Procurement Questions

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Effective January 5, 2026, PIs should use OneRF (powered by Workday and Jaggaer) to shop catalog items directly from RFCUNY suppliers instead of emailing purchase orders to the Procurement & Payables team. 

You can access this functionality in OneRF by searching for Connect to Supplier Website and clicking on Connect to be directed to OneRF’s Jaggaer functionality. There, you will begin placing your order. 

 If a supplier you seek to purchase from is not currently included in our catalog, please initiate a non-catalog requisition. You can do this by searching for Request Non-Catalog items in OneRF to begin the process. 

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

No. RFCUNY has discontinued the use of the PO@rfcuny.org email address for submitting requests and the use of the Small Order Form. All requisitions must be submitted through OneRF (powered by Workday). 

Whenever possible, PIs should use OneRF to shop catalog items directly from select RFCUNY suppliers. For non-catalog items, PIs may create a purchase requisition in OneRF. 

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

We strongly recommend using suppliers who have been set up in the system already. However, if a PI cannot find a supplier in OneRF, they can request new non-catalog suppliers be added to OneRF’s system for payment. This request can be made directly in OneRF (powered by Jaggaer). Suppliers will then be contacted directly and invited to register and provide information to RFCUNY OneRF using a secure environment, eliminating the need to transmit sensitive data via email.

Added: January 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Suppliers submit invoices in the following ways: 

• For Non-Catalog Orders: Supplier submit invoices to RF_CUNYInvoices@rfcuny.org. These invoices are forwarded to OneRF, where a Supplier Invoice will automatically be created and processed by the P&P Team.  

• For Catalog/ Punchout Orders: Suppliers submit the invoices via OneRF’s Jaggaer platform. 

It is important to note that these instructions are for suppliers. PIs must use the Receipt function to receive all goods and services acquired via the requisition and purchase order process via OneRF (powered by Workday). This task will act as the approval to pay the invoice when RFCUNY receives the invoice directly from a supplier. 

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

RFCUNY has developed several purchasing reports that are currently available on the Principal Investigator and Grants Officers Dashboards.  For more information, including a description of these reports, please visit our OneRF Report Dashboard page.  

We are also continuing to work to customize additional reports. When they are ready, we will update the OneRF Report Dashboard page with further information.

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

While there is no specific function that is named “recall” for an invoice in OneRF, a supplier invoice requests can be edited and canceled after submission. A brief overview of this process is: 

• From My Supplier Invoice Requests in OneRF, click on the magnifying glass in the leftmost column for the invoice you want to edit. Three dots will appear.  

• Click on the three dots to open a Related Actions screen. 

• In the Related Actions screen, clicking on “Supplier Invoice Request” will reveal the available options for your invoice. 

From here, users can edit, cancel, or copy the supplier invoice request. For more information on this topic, please reach out for help by submitting a case in OneRF. 

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Seeing the reason for a denial is important and users can access this information by viewing the supplier invoice request using the My Supplier Invoice Requests report. To view why the request was denied, please click on the magnifying glass under Supplier Invoice Request column. Then click on the process history tab and scroll down to the bottom to view who denied the request and why. 

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Transaction numbers are generated system-wide in OneRF’s Workday platform and they cannot be customized or changed. 

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

RFCUNY has developed several purchasing reports that are currently available on the Principal Investigator and Grants Officers Dashboards. 

•  My Requisitions 
• My Supplier Invoice Requests 
• MY Receipts 
• My Expense Reports 
• My Spend Authorizations 

If a user needs to review these reports for a grant that they are not directly assigned to, RFCUNY has created the Report Viewer Role. More information on what this role can access and how to assign it is available online. 

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

The purchase order and payment process in OneRF has changed and is more structured than in our legacy system. It is important to note that this is an intentional part of the OneRF system framework, that should result in greater transparency and smoother transactions once users are comfortable with the process.  

When a transaction remains open (for example, a receipt associated with a specific PO), in most cases, it means that the users still need to take a required workflow step, which is still pending completion. Put a different way, OneRF has been configured to send notifications when user action is required (e.g., receipt confirmation, approval, or other workflow steps) to prevent transactions from stalling.  

If specific transactions appear stalled despite required steps being completed, the first step should be to review the notifications menu to see what step is required. It’s important to note that while we are still in the process of transition, OneRF’s Workday platform has been used successfully for procurement by hundreds of organizations, and it’s been designed with compliance and transparency in mind. Workday has built procurement workflows to meet the general best procurement and accounting practices, as well as the unique compliance standards and requirements of RFCUNY as a fiscal agent.

