Dictionary of Procurement Terms

A practice used primarily during the Request for Proposals process, whereby the contracting authority will meet individually, generally upon request, with each proposer whose proposal was not deemed appropriate for award, to discuss the strong and weak points of that supplier's proposal.

The amount of money required to repay the principal and interest on a debt for each defined payment interval, e.g., month, year, over the term of the loan.

Received resources from other funds, taxes, grants, or proceeds from long-term debt that are used to pay the principal and interest on the debt.

Ratio calculated by dividing a business' total liabilities by its equity to measure the degree to which a business is financing its operations through debt.

An organizational structure where decision-making operations and daily operations are delegated by an upper level of an organization and distributed among lower level organization units.

An organizational structure in which designated personnel/operating departments from within the organization have the delegated authority to decide on sources of supply and contract directly with suppliers without consulting or receiving the approval from the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO). It should be noted that the scope and degree, if any, of decentralized procurement varies from agency to agency.

A chart or diagram, where each branch of the tree represents an outcome, decision, or reaction used to determine a statistical probability or course of action.

1. The monetary value placed on a shipment of goods by the shipper when delivered to the carrier. 2. The value placed upon imported goods by the importer for clearance through customs.

Failure to fulfill a contractual obligation, e.g., the repayment of a debt, failure to properly perform work, or failure to perform work by the agreed to date.

An imperfection or shortcoming, especially one that renders a good unable to be used for the ordinary purposes pursuant to the warranty for which it is sold and used.