This article describes the minimum contents of a purchase order (PO) to coordinate payment to the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation (RECF), provides ways to submit a purchase order, and details how to check the status of your purchase order.
Must Haves
- Name of Vendor: Robotics Education & Competition Foundation
- Address: 1519 I-30 West, Greenville, TX 75402
- Name of Recipient
- Recipient Address (where RECF should send the bill to)
- Shipping Address (if different from recipient address)
- Dollar Amount
- Signature (electronic or written)
If one of the above items is missing, RECF accounting will email the RobotEvents.com account holder and/or the sender of the purchase order, advise them on what is missing, and ask them to correct and resubmit the purchase order. The RECF can accept blanket purchase orders for multiple invoices, but the above requirements still apply.
Methods of Submission
Purchase orders can be submitted to Accounting by:
- Upload to the order in RobotEvents.com (preferred method)
- Log into your RobotEvents.com account.
- Choose "My Account" on the right side of the menu bar.
- Choose "My Orders" from the left-side menu.
- Select the order from the resulting list.
- Scroll to the bottom of the order page, and upload a copy of your Purchase Order through the Upload File / Choose File interface.
- Email to accounting@recf.org
- Fax: 214-481-6335
- Postal Mail
Processing
- Purchase orders are processed on a first come first served basis. Purchase orders are generally applied to orders within 48 hours of being received.
- Once a purchase order is received and applied to the RobotEvents.com order, a copy is saved on our internal network.
- RECF accounting will email the invoice and a copy of our W-9 to the RobotEvents.com account holder and their Financial Contact if that contact is listed on their RobotEvents.com account, or a remittance email address available on the actual PO.
Status
- When a RobotEvents.com account holder creates an order it is in an “Unpaid” status.
- Once the purchase order has been applied by accounting its status changes to “PO Processing." This will begin a 30-day period during which the payment must be received by our accounting office.
- The status will remain as PO Processing until payment has been received and applied, and will then change to “Paid.”
Signature Requirement for Purchase Orders
In our ongoing efforts to enhance our procurement and payment processes, we have identified a need to enforce a signature requirement concerning Purchase Orders. We have encountered several instances where POs were not paid in a timely manner due to an incomplete approval and verification processes. To address this issue and ensure that all POs are properly authorized and verified, we require a wet-ink or digital signature on every PO unless there is a statement on the purchase order or on your accounts payable department’s terms and conditions linked to the PO indicating that the PO is a legally binding document without a signature.
This requirement streamlines our operations, ensures that payments are made more efficiently, and allows you to more efficiently register your teams for the season or for events. It is designed to:
- Ensure accuracy by confirming that all POs have been reviewed and approved by the appropriate individuals and processed in a timely manner
- Prevent delays by reducing the risk of payment delays due to processing errors or unauthorized orders
- Improve accountability by enhancing the tracking of approvals and responsibilities associated with each PO
Best Practices
Having the order and/or invoice number legibly included on the purchase order is recommended for proper application of the purchase order to the correct order. This helps the RECF accounting department apply the purchase order to the correct order without delay and get your payments processed faster!
Please note: Beginning in the 25/26 competition season, teams with unpaid purchase orders or unpaid event registrations that are 90 days past due will not be able to register for events.