Procurement Services Blog

What you need to know: 

Effective July 1, 2026, in compliance with new requirements enforced by the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA), the University will be implementing updated guidelines for ACH payments. These guidelines are meant to minimize exposure to ACH risk and protect the confidentiality of payee information. 

What’s Happening:

Starting June 15, 2026 – A new Field Advance assessment will be required to initiate a brand-new Field Advance. Field Advance “Spend Authorizations” will be approved once assessment scores have been reviewed by the Field Advance central office team. To pass the assessment, the requester and custodian must both obtain a passing score of 12 out of 12. 

The scores must be earned within the last year. For example, earn a minimum of 12 out of 12 on the assessment on August 3, 2026, and that score will be valid through August 2, 2027.

The University of Washington is pleased to highlight Supplier.io, our internal general business directory designed to support inclusive and strategic purchasing. This directory helps campus purchasers easily identify small, local, veteran-owned, and other diverse businesses that have registered and expressed interest in working with UW.

A new Workday Order From Connection, UWA ETHYL ALCOHOL, has been set up for Fisher Scientific Co LLC, to support placing orders for Decon Ethanol Alcohol items that are tax-exempt. 

Due to the Middle East conflict affecting supplies from Qatar, a global helium shortage is emerging, resulting in Linde implementing a temporary price increase on helium of 20% effective June 1. 

Airgas started adding a temporary surcharge of $13.50 per hundred cubic feet to helium orders in March. Procurement will be reviewing the situation with both suppliers regularly and will issue updates as things change.

Workday has been updated to improve how use tax is applied on applicable Expense Reports (ERs). Previously, there was no dedicated step within the Expense Report process to confirm that use tax was assessed when required.

With this update, Expense Reports that require use tax will now include an additional review step during processing. At this stage, either the Shared Environment (UWM) or Expense Specialist (UWA) role must review, confirm, and apply use tax as needed. This enhancement helps ensure greater compliance and consistency in Expense Report processing.

Procurement Services is pleased to announce that a new contract with Ricoh for managed print devices is now updated and available for campus use.

Workday contract number: SPC-012707

Ricoh Representative: Nathan Buffington　

Washington District Manager

RICOH USA, Inc　

Cell: (562) 455-6877　

Service: 888-456-6457　

Expeditors has a new online tool, Expo NOW, that allows you to track incoming freight as well as calculate tariffs for imports. Make sure to sign up for the new tool.

NOTE: On signing up, you will be given guest access. Make sure to reach out to John Perkins for full access: john.perkins@expeditors.com

After the Supreme Court ruled that International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs were invalid, they were replaced with a 10%–15% tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, effective February 24, 2026. This is a temporary, 150-day tariff that will expire in July unless extended by Congress.