Login to LVPO Form Generation site

Effective May 4, 2015, electronic LVPO form has replaced paper LVPO form. To learn more, please see Questions and Answers about the change.  To obtain LVPO form, please click the Login to LVPO Form Generation Site above.

To acquire goods and services below $5000, University employees can use either Procurement Card (PCard) or Low Value Purchase Order (LVPO) to complete the purchases.

With less paperwork involved and an overall lower processing cost, PCard is the University’s preferred choice for low value purchases.  It is highly recommended that we use PCard whenever possible. To learn more information on obtaining and using the PCard, please see the Procurement Card website. In cases where PCard can’t be used such as when employees specifically would like the payment to be made after receiving the goods or services, or when suppliers do not accept credit card, LVPO is a convenient alternative.

LVPO is the purchase order issued directly by University employees to suppliers for purchase of goods or services.  LVPO must only be used for purchases less than $5000 in value. Prior to issuing a LVPO, all purchases must be approved by employee’s departmental signing authority or delegate.  A LVPO must be signed by the employee and the authorized approvers (where applicable) prior to sending it to suppliers.

Restrictions and Limits

The following goods or services must NOT be ordered on LVPO:

• Goods or services over $5000;
• Internal campus purchases (e.g. University Bookstore, University Hospitality Services);
• Controlled goods/substances such as radioactive materials, biological hazardous materials, hazardous material disposal services, live animals (vertebrates);
• Items covered by High Value Purchase Orders (HVPO) including Blanket Orders  
• Items covered by Supply Managed Contracts. 

Placing LVPO with Suppliers

• To issue a LVPO, employees are to fill out all sections of the LVPO form. This includes but is not limited to supplier name and address, item description, quantity, unit price, total amount, currency, taxes, shipping instructions, ship to address and contact person for the order.  
• The information provided should be complete and accurate as this information is what suppliers use to ship your order and send the invoice. 
• If there is any specific requirement or instruction to the supplier, employees should include them in the body of the LVPO.  
• Employees should also fill out the GL coding in the bottom section of the LVPO. This is the cost center that the invoice will be paid from. Without this information, the payment of invoices could be delayed.
• Employees should note that the University’s Standard Purchase Order Terms and Conditions apply to all LVPOs, which is noted at the bottom of the LVPO form.

Process After Placing LVPO

Once a LVPO is issued, employees are to follow the process below to complete the order transaction, ensuring the order is received and the supplier is paid in a timely manner.

• Keep the original LVPO for your own record.  Scan the LVPO and email to your suppliers.
• Request an order confirmation from the supplier. It is highly recommended that employees ask suppliers to provide order confirmation for LVPOs. This ensures the orders are indeed received by the supplier and the order details such as pricing and delivery dates are confirmed.  Review supplier’s order confirmation for accuracy and file it with your LVPO.
• When required, email a copy of the LVPO to your department finance administrator. Some departments keep records of all LVPOs centrally for budget management. This is normally handled by department budget authority or department finance administrators.  If you are not sure if this is necessary in your area, talk to your supervisor.
• Email a scanned copy to the receiving team if the LVPO will be received by designated receiving personnel in your building.  Please note not all university buildings have centralized receiving.  If your building has the receiving team, the copy of the LVPO will help them to identify which shipment is yours and get the package to you quickly. To find out if this is the case in your area, talk to your supervisor.
• If the order is an international order and the shipment will physically cross the Canadian border, email a scanned copy of the LVPO to purchasing.helpdesk@uoguelph.ca.  This will ensure the customs clearance of the shipment is arranged timely. If the Customs Officer doesn't have a copy of the LVPO in advance, there could be delays at the border for your shipment.

Receiving Goods or Services from LVPO

It is employee’s responsibilities to ensure that goods and services are received and inspected prior to approving payment. To ensure orders are received as specified on the LVPOs, please follow the steps outlined below:

For goods:

• Inspect the packaging of the shipment to ensure the box has no physical damage, this includes any sign that the box is exposed to wet or moist condition.  If there is, take pictures of the packaging before you open up the box.  The picture will serve as backup if you need to make any claim later on.
• Check the shipping documents accompanying the shipments, such as Bill of Lading or Packing Slip, for item description and quantity to make sure they match the LVPO and the supplier’s order confirmation.
• If everything is verified, document the information in the receiving section of the LVPO, sign and date the Received By box. 

