Unauthorized Purchases & Confirming Orders

All purchases need to comply with federal and state law, university policy, and prudent business and financial practices. There are processes and approvals established to ensure appropriate purchases are made.

Unauthorized purchases are commitments made on behalf of the University of California (UC) without following these processes and obtaining the appropriate approvals.

Confirming Orders

Confirming orders provide exceptional approval for an unauthorized purchase.

There are multiple reviewers on a confirming order, including the department head, BOC and Controller’s Office. A purchaser cannot also be a reviewer for their confirming order. It will need to be routed to their Supervisor.

The review process will include documentation to support the purchase, as well as a demonstrated business need and steps taken to avoid future unauthorized purchases. These should be infrequent, and submitted only under very extenuating circumstances or emergency situations.

A confirming order is needed to process payment for an unauthorized purchase.

Note: if disapproved, the individual who made the unauthorized purchase will be responsible for returning the goods or for personally paying for the charges.

Examples of unauthorized purchases

• Employee purchasing a new computer for their office on a personal credit card
• Supplier doing repair work for a department without an established Purchase Order
• Volunteer reimbursements > $499
• Unauthorized vendors

How to avoid needing a confirming order

Acquisition of products or services on behalf of the university requires appropriate review and approval(s) BEFORE the purchase is made. The appropriate approvals are generally required, at a minimum, from the fiscal officer(s) assigned to the account(s) that are to be charged for the purchase.

• First, check the Aggie Enterprise Punchout Catalog for all office supply purchases.
• If the item you need is not available through Aggie Enterprise and it costs $4999 or less, use your Procurement Card (P-Card).
• Email your BOC Business Partner Team for advice on or assistance with your purchase. 

How to obtain a confirming order

• Go to WFA and select Unauthorized Purchase in the Business Operations Center menu.
• County Office Routing:
  • Purchaser
  • Office Manager (Submitter in WFA)
  • County Director (Director approver)
  • BOC Director (Financial approver)
  • Controller (Final approval) 

Accidental Personal Charges

Personal charges are not permitted on a Travel or Procurement Card. If make an accidental personal purchase on a Travel or Procurement Card, flowwow these steps:

1. Use the expense type “Personal / Non-reimbursable” when reconciling your report in AggieExpense. You'll see the invoice for the charge appear a few days after your expense report has been approved. 
    
2. You must reimburse the University directly, as the card provider has already been paid. To do so:
   1. Access your UC Davis Banner account. To process the reimbursement through Banner:
      1. Go to https://mybill.ucdavis.edu
      2. Log in with your UC Davis login ID and Kerberos passphrase
      3. Agree to the consent form
      4. Review your balance and select Make Payment from the main page.  Personal credit card and e-checks are accepted methods of payment.

Additional Resources

Please review Business Operations Center presentation slides on confirming orders or visit the UC Davis Supply Chain Management Website's section on Confirming Orders 

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