The Procurement Acronyms and Abbreviations That You Need to Know

The Procurement Acronyms and Abbreviations That You Need to Know

In the procurement business, there are a lot of abbreviations and acronyms to keep up with. Because there are so many terms used, it makes sense to keep them as short as possible for easier communication.

But, if you don’t have them memorized, or are still working on learning them all, this reference list will make it much easier.

A

AA: Administrative Action

ACH: Automated Clearing House

AD: Administrative Directive

AD: Assistant Director

ABC: Approved budget for the contract

AEP: Achievement of Excellence in Procurement

AFV: Alternative Fuel Vehicle

ACAN: Advance contract award notice

ACCO: Agency Chief Contracting Officer

ACSP: Advanced Certificate in Strategic Procurement

ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act

AG: Attorney General

AIDAR: Agency for International Development Acquisition Regulation

AMMPL: Association Materials Management, Purchasing, and Logistics

ANSI: American National Standards Insitute

AP: Automation, Procurement or Accounts Payable

APP: Annual Procurement Plan

APR: Agency Procurement Request

AOR: After Order Receipt

AORO: Agency Open Record Officer

ASQ: American Society for Quality

ASR: Aquisition Strategy Report

ASTM: American Society for Testing and Materials

B

B2B: Business to Business

BBP: Business to Business Procurement

B2C: Business to Consumer

BD: Bidding document

BAFO: Best and Final Offer

BATNA: Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement

BCPG: Board of Commissioners of public grounds and buildings

BEA: Bureau of Engineering Architecture

BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics

BOM: Bill of Materials

BOP: Bureau of Procurement

BPA: Blanket Purchase Agreement

BSBO: Bureau of Small Business Opportunities

C

CA: Chartered Accountant qualification

CAD: Computer-aided design

CAL: Contract Award Letter

CAN: Contract Award Notification

CANU: Contract Award Notification Update

CEO: Chief Executive Officer

CL: Circular Letter

CPD: Carbon Disclosure Project

COB: Close of Business

COD: Cash on Delivery

COLA: Cost of Living Adjustment

CONUS: Continental United States

COOP: Cooperative Purchase or Cooperative Procurement

COTS: Commercial off the shelf

COGS: Cost of goods sold

COI: Conflict of Interest

CPCM: Certified Professional Contract Manager

CPI: Consumer price index

COPPAR: Community of Practice Procurement Architectural Review

CPD: Continuing professional development

CPO: Chief Procurement Officer

CPPB: Certified Professional Public Buyer

CPPO: Certified Public Procurement Officer

CR: Continuous Recruitment

CRM: Customer relationship management

CRP: Contractor Responsibility Program

CRPS: Contractor Responsibility Program System

CS: Commodity Specialist

CSR: Corporate social responsibility

D

DB: Disability Benefits

DC: Designated Contract

DCED: Department of Community and Economic Development

DCIO: Deputy Chief Information Officer

DCNR: Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

DGS: Department of General Services

DEP: Department of Environmental Protection

DHS: Department of Human Services

DLA: Defense Logistics Agency

DMWBD: Division of Minority and Women’s Business Development

DMVA: Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

DO: Delivery order

DOC: Department of Corrections

DOD: Department of Defense

DOL: Department of Labor

DQ: Disqualification

E

EA: Enterprise Agreement

EBT: Electronic Benefit Transfer

EDI: Electronic Data Interchange

EEO: Equal Employment Opportunity

EFT: Electronic Funds Transfer

EIN: Employer Identification Number

EISSP: Enterprise IT Standard Selection Process

EMAS: Eco-Management and Audit Scheme

EO: Executive Order

EPO: Emergency purchase order

EOQ: Economic Order Quantity

EPEAT: Electronic IT Standard Selection Process

ERP: Enterprise resource planning

EPA: Environmental Protection Agency

EVT: Electronic Value Transfer

F

FA: Framework Agreement

FAA: Federal Aviation Administration

FAR: Federal Acquisition Regulation

FEIN: Federal Employer Identification Number

FCL: Full container load

FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

FTL: Full truckload

FHWA: Federal Highway Administration

FIFO: First in First Out

FISMA: Federal Information Security Management Act

FMP: Fair Market Price

FMCG: Fast-moving consumer goods

FIN: Federal Identification Number

FOB: Freight on Board / Free on Board

FOIA: Freedom of Information Act

FPR: Final Procurement Record

FTE: Full-Time Equivalent

FYE: Fiscal Year End

G

GDP: Gross Domestic Product

GNP: Gross National Product

GR: Goods receipt

GSA: General Services Administration

H

HBITS: Hourly Based Information Technology Services

HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

HTML: Hyper-text Markup Language

HUB: Historically Underused Business

I

IAA: Interagency agreement

IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service

IAS: Information Advisory Services

ICAS: Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland

ID/IQ: Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity

IES: Integrated Enterprise System

IFB: Invitation for Bid

IFF: Industrial Funding Fee

IIRC: International Integrated Reporting Council

IG: Inspector General

IGA: Intergovernmental agreement

INCO: International commercial

IP: Intellectual Property

ISO: International Organization for Standardization or Independent System Operator

