The Importance of Using Contract Services for Fiscal and Compliance Reasons

Many education and educational nonprofit organizations are used to working within tight budget restrictions. Now, more than ever, these organizations are struggling to find monies as federal funds diminish, and new budget concerns are raised.

As schools look for ways to reduce expenditures while still providing students access to a high level of learning enrichment, educational service agencies have allied with a group called the Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies (AEPA) to help promote cooperative purchasing opportunities nationwide.

The AEPA’s mission is to serve members through exploring and solving purchasing needs — both present and future. Their goals include the following:

• Allow all schools, regardless of size, to purchase at equivalent buying levels
• Combine the needs of schools as an incentive for vendors to provide the best price/high-quality products
• Streamline bidding and purchasing by using a single purchasing solicitation that is both locally and nationally recognized
• Use a single cooperative agency as a statewide contract facilitator so that a single contract can simplify the buying process

This brings a host of program advantages to schools and other educational nonprofits, such as:

• Volume contracts and discounts based on the participation of 29 states
• The ability to attract and leverage the buying power and product selection of national vendors
• The ability to simplify the bid process to curtail expensive through collaborative purchasing
• The ability to save time and money — guaranteed

Alongside these robust positives, AEPA vendors consist of leaders in their industries, assuring your organization has access to the best technologies available at a sensible price point.

Using Contract Services to Benefit Your Educational Organization

Contract services, particularly through AEPA, can bring measurable benefits to your organization that assists in promoting fiscal responsibility as well as compliance with state and federal regulations. 

Here’s how:

1. Consolidated Purchasing Power 

Using preferred vendors reduces the total cost of acquisition and ensures you are receiving the lowest prices based on the consolidation of usage. Vendors have an incentive to keep prices low since ordering volumes are consistently high.

2. Better Contract Administration for Reduced Risk

These vendors are dedicated to working hard for the benefit of the larger group. They are held to higher standards by the contract agreement and the purchasing source can assist in resolving any disputes that arise. 

3. Simplified Bidding Process

Using a certified vendor means the bidding process is already done for you — your organization need not spend crucial staff hours soliciting bids from numerous vendors. Terms and conditions are already established so that your purchasing department can focus on more mission-critical tasks.

4. Higher Compliance Levels

Because preferred vendors enter into an agreement with AEPA on a high level, they are committed to providing products that reinforce the data privacy compliance regulations to which educational organizations must adhere.

Virginia Business Systems Now Has AEPA Contracts

At Virginia Business Systems (VBS), we have a deep commitment to our clients in the education industry. That is why we are participating in the Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies’ program to bring them the purchasing power of 29 states.

Regardless of the size of your school or agency, you can leverage the power of discounted rates when you choose an AEPA contract vendor. These vendors provide equipment and services to enhance your ability to perform productively at significant value, allowing your agency to do more within your current budgetary constraints.

We can help you with areas such as IT services, electronic content management, managed print services, facilities management, application workflow solutions, production printing, 3D printing, and more.

As your needs evolve, our team of managed services and product experts can help guide your choices from our AEPA master catalog to ensure your facility has the best technology — at the best prices.

Get the purchasing power and compliance peace of mind a certified AEPA vendor can provide. Contact VBS today and learn how simple — and cost-effective — using a contract vendor can be for your organization.