10 Main Duties and Responsibilities of Purchasing Staff in the Company

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Purchasing positions are under the auspices of the procurement department, which is responsible for the procurement of goods or services needed by the company.

Procurement's job involves more than simply handing over a company's credit card and paying for purchases. Therefore, it is necessary to know the duties and responsibilities of procurement, namely: The main thing that must be possessed in order to obtain qualifications as purchasing is communicative.

Carry out the purchase of goods required by the company in accordance with the appropriate amount and cost. The main tasks that must be done by purchasing in a company. Planning for purchasing or procurement of goods is a very important task in the procurement division.

There are many duties and responsibilities in the procurement division. Conducting selection and selection of procurement partners in accordance with company criteria. Creating and printing POs (purchase orders) and sending them to suppliers, so that the purchasing process can run well according to the desired schedule and specifications.

Purchasing Staff Duties

Purchasing is a position in the company, especially those engaged in retail, which has the main task of purchasing goods or services. This position is under the auspices of the procurement field, which is responsible for the procurement of goods or services needed by the company. 

Here are a number of duties and responsibilities of the purchasing admin that you should know, namely:

1. Conducting Supplier Selection

Selecting potential suppliers (suppliers), choosing any type of goods provided by the supplier in terms of type, quality, or price. Because this stage will determine the next step for the company. So you can't just set it arbitrarily. 

Goods that have been used must be in accordance with the type of goods required by the company. A purchasing staff member can search for suppliers using the internet, email offers, make calls, or get information from other coworkers. 

The point is that the more sources of information you have, the more accurate the decision in choosing a supplier will be.

2. Entering into Long-Term Cooperation Contracts with Suppliers

For companies whose inventories use more imported raw materials, at least they must have several partners who can support and work together for the long term. Because for imported materials, the price is also greatly influenced by the current state of the market, inflation, exchange rates and government policies (e.g. taxes).

Cooperation in the long term can be carried out by the management by establishing a joint agreement (rights and obligations in writing) or better known as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). 

However, in the discussion of this article, I will only focus more on the rights of the buyers. 

Some of the benefits are as follows:

• Buyers are allowed to exchange the goods to the seller if the goods received are damaged.
• If the buyer has submitted a down payment for the purchase (eg only 10%), then the seller is obliged to deliver the goods.
• The purchaser has the right to determine the time of receipt of the goods according to the needs of the buyer himself.
• The buyer has the right to terminate the employment contract before the contract period ends if in the buyer's opinion it is biased or very unfavorable to the buyer.
• The buyer uses the purchase price as the maximum standard at the time of payment, based on the contents of the contract.
• The buyer has the right to impose sanctions on the supplier for losses that have been received by the buyer due to delays from the supplier in sending the goods.
• Buyers have the right to get discounted prices for late delivery of goods that have been made by the supplier.
• The buyer is not entitled to bear the burden experienced by the supplier for what has happened during the delivery period.

For example, damage to goods resulting from an accident that occurred during the shipping process.

3. Purchasing Goods 

After the procurement staff has compiled a list of items needed by the company, the purchasing admin is in charge of purchasing these items. Purchase of goods is adjusted to the amount and costs provided by the company. When making a purchase, the purchasing admin must carefully control the quantity, quality, and price of the goods purchased. 

4. Ensuring the Ordered Goods Arrive at the Specified Time 

After placing an order, the purchasing staff must monitor the process of sending goods. This is done so that the goods ordered for the company arrive at the specified time, and the quality is as expected. Without this kind of monitoring, goods may arrive late, affecting the company's performance. 

5. Receiving Arrival of Goods and Checking Quality 

After the purchased goods arrive, the purchasing admin is responsible for checking its condition, whether it is in good condition or there is damage. If there is damage to the goods ordered to the vendor, then the purchasing staff is responsible for taking care of the return of the goods. 

6. Making Payments for Purchased Goods 

The next task and responsibility of the purchasing staff is to make payments for purchased goods to vendors or suppliers. High accuracy is needed in carrying out this task, because it involves financial matters. In this case, the purchasing staff will work closely with staff from the company's finance department. 

7. Documentation of Invoices, Purchase Orders, Work Orders, and Invoices

A purchasing staff is responsible for documenting all forms of invoices, purchase orders, work orders, or invoices. All of these documents are needed later, when the purchasing staff provides financial reports on the purchases of goods that have been made. Missing just one proof of this purchase could raise suspicions of misappropriation of funds. 

8. Reporting on Purchases Made 

Furthermore, the purchasing staff is also tasked with compiling reports on purchases of goods needed by the company. Broadly speaking, this report contains a list of what items have been purchased, along with the quantity and price details. This report will later be submitted to company officials. 

9. Controlling the Availability of Goods 

The responsibility of the purchasing staff is not immediately completed after the purchase of goods for the company. The purchasing staff still has to control the availability of previously purchased items. This is done to monitor the use of goods, as well as analyze when goods will run out and need to be bought back. 

10. Maintaining Good Relationships with Vendors

Lastly, the purchasing staff must be able to establish good relationships with vendors. The existence of vendors is very much needed, because without them, the company's goods needs will not be met. By establishing good relationships with vendors, companies can benefit from more affordable prices for goods. 

Examples of Basic Skills for Being a Purchasing Hotel

To carry out your duties as a purchasing agent, there are several skills that you must have, such as:

1. Communication

Not only purchasing, it seems that all professions must have good communication skills. Purchasing staff must talk to other departments within the company whether it's internal or external departments. 

Not only that, the purchasing department must also know the needs of all departments, and maintain good relations with suppliers and vendors. So speaking skills are important for purchasing staff.

2. Negotiation

Because purchasing is related to automatic buying, negotiation skills must be mastered. When receiving offers from suppliers and vendors, of course the numbers on the list must be reviewed and comparisons are sought with other suppliers. 

It is at moments like this that the negotiation skills of purchasing staff are very necessary. Being able to reduce costs in terms of purchasing goods will certainly help the company in terms of costing, right?

4. Extensive Networking

We know that together at the hotel itself there are several divisions within it. Of course, each division has different needs for goods. For example, the food and beverage department will often need food and beverage ingredients.

Back offices such as sales and marketing will often require stationery. As a purchasing staff, you must have many supplier and vendor acquaintances to meet all the needs of the existing division.

6. Document Filling

This administrative skill must be possessed by purchasing staff because there will be lots of important documents that must be archived. Untidy filing and administration will certainly affect the work productivity of the purchasing team.

Those were some of the duties and responsibilities of the purchasing admin in a company. Judging from the responsibilities they carry, it is certain that thoroughness, socialization and negotiation skills are needed from these purchasing staff. 

Are you interested in filling this position as a purchasing staff? 

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