Indian Prairie CUSD 204 pilots Amazon Business “wish list” workflow to curb p-card purchases

At a virtual training for Indian Prairie CUSD 204 staff, a representative from Amazon Business explained a pilot process that uses Skyward punch-out and Amazon Business wish lists so most Amazon orders are submitted for review and placed by authorized purchasers rather than individual p-card holders.

The session focused on a workflow intended to reduce unapproved p-card purchases, centralize approvals and make invoicing easier for school administrators. "We are, incorporating Amazon and Skyward and doing it, in a what's called, punch out," said Sue, a staff member with the district. Amazon representative Drew said the district will pilot the wish list approach at about 10 locations, including "CEC," to test the process before a wider rollout.

Under the pilot, individual staff will build shopping or reorder lists within Amazon Business and then share those lists with authorized "punch-out" purchasers who are provisioned to complete checkout. "The list is actually hiding in a place that's a little tricky to find, but it's the easiest from a search perspective," Drew said as he demonstrated creating and sharing lists. He recommended using the "edit and buy" sharing option so the purchaser can adjust quantities or remove items before ordering, rather than forcing the requester to rebuild and resend a corrected list.

District staff discussed practical details for tracking and accounting. The share/comment field can be used to note which account or PO to charge; Sue said teams can place an account number or note (for example "use my activity account") in the comment. The district noted there is a character limit on that comment field. Staff also discussed that the purchaser who places the order will receive the order confirmation and tracking details and should forward that confirmation to the requester so the requester has shipment information.

Amazon Business features available to the district — including Business Prime and the ability to search and save items to lists — were demonstrated. Drew emphasized that adding items to a wish list does not create an order: "All it's doing is building things into a list for then you to send to the person to make a purchase." He also provided a customer support number for Amazon Business: +1 (866) 486-2360, and said the district will receive collateral and PDFs with the contact information.

The pilot is intended to address paperwork and reconciliation burdens caused by using p-cards for Amazon purchases, and staff were asked to provide feedback during the limited rollout so the district purchasing team can refine procedures before expanding. No formal policy vote or contract award occurred during the training; the session was instructional and focused on operational rollout and feedback collection.

For now, the district's pilot includes approximately 10 locations (CEC among them). Staff were reminded that the person placing the order will have access to full fulfillment details and that lists can be shared with multiple authorized purchasers or groups. District staff said they will collect feedback from the pilot sites before wider implementation.