ISP: Internet Service Provider

IT: Information technology

ITQ: Invitation to Qualify

ITT: Invitation to Tender/Invitation to Treat

J

JCT: Joint contracts tribunal

JIT: Just in time

K

KPI: Key performance indicator

L

LAC: Live Auction Cockpit

LATS: Leave & Accruals Tracking System

LC: Letter of Credit

LCA: Lifecycle assessment

LCC: Lifecycle costing or Lifecycle

LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

L&I: Department of Labor and Industry

LIFO: Last-in first out

LCL: Less than container load

LTD: Life to Date

LTL: Less than truckload

LCC: Low-cost country

LCCS: Low-cost country sourcing

LLC: Limited Liability Company

LLP: Limited Liability Partnership

M

MBE: Minority Business Enterprise

MCC: Merchant Category Codes

MFN: Most Favored Nation (Customer)

MDM: Master Data Management

MOU: Memorandum of Understanding

MRO: Maintenance, Repair, Operations

MM: Material Master

MPC: Model Procurement Code

MPL: Minimum Participation Levels

MRP: Material Requirements Planning

MRPII: Manufacturing Resource Planning

MSCC: Material Service Contract Catalog

MSDS: Materials Safety Data Sheet

MSLP: Manufacturer’s Suggested List Price

MSRP: Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price

MPS: Master production schedule

MSME: Micro-Small, and Medium Enterprises

MOQ: Minimum Order Quantity

MT: Motor Transport

MWBE: Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprise

Familiarizing yourself with these acronyms and abbreviations will make your procurement job much easier.

N

N or NEG: Negotiated

NAICS: North American Industry Classification System Code (Formerly known as SIC for Standard Industrial Classification Code)

NASPO: National Association of State Procurement Officials

NIGP: National Institute of Governmental Purchasing

NIST: National Institute of Standards and Technology

NTE: Not-To-Exceed Price

NHTSA: National Highway Transportation Safety Administration

NMSDC: National Minority Supplier Development Council

NEC: New Engineering Contract

NGO: Non-Governmental Organization

O

OSHA: Occupational Health and Safety Agency

OJEU: Official Journal of the European Union

OEM: Original Equipment Manufacturer

OA/OIT: Office of Administration/Office for Information Technology

OA: Governor’s Office of Administration

OB: Office of the Budget

OCC: Office of Chief Counsel

OGC: Office of General Counsel

OSS: Online Service System – Service used by IES to report system issues

OMB: Office of Management and Budget

P

PA: Purchasing Agent

PaaS: Platform as a Service

PDP: Plan Driven Procurement

PIP: Personal Improvement Plan

PPE: Personal protective equipment

PLC: Private limited company

PQQ: Pre-qualification questionnaire

PBITS: Project Based Information Technology Consulting Services

PCI: Payment Card Industry [PCI-DSS]

PG: Procurement Guidelines

PGB: Piggyback

PM: Purchasing Memorandum

PMT: Portfolio Management Tool

PNS: Purchaser Notification Service

PO: Purchase Order

POA: Price on Application

POWL: Personal Object Work List

PPI: Producer Price Index

PI: Price Index

PR: Purchase Requisition or Purchase Request

PS: Procurement Services or Preferred Source

PTP: Plan to Procure

PWR: Prevailing Wage Rate

P&L: Profit and Loss

Q

QA: Quality Assurance

QC: Quality Control

QMS: Quality Management System

QPL: Qualified Products List

R

RFC: Request for Comment

RFI: Request for Information

RFID: Radio-frequency identification

RFP: Request for Proposals

RFQ: Request for Quotations

RoHS: Restriction of Hazardous Substances

RFT: Request for Tender

RTKL: Right to Know Law

ROI: Return on Investment

RSIA: Road safety impact assessment

S

SaaS: Software as a Service

SAD: Single administrative document

SAP: Systems, Applications, and Products

SB/SBE: Small Business/Small Business Enterprise

SBA: United States Small Business Administration

SBPI: Small Business Procurement Initiative

SCSC: State Civil Service Commission

SDB: Small Diverse Business

SDVBE: Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprise

SDVOSB: Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

SDG: Sustainability development goals

SKU: Stock Keeping Unit

SLA: Service Level Agreement

SME: Small and medium-sized enterprise or Subject matter expert

SOW: Statement of Work

SRM: Supplier Relationship Management / Supplier relationship manager

SSN: Social Security Number

STS: Single Transaction Summary

STSD: Single Transaction Summary Document

SVRQ: Standard Vendor Responsibility Questionnaire

SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (Analysis)

S&OP: Sales and operation planning

SMART: Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound

T

3PL: Third-party logistics

Ts and Cs: Terms and Conditions

T&M: Time & Materials

TCS: Telecommunication Connectivity Services

TSOs: Third-sector organizations

TAR: Technical Architecture Review Board

TCO: Total Cost of Ownership

TL: Truckload

TQM: Total quality management

TW: Tank Wagon

U

UAT: User acceptance testing

UNSPSC: United Nations Standard Products

UCC: Uniform Commercial Code

UCP: Unified Certification Program

UPC: Universal Product Code

UPPCC: Universal Public Porcurement Certification Council

USC: United States Code

V

VAR: Value Added Reseller

VAT: Value added tax

VBE: Veteran Business Enterprise

VETBIZ: Veteran’s Business Verification Program

VIN: Vendor Identification Number

VOCs: Volatile Organic Compounds

VOSB: Veteran-Owned Small Business

W

WBE: Women Business Enterprise

WBENC: Women’s Business Enterprise National Council

WC: Workers’ Compensation

WCB: Workers’ Compensation Board

X

XaaS Anything as a Service

Y

YTD: Year to Date

With this list, you should have all the procurement acronyms and abbreviations you’ll ever need.

Did you find any that you weren’t already familiar with?

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