RSMLs & Term Contracts for New Fiscal Year

1. RSMLs & Term Contractsfor New Fiscal Year

2. Table of Contents • RSMLs – Definition and Types (pages 3-4) • RSMLs – Purchase Assistance (page 5) • RSMLs – How to Enter (pages 6-13) • Term Contracts – Lists (pages 14-16) • Term Contracts – Contract Participation (page 17) • Term Contract Releases – When/How to Enter (pages 18-19) • Term Contract Releases – Restricted Contracts (page 20) • Obtaining Further Assistance (page 21)

3. RSML Procedures and Tips • What is an RSML? • A repetitive type of order where a Term Contract does not exist, for example, copier maintenance. These types of orders are called Rental, Service, Maintenance or Lease Agreements.

4. RSML Procedures and Tips • What are the types of RSMLs? • Rental agreement • Use of equipment where the University does not intend to take ownership or title of it. • Service agreement • Unlimited repair work over a specified time period for a one-time price. • Maintenance agreement • “Pay-as-you-go” repairs, typically based on an hourly rate and parts cost. • Lease agreement • Use of equipment where ownership or title of it will pass to UC after final payment.

5. RSML Procedures and Tips • What if I need assistance with an RSML purchase? • Read the information packet that was sent to all Org Unit Business Managers in February. • Email Alan Weldishofer at Alan.Weldishofer@UC.Edu if your Business Manager did not receive a copy of the information packet. You may also request via email that you be placed on the list for next year’s electronic distribution of the packet. • If you need further help, contact the appropriate Buyer in Central Purchasing prior to entering the requisition. • If you missed the deadline identified in the packet and have RSMLs that require bidding, notify the appropriate Buyer in Central Purchasing as soon as possible.

6. RSML Procedures and Tips • How do I enter an RSML requisition? • Use transaction ME51N to create a requisition. • Use the NB Purchase Requisition document type. • Create a “Flip-flop” for Quantity and Unit Price if the number of invoices cannot be determined or a regularly scheduled invoice amount varies. • Use “DOL” (Dollar) as the unit of measure. • On RSMLs, “Quantity” should reflect the total dollar amount for each line item, and you should use “1.00” in the "Net Price" for each line item. This will insure that your order quantity does not get exceeded with multiple invoices being posted against the order. Once the quantity exceeds tolerance, invoices will be blocked by the system.

7. RSML Procedures and Tips • Checking the RSML indicator (described later) will automatically cause the phrase "Rental, Service, Maintenance, or Lease Agreement" to print as the first line on the hardcopy of the resulting order created by Central Purchasing. Do not type this phrase in text. • Start the Short Text of the item with the type of agreement, for example: “Service Agreement for IBM Server Model 310", or "Rental Agreement for Ricoh copier Model 850".

8. RSML Procedures and Tips • In the Item Text under the Item Details section of the requisition, provide a more detailed description of the item along with the detailed pricing structure. • All text on an RSML, as with any requisition, should be entered using both upper and lowercase, not all uppercase, or not all lowercase. If copying from uppercase information, be sure to change the case after pasting it. • Enter July 1 or later as the “Delivery date" on EACH line item for RSMLs that are to be applied against the next fiscal year. • The “Delivery date" is on the Item Overview and also appears on the Item Details Quantities/Dates tab above the “Requisition date” field. This date defaults to the current entry date and should be changed.

9. RSML Procedures and Tips • Enter July 1 as the "Requisition date" on EACH line item for RSMLs that are to be applied against the next fiscal year. • The "Requisition date" is on the Item Details Quantities/Dates tab underneath the “Delivery date” field. • The “Requisition date” defaults to the current entry date and must be changed to the July 1 date before saving the requisition, or placing it on hold. • Do not change the defaulted “Release date” on each line of the requisition. It should be the current entry date. • The “Release date” is on the Item Details Quantities/Dates tab underneath the “Requisition date” field.

10. RSML Procedures and Tips • When copying requisitions to create an RSML, remember to change the Requisition dates and Delivery dates. • When copying a line on an RSML requisition to a new line, the Requisition date on the new line defaults to the current date and needs to be changed. • Change the Ship-to code on the Item Details Customer Data tab as appropriate. You should usually enter a code of “9” (no shipping) for services and maintenance.

11. RSML Procedures and Tips • You must check the RSML checkbox on the Item Details Customer Data tab of the requisition. If checked on the first line item it should populate to all subsequent lines. • In the Item text of the last item line, enter an effective period, a departmental contact for the order, and a cancellation clause, for example: • Period: July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. • UC Dept Contact: Name and phone number • Cancellable with 30 days written notice by either party.

