Authors: Emory Procurement Team
Whether you’re making a small purchase or negotiating a multi-year contract, planning and compliance are key when using grant funds. Thoughtful preparation not only avoids unexpected costs and regulatory issues—it also helps secure future funding and provides safeguards for both your department and the university.
Here are some essential tips and reminders to help make your grant-funded purchases smooth and successful:
Plan Ahead: Contracts & Quotes
Procurement review is required for purchases that meet any of the following criteria:
- Total value over $50K
- Confidentiality, Conflict of Interest (COI), or privacy concerns
- Multi-year terms or auto-renewals
- No termination clause or funding revocation clause
- Involves students, patients, research subjects, or minors
- Access to confidential or regulated data
- Involves non-U.S. entities
- Involves exclusivity, branding, or intellectual property
- Terms including banking, governing law, or other unusual terms
- Requires IT Steering Committee involvement
**Remember: A quote is considered a contract and should never be signed.**
If your purchase requires a formal contract, allow sufficient time—some agreements, especially those that are complex, international, or large in scale, can take three months or longer to finalize. In rare cases, it may take up to a year. Early engagement is crucial to keep things moving smoothly. For more information, review the Procurement Contract Request Guidelines
Grant Compliance & Purchasing Tips
- Consult Early: Always check with your RAS and CBO to confirm what is allowable under your grant and within the grant period.
- Engage Procurement Early: Procurement is here to help—consulting early reduces delays.
- Use Emory Express Marketplace: It offers better pricing, favorable terms, and faster processing.
- Supplier Setup: New suppliers must be vetted to ensure there is no conflict or regulatory/banking issues and doesn’t negatively impact our existing contracted suppliers. If a contracted supplier already exists, new requests may be denied. Prior to the requisition process, the supplier must be vetted. Procurement currently manages over 10,000 active suppliers.
Competitive Bidding Reminder:
Per Strategic Procurement Policy 2.121, any purchase of $10,000 or more must include:
- At least 3 competitive quotes or a Single/Sole Source Justification Form
**Splitting purchases to avoid bidding requirements is strictly prohibited.**
Procurement Best Practices
Stay informed to avoid financial and regulatory issues:
- Understand international purchasing implications (duties, tariffs, taxes, etc.).
- Use the correct method: POs, purchasing cards, or corporate cards—
**Check Requests should not be used in lieu of a purchase order.**
- Signature Authority Policy 1.2 – signature authority does not replace the need to engage with Procurement. Everything must be routed to Procurement as listed above and then Procurement will route for authorized signatures.
- Send all invoices to: invoice@emory.edu
Planning ahead is important particularly given the current White House activities in the tariff space that may cause compression in supply chain. Potential impacts include delayed delivery schedules, product substitutes, or overall price increases. We are already starting to see tariff fees added to invoices (currently in the 6-10% range), so keep this in mind when considering funding in your grant budget.
Don’t Forget to Engage with OTT
The Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) can assist with:
- Equipment transfers
- IT protection & licensing
- Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs)
- Startup support & collaboration compliance
For more details, and the latest information, visit the Procurement and Support Services website