Purchasing Card Program
Policies and Procedures Manual

RESPONSIBILITIES

Cardholder
Reconciler
Approving Official
Change in Approving Official
Purchasing Card Services

Cardholder

The Purchasing Card may not be used for meals, ground transportation, or incidentals while on business travel (air fare, lodging, and registration fees are acceptable transactions), entertainment, cash, services, repairs, and other categories as included in the Purchasing Card Restrictions (Attachment 6). The Cardholder must:

• Ensure the Purchasing Card is used for legitimate business purposes only.

• Ensure that Pcard transactions are in compliance with University purchasing policies, procedures, and state bid law

• Maintain the Purchasing Card in a secure location at all times.

• Adhere to the purchase limits and restrictions of the Purchasing Card and ensure the total amount of any single transaction does not exceed $1,999.99 including freight.

• Obtain a PC order log number prior to placing the order with the vendor.

• Obtain all sales slips, register receipts, and/or Purchasing Card slips and provide them to the Department Reconciler for reconciliation and approval.

• Notify Department Reconciler if the default account number should be changed on an individual transaction.

• Attempt to resolve disputes or billing errors directly with the vendor and notify Bank of America if the dispute or billing error is not satisfactorily resolved by faxing Bank of America the required Dispute Form (Attachment 3)

• Ensure that an appropriate credit for the reported disputed item or billing error appears on a subsequent Cardholder statement.

• Ensure that tax has not been charged.

• Not accept cash instead of a credit to the Purchasing Card account.

• Immediately report a lost or stolen card to Bank of America at 1-800-300-3084 (24 hours a day, 365 days a year).

• Immediately notify Department Reconciler of a lost or stolen Purchasing Card at the first opportunity during normal business hours.

• Return the Purchasing Card to Department Manager upon terminating employment with the University or transferring between Departments within the University.

• Report declines to the Purchasing Card Coordinator during normal business hours.

• OPTIONAL: The Purchasing Card Transaction Form (Attachment 5) is provided for your internal use for those individuals who submit ordering information to the cardholder.

 

Reconciler

Each Department Head or Budget Manager must designate one or more Department Reconcilers for his/her department. The Department Reconciler must receive training before any employees in the department may receive a Purchasing Card. Responsibilities include:

• Reviewing vendor receipts for inappropriate purchases or uses of the Purchasing Card and to ensure that tax has not been charged.

• Reconciling all cardholder receipts to Bank of America Cardholder Statement.

• Having the Transaction Approval Report for all reconciled transactions signed each month by the Cardholder and Approving Official ensuring that all purchases are appropriate and all appropriate documentation is attached.

Note: Cardholders who reconcile their own transactions cannot act as their own Approving Official. There must be an independent review of all reconciled Bank of America Statements at a different level in such cases.

• Attempting to resolve any disputes with the vendor and/or Bank of America not resolved by the Cardholder.

• Notifying the Purchasing Card Coordinator of lost or stolen cards.

• Requesting the Purchasing Card Coordinator to cancel a Cardholder’s card (e.g. terminated employees, employees transferring to other departments, and loss of Purchasing Card privileges) as approved by the Department Head.

• Collecting canceled cards from Cardholders and forwarding them to the Purchasing Card Coordinator. Cancelled cards should be cut in half prior to forwarding them to the Purchasing Card Coordinator.

• Assisting Cardholders with erroneous declines and emergency transactions.

 

Approving Official

Designated Approving Officials can be Dean’s, Department Heads, Budget Managers, or Principal Investigators or their designee who have fiscal responsibility for the account number to which Visa transactions are charged. They are responsible for oversight of and assistance for department Cardholders and Reconcilers. Note: A Dean, Department Head, Budget Manager, Principal Investigator, or their designee who is also a Cardholder cannot be the Approving Official for their own Visa Account. Responsibilities include:

• Ensuring that all reconcilers/cardholders have received appropriate training regarding their responsibilities.

• Ensure that the proper controls are in place

• Maintaining expertise in processing requirements to serve as a source of information for department users.

• Communicating problems encountered to the Purchasing Card Administrator.

• Reviewing monthly Cardholder transactions to ensure that all purchases are appropriate and that prohibited items have not been purchased.

• Ensuring that all proper and completed documentation is attached to the Cardholder monthly statement.

• Signing the Transaction Approval Report for all reconciled Bank of America transactions each month.

• Resolving problems when department reconcilers/cardholders do not follow procedures and fail to respond to requests for corrective measures.

• Assigning an alternate Approving Official in his/her absence.

 

Change in Approving Official

If an Approving Official transfers to another department or separates from the University, a memorandum of notification should be immediately forwarded to the Purchasing Card Coordinator.

 

Purchasing Card Services:

• Reviewing Department approved applications (Attachment 1) for completeness of required information.

• Requesting Purchasing Cards based on completed applications from Bank of America.

• Training Department Cardholders and Reconcilers before releasing VISA Purchasing Cards to Cardholders.

• Having Cardholder sign Cardholder Agreement (Attachment 2), signifying agreement with the terms of the Purchasing Card Program.

• Handling declines, cardholder information changes, and canceling cards.

• Increasing monthly limits and pre-authorizing approved orders above $2,000

• Handling disputed charges/discrepancies not resolved by the Cardholder or Department Reconciler.

• Securing revoked Purchasing Cards and submitting information to Bank of America to cancel cards.

• Auditing Visa transactions for inappropriate purchases or uses of the Purchasing Card.

• Training Department Reconcilers on reconciliation techniques

• Auditing Visa transactions for inappropriate purchases or uses of the Purchasing Card based on spending policies

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