Purchasing/Stores Glossary of Terms

Glossary Terms Beginning with "S"

SB
Small Business. See Small Business.

SBA
Small Business Administration (Federal).

SDB
Small Disadvantaged Business.

SF110
Personal Services Contract Filing Face Sheet. (SF = State form).

Sales Tax Exempt
Used on requisitions & purchase orders, when no Sales Tax is to be added to purchase, as for certain federal contracts or for items for resale.

Scan
State Controlled Area Network - A dedicated telephone network interconnecting State of Washington Agency offices. See inside Campus Directory for full information.

Sealed Bid
A bid which has been submitted in a sealed envelope to prevent dissemination of its contents before the deadline for the submission of all bids; usually required by the purchasing authority on major procurements over the formal bid limit to ensure fair competition among bidders.

Seller's Market
A market condition where demand is greater than supply; sellers can set prices and terms of sale, and prices are high or rising.

Service Contract
A contract that calls for a contractor's time and effort rather than for a concrete end product, e.g., maintenance contract on a copy machine, etc.

Shared Requisition
See Cost Sharing.

Sheltered Workshop
Workshops which provide employment and training opportunities for handicapped and disadvantaged citizens. See University of Washington Policies & Procedures, Purchasing Department, Procedure 6.5.

Short Ship
A Short Ship occurs when an item is left out or missing from the order. For example, when six pens are shipped, and the order is for seven pens.

Single-Source Procurement
An award for a commodity which can only be purchased from one supplier, usually because of its technological, specialized, or unique character, a.k.a. sole source.

Small Business Administration
A federal agency created to foster and protect the interests of small business concerns.

Small Business
A designation for certain statutory purposes referring to a firm, corporation, or establishment having a small number of employees, low volume of sales, small amount of assets, or limited impact on the market, as defined by Small Business Administration.

Sole Source
See Single-Source Procurement.

Solicitation
The process of notifying prospective vendors that the University wishes to receive offers on a set of requirements to provide goods or services. The process might consist of public advertising, the mailing of Invitations for Bids, or telephone calls to prospective vendors requesting quotations.

Spec
See Specification.

Special Order
Also known as a Nonstock Order. An order placed by University Stores with a vendor because the items needed are not stocked at Stores.

Special Terms and Conditions
Federal government terms and conditions attached to all solicitations and contract documents for purchases from federal funds in excess of established limits. See University of Washington Policies & Procedures, Purchasing Department, Procedure 7.1.3.

Specification
A description of what the purchaser requires, a.k.a "specs".

Standard Package Discount
An allowance applied to goods supplied in the vendor's regular package. See Discount.

Standing Order
A purchase agreement in which the purchaser contracts with the vendor to provide a purchaser's requirements for an item(s) or a service for an established period of time.

Statement
Itemized listing of invoices or charges, indicating invoice numbers, invoice dates and amounts owing.

Status (Check, Report, Request)
State of an order at any given point. A status check, generally the response to a status request, is the act of checking with the vendor on the shipping date of item. Status report is reporting back to the inquirer with this information.

Stock Number
Also known as an Item Number. A seven-digit number assigned to an item stocked in the Stores Warehouse. Look in the Stores Catalog, or the Stores Online Ordering System for item numbers.

Stock Order
A Stock Order contains items that are stocked in the Stores Warehouse. These items are listed in the Stores Catalog and the Stores Online Ordering System.

Sub Object
See University of Washington Operations Manual D34.1

Sub Sub Object
See University of Washington Operations Manual D34.1

Subcontract
A secondary contract undertaking some or all of the obligations of a primary contract. Generally, at the University, subcontracts are formal collaborative teaching or research relationships with other organizations. See University of Washington Policies & Procedures, Purchasing Department, Procedure 8.17.

Subcontracting Plan
A plan established on all Federal contracts over $500,000.00 which must be analyzed to determine what portion of the purchases against this contract can be awarded to Small, Disadvantaged or Women-Owned Businesses.

Subcontractor
A person or company that assumes, by secondary contract, some or all of the obligations of an original contractor.

Supplier
A firm that furnishes needed items to the University; a vendor.

Surplus Property
Inventory item(s) not required by the University at the present time or in the foreseeable future.