Vendor Purchasing Guidance

We want to help vendors understand the process for doing business with our agency. If you’re interested in becoming a TABC vendor but aren’t sure where to start, check out the guidance and resources on this page.

For questions, contact our Purchasing Department at purchasing@tabc.texas.gov or TABC headquarters. Our team recommends you schedule all appointments in advance and limit sales calls to 30 minutes.

• To become a state vendor, register your company for the State of Texas Centralized Master Bidders List (CMBL). State agencies are required to use the list to identify businesses to solicit their procurement opportunities when purchasing goods and services.  
• If you qualify, register as a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB). The HUB program requires state agencies to award procurement and contracting opportunities to women and minority-owned businesses certified as HUBs by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.  

Ensure all your information stays current. Having outdated information could result in missed opportunities. 

Visit the Texas Smart Buy website to see all bid postings for state agencies, including TABC. When you find a posting that interests you, follow the instructions for bidding and make sure you read all documents attached to the bid carefully. 

Marketing your business to various entities is one of your strongest attributes.  

• Get the word out about your company’s qualifications and state certifications with the CMBL or HUB.  
• Build a clientele relationship with state agency purchasers and HUB coordinators. You can see a list of HUB coordinators and other resources on the Comptroller’s website.
• Maintain a good reputation with our Purchasing Department for the goods and services you provide. Competitive pricing counts, but performance and reliability in the delivery of your goods and services is equally important. 

TABC is largely a field organization with a headquarters in Austin and regional, district, outpost and Ports of Entry offices throughout Texas and along the border of Mexico. Visit our About Us and Divisions pages to learn more about what TABC does for Texas. 

• We make most purchases through our Purchasing Department located at TABC headquarters. TABC buys various goods and services that are identified by commodity class codes in the Texas Comptroller’s Commodity Book.
• Many of our field offices also purchase consumable supplies with the State of Texas Procurement Card. They can use the Voyager Fleet card to purchase vehicle maintenance and repair services, including fuel and other vehicle products.  

The agency assumes no liability for purchases made unless they are made in accordance with current purchasing regulations, including an authorized signed agency purchase order, before securing any good or service. 

All chosen vendors need to have a signed TABC purchase order to supply goods or services to the agency, unless a purchase is made with the State of Texas Procurement Card or the Voyager Fleet card. When we send you an official purchase order, it will have: 

• Authorized purchase order number. 
• Invoice information. 
• Delivery information. 
• Dollar amount. 
• Item description. 
• Signature of a certified TABC purchaser.

Read through a list of goods and services TABC purchase on our What We Buy page. You can also find our Senate Bill 20 Contract Transparency Report, which includes certain active contracts and those worth more than $100,000.

• General Purchasing Guidelines
• Historically Underutilized Businesses
• Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts: 
  • Vendor Information Center
  • Statewide HUB Reports