Subject:

Importance of Referencing a Contract Number on a Purchase Order or Voucher

Guidance:

All Business Units that purchase goods and/or services on an agency contract or Master Contract must reference the contract on the voucher by either (1) referencing a purchase order associated with an agency or Master contract or (2) referencing the Master Contract ID on the voucher.

Properly referencing the contract on a purchase order or voucher provides accurate year-to-date and life-to-date expenditure information.  This facilitates public accountability and provides useful information to contracting agencies and potential future bidders.

Referencing a contract on a purchase order or voucher also facilitates Minority and Women Owned Business Entity (MWBE) reporting.  Without this reference, MWBE spending will not be accurately captured in the New York State Contract System.  Therefore, Business Units’ quarterly and yearly MWBE utilization reporting will be understated and not counted towards MWBE goals.

For more information on referencing a contract on a voucher, please see Guide to Financial Operations (GFO), Chapter XII, Section 5.E – Paying Against a Contract.   

For more information on MWBE reporting, please visit Empire State Development’s website at https://web.archive.org/web/20220625113024/https://www.esd.ny.gov/MWBE/AgencyUtilization2.html.