The procurement function begins after Office of Procurement Services receives a Purchase Requisition form generated by an authorized university source. Normally the Purchase Requisition is sent directly to the General Accounting Office first, so that they can verify the account coding is correct and departmental approvals are valid. When that process is complete the Accounting Office forwards the requisition to Procurement Services where it is assigned to the appropriate Buyer for action and entered into the financial system.

Depending on the complexity of the purchase, the Buyer may contact the requisitioning department to gather additional information to be used in a bid or proposal solicitation. Formal bids are advertised on the electronic Illinois Public Higher Education Procurement Bulletin where potential vendors can review them and request additional information before responding by the posted deadline.

After bids or proposals received are reviewed and evaluated, the decision to purchase is made and the necessary documents are prepared for transmittal to the vendor, with copies distributed to the requesting department, as well as other areas of the university who will receive, record the asset (if required) and deliver the item as specified on campus.

The procurement function ends only after the requesting department has approved the items or services delivered to them and the supplying vendor has been paid.