Procurement
The process of obtaining goods or services. The term does not identify needs or determine a procurement action.
Procurement terminology glossary
Procurement is the process of obtaining goods or services.
This definition distinguishes procurement from sourcing and purchasing. It does not identify needs, select, evaluate, verify, approve, engage, onboard, contract with, negotiate with, purchase from, pay, audit, manage, score, rank, recommend, or decide any procurement matter.
Procurement is the process of obtaining goods or services. The OECD describes public procurement as a process that includes identifying needs, determining who can supply them, and ensuring delivery. That definition is used here only to explain the term. It does not identify a need, choose a supplier, establish a price or contract, authorize a purchase, or determine a sourcing, legal, financial, regulatory, compliance, or operating outcome. Read the OECD definition.
Three related terms
Related terms do not determine a purchase or supplier decision.
Procurement language may appear beside sourcing and purchasing. The terms can clarify a discussion without identifying a requirement, selecting a supplier, evaluating an offer, negotiating a contract, creating an order, authorizing payment, or deciding an operational action.
Sourcing
A term often used for finding or considering potential supply sources. It does not itself select, verify, approve, or engage a supplier.
Purchasing
A term often used for the buying step. It does not itself create an order, authorize payment, or determine a contract or outcome.
Why context matters
A process label does not determine what should be purchased.
The important distinction
A glossary defines the process. It does not conduct procurement.
The OECD definition provides vocabulary for a procurement process. It is not a need assessment, supplier evaluation, supplier-selection result, contract, purchase order, payment authorization, sourcing decision, compliance finding, or recommendation for a specific organization.
Sourcing, purchasing, context
A term does not select suppliers or make purchases.
Procurement discussions may involve needs, suppliers, vendors, items, services, specifications, prices, contracts, orders, payments, records, quality, food safety, compliance, and applicable requirements. This page does not select, evaluate, verify, approve, engage, contract with, negotiate with, purchase from, pay, audit, manage, or decide any of them.
A source note
Shared terminology can help name a procurement question.
The OECD defines public procurement as an acquisition process. That supports a plain-language definition; it does not resolve a supplier, contract, price, order, payment, compliance, legal, financial, sourcing, or operational question.
Keep the definition and the procurement decision separate.
An educational source can explain the term. It cannot identify a need, select or verify a supplier, evaluate an offer, establish a price or contract, authorize a purchase or payment, or determine an appropriate action.
Glossary boundary: This page does not identify needs, select, evaluate, verify, approve, engage, onboard, contract with, negotiate with, purchase from, pay, audit, manage, score, rank, recommend, or decide any supplier, vendor, item, service, price, contract, order, payment, record, compliance, legal, financial, sourcing, inventory, quality, food-safety, regulatory, or operational matter.
What this glossary does not decide
This educational definition does not determine any supplier, vendor, item, service, price, contract, order, payment, record, sourcing, inventory, quality, food-safety, compliance, legal, financial, tax, regulatory, operational, or business status; identify needs, select, evaluate, verify, approve, engage, onboard, contract with, negotiate with, purchase from, pay, audit, manage, score, rank, recommend, or decide any procurement matter; or provide procurement, legal, financial, tax, regulatory, compliance, sourcing, or operational advice.
Source note
References for this definition
This source supports the terminology on this page. It is not a substitute for an organization’s own requirements, records, contracts, qualified advisers, applicable requirements, or decisions.
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