NCEP Buyer Tips
This page contains some commonly asked questions by State of North Carolina purchasers. For further information on how to use eProcurement, please refer to the Job Aids under the Training section, or click the button below.
Participation Report Guidelines
For LEAs who choose to participate in NC eProcurement, there may be questions on what conditions are included in that agreement. To help users better understand those specifications, click the button below.
Frequently Asked Questions
To see if a vendor can receive a purchase order through NC eProcurement, locate the vendor through Public Vendor Search and verify that they have a check mark in the NC eProcurement column.
When creating a non-catalog requisition, it is important to find the appropriate commodity code because this helps the State in determining what commodities are being purchased and what commodities should be on state contract for better pricing.
Additionally, selecting the right commodity code ensures that vendors are appropriately charged a transaction fee for material goods, but not for services.
Yes, commodity codes are different for goods and services, and should be treated as such. Services need to be separate line items from goods, with a different corresponding commodity code. Every good being purchased will have a commodity code that starts with a number between 1 - 6. Services on the other hand will almost always have a commodity code that starts with a 7, 8, 9.
When purchasing through catalogs, the commodity codes will be pre-loaded for the sake of convenience. Buyers will only need to find and input the appropriate commodity code when purchasing non-catalog items.
Please see the Selecting Commodity Codes page for more information.
To find the right commodity code, you can either search using keywords by going to the UNSPSC website. For additional information on UNSPSC Commodity Codes, please visit our Selecting Commodity Codes page.
If you are having trouble, and would like help in determining the correct commodity code, please contact the NC eProcurement Help Desk at 888-211-7440, option 1, or at ephelpdesk@its.nc.gov.
The commodity code for freight/shipping services is 781018.
Please be aware that if the freight/shipping is included in the cost of the goods purchased (e.g. term contract goods), then freight charges should not be broken out into a separate line.
The recommended web browser for accessing and using the NC eProcurement website and the NC eProcurement system is Google Chrome.