Federal buyer micro-purchase playbook for speed and control
A contracting officer and cardholder decision checklist for micro-purchases: mandatory source priorities under FAR 8.002, threshold verification ($10K general / $25K DoD contingency), biobased preference requirements, and contract file documentation at the order level.
CO/cardholder decision checklist
- Step 1: Check mandatory source priorities under FAR 8.002 -- AbilityOne (41 USC 8504) and Federal Prison Industries (FPI) take precedence before open market sources.
- Step 2: Verify purchase is within micro-purchase threshold ($10,000 general / $25,000 DoD contingency operations) using current effective-date values.
- Step 3: For USDA-designated product categories, confirm biobased preference to the maximum extent practicable. Document practicability exceptions per FAR 23.107 if a non-biobased option is selected.
- Step 4: Confirm order documentation will be generated for the contract file.
Policy checkpoints
- Apply current threshold values from versioned, date-based policy sources -- not stale SOP documents.
- Track required source-of-supply context: mandatory sources (FAR 8.002) must be checked before open market purchasing.
- Record decision outcomes in order documentation, including which sources were checked and why the selected source was appropriate.
Metrics
- Time-to-approval by buyer lane.
- Order block rate by compliance reason.
- Percent of orders with complete contract file documentation.