Occupation: Procurement Clerks
Procurement Clerks
Compile information and records to draw up purchase orders for procurement of materials and services.
Reported Job Titles
(10)
- Buyer
- Procurement Assistant
- Procurement Officer
- Procurement Specialist
- Purchasing Assistant
- Purchasing Associate
- Purchasing Clerk
- Purchasing Coordinator
- Purchasing Specialist
- Warehouse Clerk
Core Tasks
(16)
- Track the status of requisitions, contracts, and orders.
- Perform buying duties when necessary.
- Prepare purchase orders and send copies to suppliers and to departments originating requests.
- Calculate costs of orders, and charge or forward invoices to appropriate accounts.
- Compare prices, specifications, and delivery dates to determine the best bid among potential suppliers.
- Approve and pay bills.
- Maintain knowledge of all organizational and governmental rules affecting purchases, and provide information about these rules to organization staff members and to vendors.
- Determine if inventory quantities are sufficient for needs, ordering more materials when necessary.
- Check shipments when they arrive to ensure that orders have been filled correctly and that goods meet specifications.
- Contact suppliers to schedule or expedite deliveries and to resolve shortages, missed or late deliveries, and other problems.
- Prepare, maintain, and review purchasing files, reports and price lists.
- Review requisition orders to verify accuracy, terminology, and specifications.
- Respond to customer and supplier inquiries about order status, changes, or cancellations.
- Monitor in-house inventory movement and complete inventory transfer forms for bookkeeping purposes.
- Compare suppliers' bills with bids and purchase orders to verify accuracy.
- Locate suppliers, using sources such as catalogs and the internet, and interview them to gather information about products to be ordered.
Supplemental Tasks
(3)
- Monitor contractor performance, recommending contract modifications when necessary.
- Prepare invitation-of-bid forms, and mail forms to supplier firms or distribute forms for public posting.
- Train and supervise subordinates and other staff.