Dear Campus Community,

Supply Chain Management (SCM) has important updates and upcoming events to share with you.

This month's features:  

• Scheduled BFS Maintenance
• Coming Soon: BearBUY Chatbot (Jaggaer Assist)
• Fueling Next-Gen Procurement with BearGPT
• Introducing TRaVIS, a new AI Assistant
• New: Inactivation of Account 57005
• Fisher Scientific and Possible Missions Live Pricing is Now Available
• Update: Amazon requisitions now reflect applicable sales taxes
• Update: Presidential Policy, IMT-1300 Information Technology Accessibility
• Update: BUS-43 2026
• Reminder: Tango Gift Card
• Reminder: Bears that Buy Open Office Hours

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the BearBUY Help Desk at 510-664-9000 (options 1, 2) or bearbuyhelp@berkeley.edu for immediate assistance.

Go Bears!

Thank you for your continued support, 

Supply Chain Management

The BFS system will perform maintenance on Saturday, May 2, 2026, from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PST. BearBUY will be unavailable during this maintenance period.

After the maintenance, please delete your browser cache, close all your browsers/tabs, and open a new window before you log in to BFS.

Please prepare for planned system downtimes and visit the Controller’s Office website for the BFS Maintenance Schedule.

Get Your Answers Instantly:

Jaggaer Assist is a chatbot built to deliver fast, reliable answers to common BearBUY questions. With real-time guidance and intuitive support, shoppers can quickly find what they need to navigate BearBUY with greater ease and confidence.

Jaggaer Assist will be in BearBUY starting on May 18, 2026.

In December 2025, we unveiled the Purchasing Assistant within BearGPT, a powerful new way to work smarter and faster.

Key Capabilities:

Designed as your go-to starting point, the assistant simplifies how you navigate contracts, policies, and supplier information. We are putting answers at your fingertips in seconds. It accelerates everyday tasks by quickly summarizing technical documents and newsletters, freeing up valuable time for higher-impact work. And when questions require a deeper level of support, it seamlessly connects users to the BearBUY Help Desk at bearbuyhelp@berkeley.edu.

Eligibility:

• Authorized Users: Faculty and staff (including student employees).
• Security Rating: P2 Data.
• Authentication: Required via CalNet.

Purchasing Assistant Job-Aid

Finance and Accounting are excited to announce the launch of TRaVIS, a new AI assistant within BearGPT, to help with questions related to travel, relocation, vendoring, invoice status, reimbursements, and the credit card program, including associated policies. TRaVIS has access to all relevant web content and can answer the most common questions within seconds, 24/7.

Access the TRaVIS assistant in BearGPT by clicking “Explore Agents” in the upper-left corner of the BearGPT homepage. Find instructions for logging in to BearGPT on the BearGPT website.  

If you encounter incomplete or inaccurate answers, please send a screenshot of the exchange to disburse@berkeley.edu to help us with TRaVIS’ continuing education. And for more complex or one-off questions that TRaVIS can’t answer, our dedicated AP team will still be here to assist you.

In order to streamline the chart of accounts, account 57005 - Business Meeting-Non Technical will be inactivated, effective April 30, 2026.

Use account 57004 - Group Meals to record expenses for meals and light refreshments related to meetings, workshops, lectures, or conferences that support official University business. 

Please update the account codes in distribution chartstrings for procurement cards, BearBUY requisitions and purchase orders, and journal templates.

These expenses are subject to UC Policy BUS-79 Expenditures for Business Meetings, Entertainment, and Other Occasions. 

For questions, contact the Financial Accounting and Controls team at gao@berkeley.edu.

Fisher Scientific and Possible Missions
Live Pricing is Now Available

UC Berkeley is now officially live with the Possible Missions live price catalog.

This enhancement is designed to improve the shopping experience by enabling users to more effectively utilize item search functionality. While users may continue to rely on the punch-out feature, the live price search on the top-level search bar makes this enhancement an important improvement.

This initiative supports the strategic objective to prioritize Small Business purchasing goals using Possible Missions for select products, specifically those from Life Technologies Corporation and Thermo Fisher Scientific (Asheville) over direct purchasing.

