Business Operations Center
Recent News
Software Purchases - Updated
Effective 3/1/2025, college guidance is that all software purchases and renewals must be submitted to ETS for review and procurement. After their review of accessibility, contracted alternatives, and terms and conditions, ETS will create and submit a Requisition to procure the software. Personal reimbursements of software are prohibited. PCard purchases are prohibited unless all ETS process steps are followed prior to purchase. Again, this process involving ETS must take place prior to any software purchase or renewal. Email: [email protected]
Business Purposes
You may have noticed additional scrutiny with the Business Purpose on transactions. We developed a brief document to help understand the 'why' behind this as well as to provide guidance on how to write or review business purposes.
Amazon Blocked Items
Around the beginning of 2024, the university's purchasing department blocked or limited certain items and categories through Amazon Business accounts. Faculty, staff and students need to view BuckeyeBuy Suppliers first to see if any of the suppliers carry the good or service wanting to be purchased. The BOC asks that if the items are not able to be found in BuckeyeBuy, or if the price is more expensive in BuckeyeBuy, then make a note in the Requisition when submitting it as Amazon as the supplier. This lets the BOC know you checked BuckeyeBuy first.
The BOC will not know an item is blocked until we go into the Amazon Business account to add the items to the cart. It is recommended to search BuckeyeBuy suppliers you may not have search the first time around and external suppliers that have supplier ID’s in Workday. Remember, no Amazon purchases on your Department PCard through a personal Amazon account.
Contact Info
260D Bevis Hall
1080 Carmack Rd, Columbus, OH 43210
- Procurement Questions: [email protected]
- Travel Reimbursements: [email protected]
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Include in Email - SA#, Unit, Traveler Name and all necessary documentation for the BOC to process the Expense Report
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BOC Virtual Help Desk
Virtual Help Desk (opens zoom)
- M-F 9:00am - 12:00pm
- M-F 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Travel Information
Effective August 1, 2021, Expense Reports related to Spend Authorizations must be submitted by the College of Engineering's BOC/Service Center staff.
- Email [email protected]
- Include in Email - SA#, Unit, Traveler Name and all necessary documentation for the BOC to process the Expense Report.
Fiscal Information
Deposits
The Business Operations Center (BOC) accepts deposits daily from 8am-5pm in Bevis Hall room 260D. Alternatively, you may drop them off in the drop box in the Dean's Suite in Hitchcock Hall. Please be sure to have a signed deposit form along with the checks/cash.
The deposit (Record Cash Sale) form was updated and will now be integrated with DocuSign.
The updated forms are available as templates in DocuSign. Below is helpful information to identify the template when searching is listed below:
- Name: Record Cash Sale Form
- Created by: Elizabeth Cumpston
- Created on: March 1, 2024.
Please begin using the updated form / process effective immediately (March 1, 2024).
Exceptions
BOC Exception Process
All transactions identified as an exception will be captured in Workday and workflow to College Leadership for review. Please be sure to document in comments or the memo field the reason for the exception and what actions will/have occurred to prevent similar exceptions in the future.
Department Responsibility
The unit Cost Center Manager is responsible for identifying the exception prior to submitting a transaction to the BOC for processing. Exceptions include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Increase in the dollar limits noted in policy for alcohol, business meal, and entertainment expenses. Exception MUST be granted prior to the incurrence of expense.
- Missing required documentation, (i.e. itemized receipts) for personal or travel reimbursements.
- Travel reimbursement is being submitted more than 60 days after the completion of the trip.
- The traveler did not obtain prior authorization for the business travel along with estimated costs.
- A request for purchase order after-the-fact
NOTE: Spouse approval should be obtained prior to the event occurring. Travel expenses exceeding estimated costs by 20% or greater require unit approval only.
BOC Responsibility
- The BOC will be responsible for obtaining the appropriate College approval for exceptions when submitted for processing.
- The BOC will get new suppliers added to Workday when needed.
- The BOC will follow up with the unit Cost Center Manager to obtain the appropriate documentation to support the request.
The Exception Explanation form was revamped to include policy excerpts intended to be used as a tool for those who may not understand why an exception is needed.
The updated forms are available as templates in DocuSign. Below is helpful information to identify the template when searching is listed below:
- Name: COE Exception Explanation Form 2024
- Created by: Elizabeth Cumpston
- Created on: March 1, 2024
Please begin using the updated form / process effective immediately (March 1, 2024).
Exception Explanation Form Information
General Information
PCard
Units will continue to manage their Purchasing Cards as they currently do. Units will create an Expense Report in Workday and attach detailed documentation which the Business Operations Center will use to review for compliance. Each month the department is required to send over their PCard statements along with their PCard log of their monthly transactions.
Mission
The Business Operations Center (BOC) is a unit within the College of Engineering responsible for providing expert knowledge and high-level customer service for the payroll and procurement needs of the College of Engineering’s faculty, staff and students.
Our mission is to uphold the University’s financial stewardship responsibilities through transparent, fiscally-sound operations that promote the academic, research and professional development initiatives of the College of Engineering while adhering to the policies of the University and all state and federal laws. We commit to delivering efficient and professional responses to service requests, and we strive to continually assess and refine processes to ensure best practices and excellent customer experiences