PO & Tax-Exempt Buying

• The default is payment in full when you order, unless Boss agrees otherwise in writing.
• Net terms apply to government agencies, schools and branches of the military, subject to credit approval. The standard term is net 30, unless otherwise agreed in writing before shipment. A college, a nonprofit or a makerspace should ask whether it qualifies, because the terms name only those three groups.
• A purchasing card costs more. The terms add a 3 percent convenience fee to all credit card transactions and say other accepted payment methods are available from your sales representative. If your district buys large items on a card, price the fee into the request.
• Late payment is expensive. If the balance is not paid within 30 days of the Facility Delivery Date, the terms add 1.5 percent a month, 18 percent a year, plus collection costs. They also say technical support is suspended while an account is overdue. A public entity that pays on its own schedule should read this before accepting net terms.
• Financing exists, with a catch. Refunds cannot be issued on leased equipment, though an exchange may be possible. Check your institution’s rules on leasing.

Every public buyer has rules about the contracts it can sign, and they differ by state, district and agency. Boss publishes its Terms of Sale in full, so your business office and counsel can read them before anyone asks for a quote. Changes are made in a writing Boss signs, which makes the timing the practical part: send your required terms or addendum with the first quote request, and ask for anything agreed to be in a signed document attached to the quote.

Two documents committees often ask for early are easy to request. Boss states it carries liability insurance of at least one million dollars per occurrence and provides a certificate on request. Ask for it with the quote, alongside your vendor forms.

If your rules require competitive quotes or a bid above a threshold, say so early and write the specification around what the program needs, not around a model name. Under federal awards, the procurement methods run from micro-purchases to sealed bids and proposals, set out in 2 CFR 200.320, and your state or district may set stricter thresholds of its own.

The general mechanic: an exempt buyer gives the seller an exemption certificate at or before the purchase, and the seller keeps it. New York’s sales tax guidance, as one example, says sellers must keep certificates for at least three years, that a properly completed certificate protects the seller from liability for tax it did not collect, and that government entities may in some cases present a purchase order signed by an authorized official. Rules differ by state. Check yours, and check whether your certificate is valid for a purchase shipped to a different state.

Boss’s position, as stated on the category page, is that an exempt institution supplies its exemption certificate with the order. Boss’s terms add the detail that decides whether you end up paying tax anyway:

• Prices exclude taxes. The buyer is responsible for all applicable taxes, and tax not included on the first invoice may be invoiced later.
• The tax shown on a quote is an estimate based on the shipping address. The final rate is set at the time of shipment.
• If the ship-to address changes before shipment, costs from the change are yours.

So the certificate has to match the legal entity on the order and be valid for the address the machine ships to, and it has to be in Boss’s hands before shipment. A certificate sent after the invoice is a correction, not an exemption. Send it with the purchase order and ask for the quote to be reissued showing no tax.

The category page explains why the quote comes first. Ask that it list these separately:

• The machine and each option (chiller or water pump, air pump or compressor, extraction, rotary).
• Freight, which Boss invoices separately. Boss ships domestic orders carriage paid to a location it designates, and insurance beyond delivery is yours.
• Any training bundle, accessories such as eyewear and filters, and the education discount line.
• The ship-to facility as it will appear on the purchase order, and the tax treatment.
• How long the quote holds, and the lead time. Boss’s shop labels machines in stock or built to order, so the product page for your model is the current answer.

A board-approved purchase is hard to reverse, so a committee should know the exit terms. Boss guarantees a 30-day return window. Its refund policy counts from the date of receipt and its Terms of Sale say thirty days of purchase, so ask for the start date in writing. Returns need Boss’s approval first.

Two more points belong in the file. The warranty runs from receipt and covers the original purchaser only, and support for a resold machine carries an annual fee, per the terms. That matters if equipment bought with grant money is later transferred or disposed of. The warranty periods themselves are on the Service & Warranty page.

The funding routes and Perkins equipment rule are on the category page. This adds the trail that follows a purchase made with federal funds passed through your state. Your state CTE or grants office has the final word.

• A laser is probably “equipment” under the federal definition. Under 2 CFR 200.1 that means property with a useful life over one year and a per-unit cost at or above the lesser of your own capitalization level or $10,000.
• Equipment bought with federal funds has to be tracked. 2 CFR 200.313 requires property records, including a serial number and the source of funding, and a physical inventory reconciled at least once every two years. The serial number is on the machine and on Boss’s paperwork, so keep the delivery receipt.
• Timing is set by the award. Whether delivery and payment must fall inside the grant period is in your award. Boss’s payment clock starts at the Facility Delivery Date, so order, delivery and payment dates can fall in different periods.