Students Only – Please contact Business Services if you need to make purchases on Bearbuy at inquiries@law.berkeley.edu
For Faculty and Staff
Please refer to the UC Berkeley Purchasing and Payment Matrix for how to pay for your purchases: UC Berkeley Purchasing and Payment Method Matrix (External)
UC Berkeley provides tools for planning purchases and utilizing pre-approved vendor contracts:
- Existing vendor contracts are listed in the UC Contracts List (External),
- and instructions for working with these vendors can be found in the Benefits of using Existing Agreements (External)
UC Berkeley’s purchasing system is BearBuy
All staff, faculty, and student employees have access to BearBuy by default with a “shopper” role.
An overview of BearBuy and guidance on questions about the system and training can be found at this BearBuy Getting Started (External) .
BearBuy job aids and reference materials are available at this BearBuy Resources (External).
BearBuy contains many pre-set options for purchasing office supplies and other regular office needs.
- Shop with Amazon on Bearbuy Amazon-Business-Bearbuy (External)
- Instructions on how to order for Drop-off Food Delivery Supply Chain Management Drop-off Food Delivery (External)
- Quick reference guide to America to Go (External)
Business Financial System (BFS) Common Account Codes Common Expense Account Code (External)
How to reconcile your BluCard Transactions Reconcile bluCard Instructions (External)
Purchase Orders
We recommend requesting your purchase order through BearBuy at least 30 days prior to receiving the service. The process time to vendor suppliers and to gather all required documents along with the 4 levels of approvals for the completion of the Purchase Order (PO) is lengthy. If services are rendered prior to the Purchase Order being fully approved, then the work is considered unauthorized and UCB is not obligated to pay. It is against campus policy to engage in work without a PO in place.
Independent Contractor Definition
An independent contractor is a self-employed individual or business that provides goods and services to the University under a contract and/or official UC Berkeley Purchase Order. They are responsible for their own taxes and benefits. For more information please see the Independent Contractor (External)
Independent Contractors Resources
How to hire an Independent Contractor (External)
Required PO Documents (External)
Procurement Forms (External) – Samples of form listed below (Please click link for complete list):
- Conflict of Interest Certification Form
- Simple and Complex Statement of Work Templates
- Amendment Template
- UC Insurance requirements
Note: Any purchase order (PO) greater than $25,000, please send an email to Erwin Chemerinsky for a pre-approval request attaching your scope of work with your request. You will need pre-approval when submitting your PO request.
Vendoring New Suppliers
If you are working with a new vendor or supplier who will need to get set up in UC Berkeley’s systems, you can get access to the vendor/supplier tile after you do a supplier training: Supplier Onboarding Training Sign Up Form (External), Supplier Onboarding Overview (External)
If you need access to the Business Financial System(BFS) to vendor a supplier please contact Business Services as@law.berkeley.edu.
Certificate of Liability Insurance
Supply Chain Management (SCM) (External) is responsible for the acquisition of our campus goods and services. SCM will serve as the campus office responsible for collecting Certificate of Insurance.
Effective as of August 21, 2026:
- Departments are no longer responsible for collecting Certificates of Insurance from vendors. SCM will serve as the campus office responsible for collecting Certificates of Insurance when required.
- Departments are no longer responsible for requesting insurance waivers from Risk Services. SCM will also coordinate directly with Risk Services to obtain any necessary insurance waivers.
Additional guidance, including the approved list of insurance waiver categories and updated procedures, is available on the UCOP Procurement (External) You will need to authenticate with your Calnet ID to access the document.
If you need more details on Insurance requirements, you can reference UC BUS-63 Risk Matrix (External) and/or BFB-BUS-63: Risk Transfer and Insurance Requirements (External)
Contracts Reviews and Signatures
Please do not sign any contracts if you do not have delegated authority to sign on behalf of the university. The two units that have delegated authority for School of Law are:
- Event Services email events@law.berkeley.edu
- Business Services email inquiries@law.berkeley.edu
Contract Review (External) from risk services gives you a list of departments who have delegated authority to sign contracts that are not processed through Bearbuy. An example of this would be the Business Contracts and Brand Protection has delegated authorities for “Business Contracts.”
Specific types of payment requests
Honoraria: Guidelines (External) and Payment Request Form (External)
Note: Berkeley Law requires a pre-approval for any honoraria $1,000 or more. Contract Business Service at inquiries@law.berkeley.edu and we will assist you.
Participant Support: Guidelines (External) and Payment Request Form (External)
Employee recognition awards/gifts: Guidelines (External) This can be purchased via BearBuy or BluCard
Domestic Supplier Information
How to onboard a new supplier: Supplier Onboarding Overview (External)
New Supplier Aid: Job Aid Onboarding Domestic Supplier (External)
If a supplier needs to update their contact or bank information please provide them the Updating Existing Suppliers (External). The supplier needs to request the changes themselves. We do not have the ability to do this for them.
Domestic Vendors Payment Method
Domestic supplies wire transfers are made by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These electronic transfer transactions are coordinated by the campus Accounts Payable office executed by the Bank of America on behalf of the University.
Instructions on how to set up payment requests, see Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) (External Link)
Foreign Supplier Information
How to onboard foreign supplier Job Aid Onboarding Foreign Supplier (External)
If a supplier needs to update their contact or bank information please provide them the Updating Existing Suppliers (External). The supplier needs to request the changes themselves. We do not have the ability to do this for them.
Foreign Vendors Payment Method
Vendors located in foreign countries will be paid through outgoing wire transfer. The payment will be made in U.S. currency. These transactions are coordinated by the campus Accounts Payable (External) office and executed by the Bank of America on behalf of the University. Foreign Wire transfer payment can take up to 10 days.
Instructions on how to set up a payment request, see Wire Transfer (External)
Travel Reimbursement for Foreign Visitors
Please inform your foreign speakers/visitors about U.S. immigration requirements governing eligibility for reimbursement travel expenses. Please reference Travel Reimbursements for Foreign Travel (External) to determine the type of visa the foreign individual will need to enter the U.S. and get reimbursed.
A complete Glacier record is required for foreign nationals to receive payments from UC Berkeley. Please visit the Glacier/Foreign Tax Compliance System website (External)
Other Resources for Vendor/Suppliers
Frequently Asked Question (External)
Invoicing and Payment Terms (External)
Data Privacy Job Aid (External)
Upwork Global Inc.
Are you looking for temporary help and need to find a freelancer for your project? Supply Chain Management has partnered with Upwork Enterprise. You can find skilled consulting, website development, customer support, finance, etc.
Skilled Freelancers through Upwork (External)
Upwork Frequently Asked Questions (External)
Getting Stared with Upwork in BearBuy (External)
If you have any questions, please contact your manager or Business Services at inquiries@law.berkeley.edu