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

RFCUNY has been careful to ensure that every functional area of OneRF received dedicated design, configuration, and testing focus through the implementation process.  

OneRF is not meant to replace long-valued professional relationships that PIs and college representatives have with vendors. Instead, routing purchases through OneRF eliminates the need for PIs to manage invoices – a significant administrative burden in our legacy systems - by automatically matching with POs and receipts in OneRF. This not only minimizes downstream reconciliations and validations, but also strengthens compliance and internal controls.  

The transition from our legacy systems to OneRF involved a historically massive data migration, including open Purchase Orders and Suppliers. Specifically, the supplier migration to OneRF was a lengthy process, often involving significant manual intervention. The RFCUNY P&P team continues to work on onboarding as many suppliers as possible.  

OneRF’s Jaggaer platform provides users with additional convenient procurement options including a catalog punch-out procurement path and invoices against Purchase Orders submitted into the system by suppliers, which will, again, spare PIs the administrative burden associated with invoice submission. PIs only need to confirm receipt of goods or services, which we are confident that, after the initial learning and adjustment period, will provide a better, smoother procurement experience for the field.  

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

The supplier questionnaire is part of the standardized onboarding process for OneRF’s Workday platform. It ensures that information on tax, banking, and compliance is collected securely and directly from the vendor. This, in turn, reduces errors and protects sensitive data. Specifically, it means that PIs and GOs no longer have to see or touch sensitive, private information – a pain point on RFCUNY’s legacy systems. While this may differ from past practices, it strengthens auditability and helps prevent payment delays caused by incomplete or incorrect vendor information. A copy of the Supplier Invoice Questionnaire is available through the “How A Supplier Completes the Registration Process” Job Aid located in the OneRF Training Resource page: RF CUNY - Training Resources.

Added: March 2026 – Last Updated: July 2026

Although users may see grants they do not control in OneRF, the system has multiple safeguards - including PI and RFCUNY central office review - that prevent incorrect charges from being finalized. Because of how some grants are configured, these catches are after submission and during the routing and approval process as outlined below.  

When initiating procurement transactions against a grant, we recommend searching for the grant by typing the grant number instead of scrolling through the list of grants. If a user does select a grant that they do not have a role on, there are multiple fail-safes in place to prevent the improper routing and approval of this expense: 

1. The first warning is a message that appears on screen alerting the user that they are submitting expenses to a grant they do not control. 
2. If a user decides to proceed, the transaction will then route to the PI who oversees that grant for review.  If the transaction was sent to the incorrect grant, the PI can reject it immediately. 
3. If the PI accidentally approves an incorrect transaction, it will route to Research Foundation Central Office (RFCO) staff for processing, where there is an additional opportunity to reject it.  

Some procurement transactions do need to route to multiple grants and multiple PIs. For this reason, we have added blockers on the routing and approval path rather than earlier in the submission process. As noted above, we have also added a warning message to alert the user of potential discrepancies. It is important to note that every transaction is always routed to the PI for their review and approval before they are finalized. 

Added: July 2026

Like many other organizations, RFCUNY requires that payments are matched to invoices on a one-to-one basis. This is a standard business and accounting best practice which protects Principal Investigators, CUNY, and RFCUNY. Specifically, this matching process: 

• Strengthens the internal financial controls RFCUNY maintains to ensure the accuracy of its financial reporting and mitigate the risk of fraud. 
• Maintains a clear audit trail for each individual transaction which, in turn, makes reconciliations, audits, and sponsor reviews more efficient. 
• Ensures that costs are properly documented, are allowable, and correctly allocated to the grant. 
• Reduces the risk of duplicate or improper payments. 

This practice is aligned with governmental and private sponsor requirements to maintain effective internal controls and adequate financial management system. 

RFCUNY is mindful that individual invoice review can create an administrative burden at times. The automation of OneRF (powered by Workday and Jaggaer) aims to ease this required work in two ways: 

1. Principal Investigators may shop catalog items directly from select RFCUNY suppliers. For catalog items, no invoice is required. OneRF has launched with suppliers representing our highest purchasing volume and we will continue to add additional suppliers in the coming months. 
2. For non-catalog items, PIs create a purchase requisition by searching for Request Non-Catalog items in OneRF. Supplier, rather than Principal Investigators, will then submit invoices to RF_CUNYInvoices@rfcuny.org. These invoices will be forwarded to OneRF, where a Supplier Invoice will automatically be created and processed by the P&P Team. 

For more information, please consult the Procurement and Payables Job Aids in our Training Resources section of the RFCUNY website.