Dictionary of Procurement Terms

Relationships, applications, marketing, and sales, often in large volume, that a business conducts with another business. B2B interactions often take place online.

The portion of an order a supplier does not deliver at the scheduled time and has re-entered for shipment at a later date. See Also: Partial Shipment/Delivery

1. Unofficial, irregular, or devious buying or selling, usually resulting from inappropriate efforts to favor a particular supplier, product, or service with the intent of limiting competition; unauthorized actions. 2. Evasive actions taken by the supplier to circumvent the procurement department and entity rules and regulations to try to influence or sell directly to the entity’s internal end user or client department.

A summary record of a country’s international economic transactions in a given period of time. The difference between the flow of money into and out of a country. (Schiller 2000)

The part of a nation’s balance of payments that deals with imports and exports. (Schiller 2000)

A financial statement that records an entity's or organization's liabilities and assets, as well as shareholders' equity (if applicable), over a defined period of time.

A budget process or financial plan in which total planned spend and total planned revenues are equal.

Named after former Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige, this award honors suppliers that have achieved national excellence in quality improvement.

Assets held by a bank to fulfill its deposit obligations. (Schiller 2000)