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The University of Southampton
Finance, Planning and Analytics

General information for suppliers

This page contains general information relevant to current and prospective suppliers to the university, information is regularly updated so please look for updates. If after reviewing the pages you can’t find the information you require, please contact us .

Procurement

The University is no longer a 'contracting authority' for the purposes of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

In certain circumstances, the University at its sole discretion may voluntarily undertake some procurement exercises in accordance with procurement legislation. The procedure that we wish to follow for any individual procurement will be explained in the relevant tender documentation. 

The University works with a whole range of suppliers to deliver an excellent research and teaching environment. We must comply with all internal financial processes and regulations. The Procurement team maintains a contracts register of the agreements and associated suppliers that have either successfully been awarded tenders, or are on framework agreements for supply of goods or services such as stationery, travel, furniture, laboratory equipment and supplies etc. University staff and students are required to utilise University contracts where applicable.


Visit the Working with the University page to find out more about our procurement processes and working with us.

Terms, conditions and policies

We engage suppliers using University of Southampton terms and conditions, the standard terms and conditions of purchase are available to view here .

Where alternative terms and conditions are required due to the specialist nature of a requirements (for example the supply of services, or works) the terms and conditions are contained as part of the Invitation to Tender procurement documentation.

All suppliers must have appropriate contractor insurance, required levels and details will be specified within the procurement documentation.

We also have a range of policies that our suppliers must be aware of and that we and they must comply with – these can be found on the University’s Governance pages .

Purchase orders

The University operates a ‘No PO, No pay’ policy, please do not accept requests for goods or services without provision of an official Purchase Order.

Invoices

Submitting invoices for payment

Suppliers should ensure that they have been given an official University Purchase Order (PO) before supplying goods or services. This PO number must be shown on all invoices – without it, we will be unable to pay your invoice. The University aims to pay all its suppliers for approved invoices within 30 days of receipt.

Invoices will be treated as valid and undisputed where:

Invoices should be emailed to: [email protected] PDF, JPEG or TIF formats are preferred.  Please send each invoice as an individual attachment (do not combine multiple invoices into a single attachment).

Consolidated invoices

The University of Southampton cannot accept consolidated invoices due to system constraints. Invoices cannot be settled against multiple Purchase Order numbers.

PLEASE NOTE : The University has been made aware of a fraud scam that is targeting existing and potential suppliers of equipment to the University of Southampton. Further information and guidance is available on the fraudulent emails and purchase orders page.

Contact information for missing payments

In the first instance please contact Accounts Payable at [email protected] .

Please note our standard payment terms are 30 days.

HMRC invoice guidance

HMRC guidance states that invoices must also include the following information:

Full HMRC guidance for invoicing and taking payments from customers is available on the GOV.UK website .

If you are an individual or small organisation and you don't have a suitable format for your invoice, then you may find one of these invoice templates useful:


Invoice template

VAT invoice template

Updates to supplier details

Notification of any changes to suppliers’ details, such as a change of address or bank details must be provided in writing and emailed to [email protected] .

The University will not be able to amend your record without this written notification and, depending on the amendment may require further information, such as proof of address documentation before any changes can be made.

Off-payroll workers / IR35 tax legislation

The University is responsible for ensuring that individuals working with us through their own limited company (known as a personal service company or PSC) pay the right amount of tax and NI. This means that if you are a supplier who falls into this category, we will need to use a digital tool provided by HMRC to assess your status in relation to this legislation before you start working with us.

This may affect the way in which we engage you to provide us with goods and services. If you are a personal service company and believe you are affected by the IR35 rules, please notify your contact at the University before commencing delivery of services.

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