Purchasing Order Clerk

Job Description

Beta Academy is a Title I Schoolwide campus. I understand that part or all of this job could be funded with federal funds.

Position Classification: Hourly / Non-Exempt
Reports To: Chief Business Officer
Department: Finance / Procurement
Position Type: 12-Month

Mission

The mission of the Purchasing Order Clerk is to provide accurate, timely, and organized processing of district-wide purchase requisitions and purchase orders. The Purchasing Order Clerk serves as the primary processor of day-to-day purchase order activity and helps ensure district purchases are properly documented, coded, approved, and processed in accordance with Beta Academy procedures.

This position works closely with staff, campus and department leaders, Procurement, Finance, Accounts Receivables, and Accounts Payable to maintain an efficient purchasing process from requisition through purchase order completion.

Primary Responsibilities

Purchase Requisition & Purchase Order Processing

• Manage the district's daily purchase requisition and purchase order queue.
• Review requisitions submitted by staff for completeness, accuracy, appropriate documentation, and required approvals.
• Create and process purchase orders accurately and timely within the district's financial management system.
• Verify that requisitions include appropriate vendor information, quotes, bid numbers, pricing, quantities, account coding, shipping information, and supporting documentation.
• Verify vendor quote numbers are included on purchase orders when applicable.
• Ensure applicable cooperative purchasing, bid, RFP, RFQ, or contract information is properly referenced on purchase orders when provided or required.
• Return incomplete or incorrect requisitions to the requestor with clear instructions regarding needed corrections.
• Monitor requisitions throughout the approval process and follow up on items that are delayed or incomplete.
• Maintain accurate documentation associated with each purchase order.
• Process purchase order changes, corrections, cancellations, and closures in accordance with district procedures.
• Maintain an organized system for tracking outstanding and open purchase orders.
• Follow up with departments regarding purchase orders that remain open and assist with year-end PO cleanup and closeout.

Purchasing Documentation & Compliance

• Ensure required purchasing documentation is attached to or maintained with each purchase order before processing.
• Verify purchases follow established district purchasing procedures and approval workflows.
• Identify transactions that require additional Procurement review and route them to the Procurement Director before processing.
• Assist in maintaining documentation necessary for internal reviews, external audits, federal program monitoring, and financial audits.
• Maintain purchase order records in accordance with district records-retention requirements.
• Assist with monitoring purchasing thresholds and notify the Procurement Director when cumulative or proposed purchases may require additional procurement procedures.
• Ensure purchases are not processed outside established district purchasing procedures without appropriate authorization.
• Protect confidential financial, employee, scholar, and vendor information.

Staff Purchasing Support

• Serve as a primary point of contact for staff regarding routine purchase requisition and purchase order questions.
• Assist employees with properly completing requisitions and submitting required supporting documentation.
• Provide clear communication when a requisition cannot be processed and identify what is needed to move the request forward.
• Provide routine guidance regarding district PO procedures, documentation requirements, and purchasing timelines.
• Assist with purchasing and PO training for new employees and staff as directed by the Procurement Director.
• Communicate professionally and respectfully while consistently enforcing district purchasing procedures.
• Help reduce purchasing delays by proactively identifying missing information or documentation.

Vendor & Order Support

• Verify vendors are established in the district's financial system before processing purchase orders.
• Coordinate with the Procurement Director when new vendor setup or vendor information updates are required.
• Assist Finance and Procurement Director with communicating with vendors regarding routine PO documentation, order status, pricing discrepancies, or other transactional matters.
• Assist all departments with resolving routine discrepancies between purchase orders, quotes, invoices, and received items.
• Coordinate with Accounts Payable when PO corrections or supporting documentation are needed before an invoice can be processed.
• Escalate significant vendor, pricing, contract, or performance concerns to the Procurement Director.

Financial System & Record Accuracy

• Maintain accurate purchase order information within the district's financial management system.
• Verify account codes, purchase descriptions, quantities, pricing, vendor information, and supporting references before final processing.
• Assist with correcting purchasing transactions when errors are identified.
• Run routine purchase order reports and provide information regarding open, pending, completed, or outstanding purchase orders to the Chief Business and Finance Officers.
• Assist Procurement and Finance with fiscal year-end purchasing deadlines, PO liquidation, rollover, and closeout activities.
• Maintain electronic purchasing records in an organized and audit-ready manner.

District Purchasing Operations

• Support a high-volume purchasing environment serving multiple campuses and departments.
• Prioritize purchase requests based on established procedures, deadlines, operational needs, and direction from the Procurement Director.
• Maintain accurate records of the status of purchase requests and provide timely updates when requested.
• Assist with special purchasing projects, large orders, campus openings, summer purchasing, and beginning-of-year purchasing activities.
• Support Procurement and Business Office operations during peak purchasing periods.
• Perform other purchasing, procurement, and Business Office duties as assigned.

Performance Expectations

The Purchasing Order Clerk is expected to:

• Process purchase requisitions and purchase orders accurately and within established departmental timelines.
• Maintain a high level of accuracy in account coding, pricing, quantities, and documentation.
• Ensure purchase orders are not issued without required approvals and supporting documentation.
• Maintain an organized and current PO queue with timely follow-up on outstanding items.
• Provide responsive customer service to district employees while consistently enforcing purchasing procedures.
• Maintain complete, organized, and audit-ready purchasing records.
• Proactively communicate purchasing issues, unusual transactions, missing documentation, or potential compliance concerns to the Chief Business Officer.
• Demonstrate strong attention to detail while managing a high volume of transactions and competing deadlines.

Qualifications

Required

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Strong computer skills and ability to learn financial and purchasing software.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and/or Google Workspace.
• Strong data-entry skills with a high degree of accuracy.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage a high volume of transactions and multiple deadlines simultaneously.
• Ability to review documentation carefully and identify missing, inconsistent, or inaccurate information.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to communicate professionally with employees at all levels of the organization and with outside vendors.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and appropriately handle sensitive financial and organizational information.
• Ability to follow established procedures while recognizing situations that require supervisor review.

Preferred

• Minimum of two years of administrative, purchasing, accounts payable, bookkeeping, finance, or related office experience.
• Experience processing purchase orders or purchase requisitions.
• Experience with Skyward Q or another school district financial management system.
• Experience working in a Texas public school, charter school, governmental entity, nonprofit organization, or other regulated environment.
• Experience with government account coding (FASRG), purchasing documentation, vendor records, and Accounts Payable and Receivable processes.
• Familiarity with cooperative purchasing, quotes, bids, RFPs, and public-sector purchasing procedures.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

The successful candidate must demonstrate:

• Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to work independently within established procedures.
• Ability to manage repetitive transactional work without sacrificing accuracy.
• Ability to appropriately prioritize urgent and routine purchasing requests.
• Strong customer-service skills.
• Ability to respectfully enforce procedures and return incomplete requests for correction.
• Ability to recognize unusual purchasing activity and escalate concerns appropriately.
• Ability to work collaboratively with Procurement, Finance, Accounts Payable, campus administrators, department leaders, employees, and vendors.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced school environment with frequent interruptions and changing priorities.

Physical & Work Requirements

• Ability to perform prolonged periods of computer and desk work.
• Ability to communicate effectively in person, by telephone, and electronically.
• Ability to occasionally lift and move office materials, files, or packages as required.
• Regular and reliable attendance is an essential function of the position.
• Ability to occasionally work evenings and weekends.
• This position is a 100% onsite role.

Compensation

Compensation is determined according to the Beta Academy compensation schedule.