In this issue:

• New Partnership | Fisher Scientific x Possible Missions
• BruinBuy Plus Enhancements | Distribution email field on requisitions
• New Sales Tax Rate | Effective October 1
• Office Hours | Updated AP Cadence
• McKesson Medical Surgical | REMINDER: Minimum Order Threshold
• Irregular Invoices | Upcoming Resolution Deadlines
• Biweekly Forecast | Office Hours & Other Events
• In Case You Missed It... | A Glance At Previous News

New Partnership | Fisher Scientific x Possible Missions

UCLA and Fisher Scientific are excited to announce a new economic impact partnership with Possible Missions, a small, woman- and minority-owned life sciences business supporting higher education and health services. 

What Does This Mean?

This partnership leverages Possible Missions’ operations and sales teams to provide additional service to UC's research operations while also helping departments more easily fulfill federal grant obligations. 

As of September 17:

• When you buy Thermo Fisher Asheville or legacy Life Technologies brands* through the BruinBuy Plus Fisher punchout, Possible Missions will fulfill the order.
• Pricing, product availability, shipping, and delivery remain unchanged.
• Both Fisher and Possible Missions support teams are now available to you. 

Previous Fisher customers will also receive information about this change from info@email.fishersci.com. 

*Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Gibco

NOTE: While Fisher punchout orders will continue to be submitted as a single requisition, BruinBuy Plus will generate separate purchase orders (POs) for items supplied by Fisher Scientific and Possible Missions, as applicable. Any resulting invoices will be linked to the appropriate PO.

Upcoming Info Session & Office Hour

This change should be seamless for you and your department! To learn more about the partnership, ask questions, and meet representatives from Fisher Scientific and Possible Missions, join us for our special Fisher × Possible Missions info session and office hour on Wednesday, September 23, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. PT.

Register

BruinBuy Plus Enhancement | Distribution Email Field on Requisitions

Requisitions created on or after September 17 will now include the Email (PDF Attachment) field under the requisition’s Vendor Details. Previously, this field was only visible on purchase orders.

• This field provides earlier visibility into where your PO will ultimately be sent and helps ensure distribution issues are resolved before the PO is created.
• When you request to override a vendor's standard distribution email address, Purchasing will update this field to reflect the new address.

New Sales Tax Rate | Effective October 1

Effective October 1, 2026, the Los Angeles County sales tax rate will increase to 10.25%. BruinBuy Plus is being updated to reflect this change and will automatically assess the new tax rate on applicable purchases.

Office Hours | Updated AP Cadence

Based on reduced question volume, Accounts Payable office hours will shift to a biweekly cadence starting in October. Keep an eye on our dynamic events feed for the official schedule.

McKesson Medical Surgical | REMINDER: Minimum Order Threshold

UCLA’s contract with McKesson Medical Surgical requires a minimum order value of $100. BruinBuy Plus will generate an automatic error if you attempt to submit an order below this threshold. 

NOTE: The order minimum does not include sales tax or shipping / handling fees.

Irregular Invoices | Upcoming Resolution Deadlines

Irregular invoices with a hold date of September 1, 2026, through September 13, 2026, must be actioned by departments no later than end of day Friday, September 25.

If the necessary department action(s) is not taken by this deadline, impacted invoices may be rejected or pushed to payment. Additional information on how unactioned invoices are centrally addressed can be found on the Irregular Invoice Resolution Calendar web page.

Need help? Join an upcoming office hour.

Biweekly Forecast | September 21 – October 2

TIP: If a date is not listed in the biweekly forecast, it did not have a planned activity at the time of publishing. Access our dynamic events feed for the most-current list of upcoming activities.

In Case You Missed It... 

NOW LIVE: Assigned Buyers

As part of our commitment to strengthening departmental support, Campus Purchasing is introducing assigned Buyers!

What Does This Mean?

As of August 27, select departments with high purchasing activity now have a dedicated Goods and/or Services Buyer assigned to them. These Buyers will serve as a department’s primary point of contact for requisition and change request processing – transactions will automatically route to them in BruinBuy Plus.

This enhancement is designed to:

• Improve customer service and responsiveness
• Strengthen communication between departments and Campus Purchasing
• Provide more consistent guidance and support

We expect this to improve service levels for the entire campus community through more efficient workload management and faster response times.

Do I Have an Assigned Buyer?

Departments may be assigned a Goods Buyer, a Services Buyer, or both. Visit the Campus Purchasing & Payables website to view Buyer-department assignments.

If your department only has one Buyer, transactions associated with the unassigned purchase category will continue to be triaged to Campus Purchasing team members on a first-come, first-served basis.

How to Get Support

Moving forward:

If your department has an assigned Buyer, contact them directly for requisition/PO support, purchasing policy guidance, and related questions within their area of responsibility (i.e., Goods vs. Services).*

If your department does not have any assigned Buyers OR does not have an assigned Buyer for the purchase type you are working on, continue to submit questions through the BruinBuy Plus Service Desk.*

*Non-purchasing questions should continue to be submitted through the BruinBuy Plus Service Desk. 

NEW! Leadership Web Page

Need help understanding recent organizational changes within UCLA Procurement? Our brand-new Leadership web page has you covered. Access leadership contacts and support information for all units within Procurement Services & Supply Chain Operations, including:

• Campus Purchasing & Payables
• Insurance & Risk Management
• Mail, Document & Distribution Services
• Tax Services
• Travel Accounting
• UC Travel Center
• Global Operations

PO Number Formatting on Invoices

When an invoice is submitted to UCLA, it is scanned by Digital Capture, an optical character recognition (OCR) tool that extracts key invoice details and matches them to the appropriate purchase order (PO). Because BruinBuy Plus cannot read handwritten invoice information, accurate PO number formatting is critical to ensure invoices are processed correctly.

• If the PO number is missing or incorrect, ask your vendor to update the invoice directly versus writing it in yourself. Ideally, the typed PO number should match the font used throughout the invoice. Black font is preferred; neon and red are not supported.
• Make sure the PO number matches what you see in BruinBuy Plus – no spaces or extra characters. It should also appear in its own invoice field separate from other information.

REMINDER: As a best practice, vendors should submit their own invoices whenever possible.

REMINDER: PDF Attachments Required for Direct Pay Form

To help prevent processing delays, all supporting documentation submitted with a Direct Pay Form must be uploaded in PDF format. Submissions that include non-PDF attachments, such as Word documents, Excel files, JPGs, or PNGs, will be placed on hold until PDF versions are provided.

A quick check now can help prevent delays later! Before you hit submit on a Direct Pay Form, ask yourself:

1. Have I included all supporting documentation?
2. Are the documents clear, legible, and complete?
3. Are all attachments in PDF format?

BruinBuy Plus Recap Cadence

We’ve transitioned our BruinBuy Plus Recap to a biweekly publication schedule. We’ll be back in your inbox on October 2.

Recap Mailing List Form

Would one of your colleagues benefit from receiving the weekly BruinBuy Plus Recap? Have them complete our mailing list form!

NOTE: If you already receive the BruinBuy Plus Recap, no action is needed.