marketplace will be specifically designed for our campus to replace paper-dependent and outdated P2P processes. UShop will remember basic information about the shopper, their department, accounting specifics, and past orders to streamline each transaction. Purchasing data compiled within UShop will help us improve future contracts and pricing from our suppliers. We are working diligently to create a one-stop online shopping cart experience for goods and services provided by both on-campus suppliers as well as outside vendors serving our campus. We will preview UShop with a focus group in December, and will have a small group of pilot department users help us refine the system Spring 2015 for a full campus Go Live date in early Fall 2015.

New Processes & New Policies: Preparing for Modern Transactions

Our team has spent the last several months working on prerequisite steps to ready our campus for the implementation of online P2P solutions. Many campus users have already begun to make changes that will enhance their UShop experience, such as using Granting Financial Authority (GFA) to capture their digitized signature and initials as well as designate other people within their department to have financial signature authority. FBS will sunset the first of many paper P2P processes when we turn off access to the current Signature Card system by the end of November 2014.

In addition, many processes within the P2P transaction scope will undergo redesign projects to eliminate unnecessary steps and encourage appropriate procurement practices. Some policy changes will be made to discourage inefficient payment methods and to maximize the benefits of the University’s purchasing contracts. We are confident that our users’ experience with UShop will be positive as we have seen on campuses of other institutions.

P2P: Staying Informed

Campus users can refer to our P2P web page for the latest updates and other useful P2P information. P2P updates will be emailed directly to those subscribed to the P2P listserv. Several executive level P2P summaries will be sent to University leadership corresponding to crucial milestones during the P2P project. We appreciate the support of our campus users, and invite your feedback on the systems we develop.

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