Description - External

• Perform buying duties when necessary.
• Compare suppliers' bills with bids and purchase orders to verify accuracy.
• Check shipments when they arrive to ensure that orders have been filled correctly and that goods meet specifications.
• Approve and pay bills.
• Determine if inventory quantities are sufficient for needs, ordering more materials when necessary.
• Maintain knowledge of all organizational and governmental rules affecting purchases, and provide information about these rules to organization staff members and to vendors.
• Track the status of requisitions, contracts, and orders.
• Locate suppliers, using sources such as catalogs and the internet, and interview them to gather information about products to be ordered.
• Prepare invitation-of-bid forms, and mail forms to supplier firms or distribute forms for public posting.
• Prepare purchase orders and send copies to suppliers and to departments originating requests.
• Prepare purchase orders and send copies to suppliers and to departments originating requests.
• Compare prices, specifications, and delivery dates to determine the best bid among potential suppliers.
• Review requisition orders to verify accuracy, terminology, and specifications.
• Calculate costs of orders, and charge or forward invoices to appropriate accounts.
• Contact suppliers to schedule or expedite deliveries and to resolve shortages, missed or late deliveries, and other problems.
• Respond to customer and supplier inquiries about order status, changes, or cancellations.
• Monitor contractor performance, recommending contract modifications when necessary.