Small purchases are a relatively simple procurement method used for securing supplies, services, or other materials. Before a small purchase is made, refer to the purchasing flowchart and verify the item or service is not covered under one of the following contract methods:

• Mandatory use agencies

  • Utah Correctional Industries—63G-6a-804 – uci.utah.gov

• Agency contracts

• State cooperative contract

The following rules have been outlined when making small purchases and can be found at the following site: 

Utah Administrative Code for Small Purchases

Note:  An agency must not exceed $50,000 in a fiscal year with a single vendor, The individual procurement item threshold is $5000, and the single procurement aggregate threshold is $10,000 for multiple individual procurement items purchased from one source at one time. 

A state purchase card is a form of credit card issued to approved/designated state employees.   P Card Application form The p-card is used by the cardholder to make state-approved purchases of most types of goods and services and may also be used for official state travel. All charges are billed directly to and paid by the State of Utah. Personal purchases are prohibited.  UDOT has seen advantages achieved through use of the p-card program, including simplifying and expediting purchasing processes, rebates from participating contracted vendors (Lowe’s), and greater merchant acceptance because of faster payment. There are several safeguards included in the program to help the user. Examples include:

• Yearly training through the UDOT learning portal and program monitoring.

• Pre-set card limits, monthly limits, Individual transaction limits, as well as allowed vs disallowed commodities.

• P-card users may periodically be asked by the UDOT Region Accounting Division to show their p-card to validate account number.

• P-card users are responsible to produce receipts and statements for audit use.

• P-card users are responsible to review Monthly Reconciliation Statement and resolve any discrepancies by contacting the supplier or the bank.  

The objective of the program is to simplify and expedite purchases for the agency by placing p-cards in the hands of trained employees who utilize the goods and services purchased.

For more information regarding p-card usage, please see the following policy: UDOT 02A-04 P-Card Usage 

All purchases being made with Maintenance funds have limitations and rules that apply.  Specifically, when goods and services must be provided in order to be attributed to the current fiscal year. UDOT has developed an interactive online training course that deals with the fiscal year end. The training provides the basics of what fiscal year end is, and discusses the rules and regulations that determine if an expense falls into the old fiscal year or the new fiscal year. 

Year-End Purchase Training