12. RSML Procedures and Tips • What if I forget to use the July 1 date on every line of my RSML requisition? • The dates cannot be corrected across fiscal years, either on the requisition itself, or when the Buyer in Central Purchasing adopts it into the PO. • The Buyer in Central Purchasing will need to delete your requisition and ask you to reenter it. • You can copy the incorrect one, but make sure to fix the dates and anything else that is wrong in the copy before saving it.

13. RSML Procedures and Tips • When can I enter my new FY RSML requisitions into UC Flex? • Usually during the first two weeks of May. Refer to the letter packet that was sent to Business Managers. • If not entered during this period, Purchasing cannot guarantee processing of the Requisition into a Purchase Order by July 1. • Watch for any updates to this information on the UC Flex Financials page.

14. Term Contract Tips • How do I list available Term Contracts? • Find Term Contract lists for the current FY on the Purchasing web site at http://www.uc.edu/af/purch_dept/contracts.html . • For researching old contract information, use transaction ME3C. • On the selection screen, first start with making sure that all fields on the selection screen are blank, except for the Scope of List field which should contain ALV. • Add any other of your own selection criteria. Then execute.

15. Term Contract Tips • Note that when the new FY contracts are loaded, all previous FY contract records continue to reside in the system. If you run ME3C without any further selection criteria, you will see the old contracts along with the new ones. • When listing contracts for a particular fiscal year, you will need to select them by using the document number. To do this, utilize the single wildcard character (plus symbol) and the last two digits of the fiscal year in the character string. For example, if you want to list all FY 10 contracts, you need to enter T+++-10*. If you want to find all contracts that are in the 600 series, you enter T6++-10*. Note that you can use the * wildcard character after the 10, since it is not necessary to tell the system specific character placement for the rest of the string.

16. Term Contract Tips • For your convenience, selection variants have been set up for each fiscal year. They are called FYxx_contracts, where xx is the last two digits of the fiscal year. Use these variants so you don’t need to remember and type in the selection for the document number. However make sure you remove “UC” out of the Plant and Purchasing Org fields, if it is defaulted by the system. Then you can add any additional criteria when you want to narrow the search further.

17. Term Contract Tips • What if my org unit didn’t complete the Term Contract Participation form that was distributed in February? • Only primary users of contracts need to complete this form. Your org unit is a primary user if: • The contract was initiated for your org unit • Your org unit generates releases frequently • The sum of the dollar amount for your releases is large. • If your org unit is a primary user of a contract and overlooked completing the form, contact the appropriate Buyer in Central Purchasing via email as soon as possible, to ensure your org unit appears on the contract and receives a paper copy.

18. Term Contract Tips • When can release orders be entered for the new FY contracts and how do I enter them? • New FY contracts that have been completed are usually loaded into UC Flex by the third week in June. Check the planned dates on the letter that was sent to Org Units and any updates in the UC Flex announcements. Contracts are loaded early to provide an opportunity for you to enter any releases for contract shipments or services that start July 1. • Enter July 1 or a later date as the document date above the Header section. • Enter July 1 or a later date as the delivery date on each line in the Item Overview section

19. Term Contract Tips • Make sure to clearly state in the text of the release that the service or shipment is to performed July 1 or later. • During this interim period both the current and new FY contracts will be available. You should process releases against the current FY contracts for anything that is to be delivered or provided prior to July 1. • Prices on the new FY contracts are not valid until the start date of the contract. • A goods receipt or invoice cannot be entered into SAP prior to July 1 for releases against the new FY contracts.

20. Term Contract Tips • Why do I sometimes get messages that a contract is restricted? • A term contract can be restricted to certain org units and release amounts due to safety issues or other necessary central controls. For these contracts, if your org unit is not authorized to use it or the dollar amount of the release is too high, you should get an error message after you enter the storage location and net price on the line item of the release. • Contact the Buyer in Central Purchasing if you have questions regarding contract restrictions, or feel your org unit should be included on the contract.

21. Further Assistance • What do I do if I need further assistance for RSMLs, Term Contracts and Term Contract Releases? • If your question is non-system related (policy, general procedure, etc), contact the appropriate Buyer in Central Purchasing. The Purchasing directory is available on the Purchasing web site at http://www.purchasing.uc.edu/direct.asp . • If your question pertains to how you enter, change or display information in the UC Flex system, or problems you encounter in the system, contact Alan Weldishofer via email at Alan.Weldishofer@UC.Edu or via phone at 556-2387.