Beginning in February 2026, Amazon implemented a system update. Amazon now returns sales tax on requisitions in BearBUY after shoppers punch out through the Amazon Business catalog. This new functionality only applies to Amazon Business purchases.

The UC Presidential Policy IMT-1300: Information Technology Accessibility was updated to align with federal accessibility regulations under ADA Title II and Section 504, adding campus processes, roles, requirements, and reporting.

Key Policy Updates:

• Adoption of federal accessibility requirements.
• Creation of three campus programs: Accessible Procurement, Course Content, and Software/Web Development.
• Guidance for accessible digital products, exceptions process, and complaint procedures.
• Annual reporting to the Office of the President.
• Defined roles, processes, and authority at each campus

.

The revised policy went into effect March 17, 2026. The updated Policy IMT-1300 can be found on the Office of the President’s Presidential Policy website.

Change #1: Federal Threshold Increase

The simplified acquisition threshold (SAT) is increased from $250,000 to $350,000. The prime contractor subcontracting plan (FAR 19.702) threshold is increasing from $750,000 to $900,000, and the associated threshold for construction is increasing from $1.5 million to $2 million.

Change #2: Equipment Definition Update

Capital equipment purchases now reference BUS-29 for threshold definitions (removing the static "$5,000 or more" language).

For more information, please visit UCOP’s BUS-43 website to see the seven substantive changes.

In February 2025, SCM launched the digital reward links with Tango, a BHN company, that may be used for either allowable gift and recognition programs or research participation incentives.

Reminder:

Campaign field and Shipping Information:

• Limited to ONLY alphanumeric characters (i.e., a, b, c, A, B, C, 1, 2, 3) and spaces (no underscore). 
• Do NOT include any symbols and/or special characters (`, ~, !, @, #, $, %, ^, &, *, (, ), -, _, +, =, {, }, [, ], |, \, :, ;, “, ‘, <, >, ., ?, /, or comma).

How to Check if Tango Processed My Digital Gift Card Order?

• If your Tango purchase order has been successfully received and processed, an invoice should be generated within 24 hours against the purchase order.

What to do if Recipient(s) Did Not Receive Reward (Gift Card) Link?

• Before contacting support, please have the recipient(s) check their Spam and Deleted (Trash) folders. The reward email will be sent from "noreply@tangocard.com."
• If the recipient(s) have confirmed that the email is not in those folders, please send a message to bearbuyhelp@berkeley.edu.

Please review the updated Tango Gift Cards job aid to explore improved methods for navigating the Tango punchout catalog. 

Please join us for our next remote office hour tomorrow, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.


** You will receive an exclusive preview of the BearBUY Chatbot (Jaggaer Assist), designed to streamline your purchasing experience, making it more efficient, intuitive, and time-saving. **


We encourage you to submit topics of discussion and/or questions in advance using this Google form.


Representatives from the Procurement, BearBUY Solutions, Account Payable, and BRS teams will be available to answer your questions and provide information about purchasing at the University of California, Berkeley. Open Office Hours will be held on the third Tuesday of each month from 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.

Instructions and Zoom URL:

• To attend office hours, you MUST first be signed in to your Berkeley Zoom account. Please see How to sign in to your UC Berkeley Zoom account.
• You don't need to register. Join the Bears that Buy Open Office Hours or enter the Meeting ID 99363039857 in the Zoom desktop client.

Order Status





If you need assistance with determining the status of your order in BearBUY, visit the How to Find the Status of Your Order page on the SCM website. 

Please note that your SCM assigned Buyer will not receive the requisition until it has been approved by the department Org Node approver.

Who is My Department's Assigned Buyer?



If you are unsure of how to start your purchasing transaction, contact your Buyer for assistance by using your Org Node and Department Name to find your assigned Buyer located in this matrix.

Contracts in BearBUY





If you need help searching for a contract and applying it to your cart in BearBUY, please view the Searching for Contracts and Applying a Contract to Your Cart in BearBUY job aid.

Whether you are an experienced or a new BearBUY shopper, it is always best practice to take the BearBUY: Basics for Shoppers training if you haven't already.

To take this ESSENTIAL training, please click on this course #: BEESS950-Online.