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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
GDP: Gross Domestic Product
GNP: Gross National Product
GR: Goods receipt
GSA: General Services Administration
HBITS: Hourly Based Information Technology Services
HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
HTML: Hyper-text Markup Language
HUB: Historically Underused Business
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
JCT: Joint contracts tribunal
JIT: Just in time
KPI: Key performance indicator
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
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 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
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
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
QA: Quality Assurance
QC: Quality Control
QMS: Quality Management System
QPL: Qualified Products List
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
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
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
UAT: User acceptance testing
UNSPSC: United Nations Standard Products
UCC: Uniform Commercial Code
UCP: Unified Certification Program
UPPCC: Universal Public Porcurement Certification Council
USC: United States Code
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
WBE: Women Business Enterprise
WBENC: Women’s Business Enterprise National Council
WC: Workers’ Compensation
WCB: Workers’ Compensation Board
XaaS Anything as a Service
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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