KYUSHU UNIVERSITYe教員ハンドブック

Menu

Accounting

Purchase of goods, etc.

Most of the University’s funds come from taxes, and staff must always ensure fairness, transparency, competitiveness and economic viability in any use of University money.

Kyushu University insists, on principle, that for these reasons, any member of staff wishing to purchase goods must first select the item required, and then implement the purchasing procedure via the accounting section of their department.

As an exception, however, faculty and administrative staff that have been allocated budgets, persons permitted to place orders within departments, and persons allocated subsidies, may place orders for less than 1.5 million yen worth of goods per time.

  • ・Contract to purchase goods (research equipment, office supplies, leases, etc.)
  • ・Service contract (repair of goods, maintenance of equipment, printing and bookbinding, etc.)
  • * There is no authority to place orders for expenditure contracts worth 1.5 million yen or more, so a purchase request should be submitted to the administrative section of your department to request that a contract be concluded.

○Selection of goods for purchase

The person intending to use the goods (member of staff, etc.) must consider the objectives and conditions of use of the item, and survey the market in order to make a comparison of similar items, before deciding upon an item to purchase.

In selecting goods or deciding on specifications, ensure fairness and objectivity to be able to take accountability so that there will be no seemingly suspicious connection to a certain maker.

In principle, purchases of goods will be handled as below.

・Items costing 10 million yen or less

Once the item for purchase has been selected as described above, staff should request the accounts section to implement the purchasing procedure. There is no need to put in writing the reason why a particular item has been selected.

・Items costing more than 10 million yen but less than 18 million yen (*1)

Staff must put in writing the reason why a particular item has been selected (a model selection report).When requesting the accounts section to implement the purchasing procedure, this model selection report will be required.

If purchasing multiple items to construct a system, however, it will be necessary to produce a specifications document.

・Items costing more than 18 million yen(*1)

According to the government procurement agreement, etc., (see below), the University is not permitted to purchase an item based on the manufacturer/model number or specify a brand. Rather than specifying a brand, the member of staff should implement a market survey based on the objectives and conditions of use of the item, and decide the minimum specifications required in the object to be purchased. This information should be compiled into a document listing the specifications.

○Deciding upon contract partners

The person responsible for contracts in the department must use the following procedure to decide on a contract partner for the purchasing of goods or provision of services.

・Goods, etc.valued at 1.5 million yen or less

A survey is implemented of possible suppliers, and the contract partner is decided upon, in principle, through the collection of estimates.

・Goods, etc. valued at more than 1.5 million yen but 5 million yen or less

Information regarding the goods required is placed on the Kyushu University website, and potential suppliers are invited to submit estimates, from which the lowest cost estimate is selected for contract.

・Goods, etc. valued at more than 5 million yen but less than 18 million yen (*1)

Information regarding the goods required is placed on the Kyushu University website, and potential suppliers are invited to submit tenders, from which the lowest cost tender is selected for contract.

・Goods, etc. valued at 18 million yen or more (*1)

Such goods come under the remit of the government purchasing agreement (see below), and as such information regarding the required goods must be notified in the Official Gazette and on the website of Kyushu University for the submission of tenders.

Businesses wishing to tender for the business must propose goods that meet the conditions (specifications) given, and as a result of these tenders, a contract is awarded to the business making the lowest offer.

○Government Purchasing Agreement, etc.

Government purchasing is defined as the purchase or rental of goods or services by the government, a local government agency or a government-related agency.

The World Trade Organization (WTO), which has as its main aim the liberalization of trade, defined the Government Purchasing Agreement (ratified on 1st January 1996) and the Agreement on Government Procurement (ratified in April 2014), and dozens of countries and customs areas, including Japan, had agreed to become parties to, and abide by the regulations of, the agreement.

National university corporations are covered by the terms of this agreement.

(When purchasing takes place funded by subsidies awarded to individuals as Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology research funds, however, these terms do not apply.)

Note: Due to agreements and treaties, the government purchasing process requires far more complicated paperwork procedures to be undertaken than general purchasing. For this reason, it can take a significant amount of time before the item is delivered.
When putting together a research plan while applying for budget or competitive funding, it is necessary to remember that the procedures will take a significant amount of time.

This agreement and the autonomous measures established by Japan require the following specific measures to be adhered to:

  • 1.When purchasing items that cost 18 million yen or more (*1)
    • (1) Tenders must be invited by placing advertisements in official gazettes (including English language editions) to encourage tenders from as many businesses as possible.
    • (2) A designated period of time must be defined between the publication of advertisements in gazettes and the submission of tenders.
    • (3) Items for purchase may not be specified by manufacturer or model number, etc., but rather by the creation of a specifications document.
    (among other rules)
  • 2.Furthermore, when purchasing items that cost 140 million yen or more (*2),
    • (1) When creating a specifications document proposal, market research must be done by gathering information from a broad range of official gazettes (including English language editions).
    • (2) The specifications document created in (1) above must be placed as an advertisement in official gazettes (including English language editions) to encourage tenders from as many businesses as possible.
    (among other rules)

In addition to this, the University may at times be required to hold an explanatory meeting in regard to its tender process, or in regard to the details of its specifications document, as well as convene a technical panel to consider the details contained in the proposals received from tendering companies.

Example: Purchase of general goods (competitive purchase)
Category Work done by faculty member Work done by General Affairs Dept.
Selection of item for purchase Decision on contracting partner
1.5 million yen or less Market research Collection of estimates
More than 1.5 million yen but 5 million yen or less Comparison of published estimates
More than 5 million yen but 10 million yen or less Tender
More than 10 million yen but less than 18 million yen (*1) Creation of model selection report
18 million yen (*1) or more but less than 140 million yen (*2) Definition of specifications,
implementation of technical considerations
140 million yen or more (*2) Collecting information
Collecting opinions
Deciding on specifications
Implementation of technical considerations
  • *1, *2: These are base amounts for AY 2024 - 2025. The amounts are revised every two years.
  • *2: Different value criteria apply to electronic communications equipment and medical technology products.

○ Financial accounting system

A request to purchase the selected item should be done using the “financial accounting system.”Faculty members who have their own budgets allocated will be given an ID to allow them to use the system.