For Services:

• Ask the supplier’s service technician to provide a Work Order with detailed information on what services have been performed. The Work Order should also include date, time of the servicing and the technician’s name and signature.
• Check and verify all the services on the Work Order to make sure they are provided in accordance with the LVPO. 
• If everything is verified, sign and date the Work Order to confirm.
• Document the information in the receiving section of the LVPO, sign and date the Received By box. 

For partial shipments:

• When you receive a partial shipment, document in the receiving section of the LVPO the partial shipment you received, including quantity and date of receipt.
• If you would like to pay the supplier for the partial shipment you received, email a scanned copy of the LVPO with the partial shipment receiving record to Payment Services. Keep the partially received LVPO for your own record.
• If you would like to wait until you receive the full order to pay the supplier, hold on to the partially received LVPO until the full LVPO is received. Email the LVPO with the complete receiving records to Payment Services.  
• Only forward the LVPO with receiving record to Payment Services when you’re ready to pay the supplier.
• It is mandatory to enter receiving information on the new LVPO form in order to process the invoice for payment. If the receiving section is not filled in and signed, the invoice cannot be paid against the new LVPO. It is employee’s responsibility to ensure the LVPO, the receiving information and the invoice are consistent with each other prior to approving any payment.

Paying Suppliers for LVPO

Once goods or services are received, employees should ensure the receiving section of the LVPO is properly filled out and signed. Employees are then responsible to forward a scanned copy of LVPO with receiving information to acctspay@uoguelph.ca. Payment Services will match the invoice against the LVPO and process payment. There is no need to forward the LVPO to Payment Services prior to receiving the order.

For LVPOs with receiving record, the invoices will be paid as long as they match the receiving record of the LVPOs. When there is a discrepancy among the LVPO, the receiving information and the invoice, departments will be contacted for authorization to pay the invoices. 

Departments who receive supplier's invoices are responsible for forwarding the invoices to Payment Services.  Alternatively, department can ask the supplier to email their invoices to Payment Services at acctspay@uoguelphca. Payment Services will only pay invoices once they receive your LVPO completed with receiving records and when the invoice matches the receiving record on the LVPO.  If there is any discrepancy, you will be notified and requested to provide further instructions.

All LVPO invoices should indicate the LVPO number, which is a six digits numeric number created by the LVPO Form Generation Site plus the university fiscal year as the identifier at the end.​ 

In all cases, original LVPOs with completed receiving record, original shipping documents such as Billing of Lading and Packing Slips, and copy of invoices if received by employees must be kept by employees for future reference. This financial record will be used for possible order dispute or claim as well as auditing purposes.

Obtaining Electronic LVPO Forms

University employees can download blank LVPO forms in PDF format from the Interactive LVPO Form Generation Site.  University single sign on is required for login.

Employees should pay attention to the following:

• Each form is generated with a unique LVPO number.  When paying invoices, the LVPO number will be entered into the University’s financial system. Each LVPO number must only be used once.  If it is discovered that the LVPO number has already been used in the system, the second LVPO with the same number will be rejected by Payment Services.
• The website only serves to generate blank LVPO forms. You can’t save any specific LVPO order information on the website. The PDF form is fillable.  If you fill out a form online, you need to print a hard copy of the completed LVPO.
• The maximum number of LVPO PDF forms you can download at one time is 10.  If you need more, you can repeat the process while you are still logged in to the site. 
• The website is accessible to all University employees 24/7.  You do not need to download extra forms for future use.  We suggest you only download the number of forms you need to use right away.  If you download them in advance, please keep track which form has been used and which hasn’t so you don’t use the same form more than once.
• Users can still use up the LVPO paper forms you may have.  However, we encourage you to switch over to the online PDF forms as soon as possible. Please return any old paper forms you no longer need to Purchasing Services by inter-campus mail.  We document the distribution of the paper forms by department and will update our records when you return them.
• The new LVPO form requires signatures from the person who places the order, the person who authorizes the order and the person who receives the order. The signatures don’t have to be from different persons. Depending on the role of the person in the procure-to-pay process, they can be from the same person.

Assistance and Resource for Using LVPO

If you encounter any problems or have any questions in the LVPO process, please email purchasing.helpdesk@uoguelph.ca or call Purchasing Services at x56412.  One of our team members will be happy to assist you.