Fiscal Year-end Planning Guidelines

Fiscal Year Early Planning Procurement Guidelines

Effective March 4, 2026

It's time to gear up for closing out fiscal year 2026 purchase orders and start planning for fiscal year 2027. As the fiscal year wraps up, things get busy for business offices throughout the university, but Procurement Services and Contract Management is here to help with guidelines, instructions and reminders. The P2PO System is now open for FY27 requisitions. Check the Procurement Procedures for thresholds and processing times.

Key Procurement Deadlines

Fiscal Year 2026

• Start your planning to close any purchase orders that are no longer needed.
• New transactions greater than $100K with an anticipated July 1st start date should be submitted to Procurement Services immediately.
• New transactions and open orders for less than $100,000 must be submitted by May 15, 2026.
• Submit Change Order requisitions (increase/decrease), and requests to Rollover purchase orders to FY27 no later than May 1, 2026.
• Transactions requiring two-party agreements should be submitted to Procurement not later than March 13, 2026.
• P-card transactions:
  • Last recommended day to make P-Card Purchases to post this fiscal year – June 22, 2026.
  • Last day to allocate P-Card transactions in PaymentNet to post this fiscal year – July 2, 2026.

Fiscal Year 2027

• Start your planning early for fiscal year 2027 requests to ensure timely processing.
• P2PO (FMS) System opened on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 – time to enter your requisitions for routine purchases, and open orders for FY27.
• New transactions and open orders for less than $100,000 must be submitted by May 15, 2026.
• New transactions greater than $100,000 must be submitted immediately.
  • New FY27 RFP, IFB, Sole Source – time is of the essence. Just to be clear, there is a chance that new submissions might not be processed before July 1, 2026, because of the lengthy process and necessary approvals for these procurement types. Departments are encouraged to submit their requirements as soon as possible.

Reminders

• Early planning is critical.
• Goods and services should not be ordered or initiated until a requisition and purchase order is issued to cover the purchase request.
• Purchases of goods and services with renewals or multi-year should always consider the aggregate value of all years to determine if it is above or below the small purchase threshold of $100,000.
• Requisitions should be submitted with the required documentation (i.e.: Quotes); see Small Purchase Competition Policy if purchase is between $20,000-$99,999.99.
  • Obtain W-9 for new vendors to expedite the process (or applicable Form W-8 for international vendors).
  • Obtain certifications when aggregate value is over $50,000 (IPHEC purchases exempt).
  • Obtain financial disclosures when aggregate value is expected to be over $100,000 (IPHEC purchases exempt).
  • Obtain ACH Application Form (PDF) to help expedite the payment process.
• Consider established IPHEC contracts to expedite processing.
• Departments should consider a BEP vendor (women, minority, persons with disabilities). See the Business Enterprise Program (BEP) website to identify qualified diverse vendors located in the Certified Firms Directory. NIU has a 30% BEP goal.
• Do not sign unless you are authorized to sign contractual agreements – See OGC Contracting Authority Signature Delegation for list of authorized signers.
• Transactions greater than $500K must receive board approval – Contact Risk Management for additional guidance.