P-Card Program

1. P-Card Program University of Georgia

2. INTRODUCTION Open Forums June 16, 2-4 p.m. June 18, 9-11 a.m. Student Learning Center Room 148

3. P-Cards may be issued only to permanent (regular) employees of the University • Job duty to require the use of the card • No more than one (1) card per employee • Card Limits: • $10,000 monthly credit limit • Period of Retention for Documentation: • Five (5) years from date of transaction • If a sponsored account is involved, these records must be retained for the period of the grant/contract plus an additional seven (7) years following the end date of the grant/contract

4. If all efforts to settle a claim for purchases directly with the merchant have failed, a Cardholder must file disputes within sixty (60) days of billing issue date • Billing Address • First use address listed on billing statement; • The cardholder may be requested to also provide the corporate billing address as listed in the P-Card manual

5. P-CardSharing • The cardholder is the only person authorized to use the P-Card that has been issued in that cardholder’s name • P-Card sharing is prohibited and results in immediate termination of P-Card/privileges • P-Card sharing increases the risk of fraud and cardholder liability • Best practices to prevent fraud and misuse include NOT allowing an individual other than the cardholder to: • have physical possession of the P-Card to make payments to point of sale vendors; • have access to the P-Card number and expiration date to make payments via telephone, internet, or in person; • have access to receipts or invoices that display the complete P-Card number and expiration date.

6. Security Measures to Safeguard the P-Card • Keep the P-Card (and account number) in a secure location • Safeguard the P-Card as you would a personal credit/debit card • Lost, stolen, or fraudulently used P-Cards must be reported to Bank of America (1-888-449-2273) and DOAS (email to ProcessImprovement@DOAS.GA.GOV) within 24 hours of discovering the loss, theft, or fraudulent use. The cardholder’s Approving Official and the P-Card Administrators must also be notified. • When placing an order online, use only secure sites. • URL (website address) should begin with https • A graphic, such as a lock, should appear in the bottom right hand corner of the browser bar

7. Consequences of Inadequate Documentation: • Cardholders are required to personally reimburse the University for purchases not appropriately documented. • Approving Officials may also be required to reimburse the University if the approving official approved an undocumented purchase. • If appropriate documentation is unavailable, a Missing Receipts Affidavit form must be completed, signed, and kept on file with the monthly billing statement. • Example of a Missing Receipts Affidavit form Note: Responsibility for individual purchases rests with the individual cardholder making the purchase and the approving official who approves the purchase

9. Transaction Logs: • As P-Card transactions occur, the cardholder must record all purchases on a transaction log • Logs help to keep a running tally of monthly charges and identify outstanding transactions not yet billed on the monthly bank statement • Maintaining a log will assist cardholders in staying within the established purchasing limits of the card • Example of a transaction log

11. Personal Use of the P-Card: Under HB 1113, the use of the P-Card for personal expenditures is strictly prohibited. Cardholders who violate this rule must immediately report the personal use and reimburse the funds. Per USG requirements, the University is required to report the misuse to the Board of Regents who will then forward the information to the Attorney General’s Office. This is required regardless of a cardholder’s intent to reimburse the University. An example would be when a cardholder includes a personal purchase with a departmental order to take advantage of free shipping or pricing discounts.

12. Personal Use of the P-Card (cont.): All personal use (intentional and unintentional) of the P-Card should be handled by the cardholder as follows: • Immediately report the purchase to the Approving Official and the P-Card Administrators • Immediately submit a check payable to UGA to the Accounting Department for the amount of the purchase • Attach a memo on letterhead explaining the circumstances of what happened (including a timeline of the incident) and attach a copy of the receipt and/or other supporting documentation. Note: These purchases will be reported to the Controller’s Office for disposition.

13. P-Card Changes (cont.) Background/Credit Checks Pursuant to HB1113, in addition to the required criminal background check, credit checks will be required on employees hired for positions for which purchasing cards are issued. The credit check shall be completed prior to issuing the P-Card. Positions identified by the employing department as P-Card cardholders will be considered to be “positions of trust”. The University shall ensure that the results of a criminal background and/or credit check are provided the privacy protections required by law. • UGA has received clarification from the Board of Regents Office (BOR) stating that this requirement applies only to new cardholders, effective July 1, 2008.

14. P-Card Changes (cont.) Food/Travel: Student food, student travel, and food for instructional uses is permitted on the P-Card subject to certain exceptions and documentation requirements. Additionally, food purchased for resale and as required supplies is allowable. Food purchased for official research use as approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB), or food that is integral to or subject of research is permitted. These are the only instances in which food may be purchased with the P-Card. • Additional guidance will be incorporated into the P-Card manual to provide a more detailed list of allowable food purchases.

15. P-Card Changes (cont.) Motor Vehicle Expenses: Motor Vehicle Repairs and Maintenance are allowable purchases on the P-Card for state-owned fleet vehicles only provided that all costs associated with state vehicle repair and maintenance be reported in accordance with DOAS fleet management regulations using the Maximo system

16. House Bill 1113 http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2007_08/fulltext/hb1113.htm

17. Section 1(b): “It shall be unlawful for any person to obtain for his or her own personal benefit, or for the benefit of any other person, any goods, services, or other things of value through any resource or method established pursuant to this article, including, but not limited to, purchase orders, government contracts, credit cards, charge cards, or debit cards.” • Section 3(a): It shall be unlawful for any person to use any travel advance received from public funds, for nongovernmental purposes or to submit or approve, knowingly or through willful and wanton neglect, a fraudulent request to the state for reimbursement of expenses.

18. Both P-Card cardholders and Approving Officials may be criminally prosecuted for P-Card misuse – a supervisor that according to Section 2(d) “knowingly, intentionally, willfully, wantonly, or recklessly allows or who conspires with an employee who is issued a purchasing card to violate subsection [2](c) of this code section shall be subject to immediate termination of employment and criminal prosecution

19. Pending Issues Statement of Ethical Values Cardholders will be required to sign a statement of ethical values in order to have a P-Card. Approving Officials will also be required to sign the statement of ethical values prior to being assigned as a P-Card approving official. An ethics segment will be incorporated into the P-Card application process and made available July 1, 2008.

20. P-Card Roles/Duties

21. Cardholder Roles: • Permanent (regular) employee • Individual to whom the card is assigned • Only one (1) card per cardholder • May not be his/her own “approving official” Mandatory Duties: • Record each transaction on a log as the purchase occurs • Provide adequate documentation to “approving official” for review • Sign/date both the reconciled monthly billing statement and the transaction log Note: Responsibility for individual purchases rests with the individual cardholder making the purchase and the approving official who approves the purchase

22. Department Head Roles: • Overall responsibility for budget • Sole authority for assignment of cards/roles; this responsibility cannot be delegated Mandatory Duties: • Establish and maintain internal controls • Approve issuance of new cards : • Establish cardholder single transaction/monthly credit limits • Assign knowledgeable individual acting in a supervisory capacity as the “Approving Official” for each card • Note: It is recommended that Approving Officials not be responsible for reviewing more than ten (10) P-Cards at one time. Department Heads may request exceptions to this policy from the Procurement Office, provided appropriate justification is received

23. Department Head Mandatory Duties (cont): • Routinely assess business need for each card • Evaluate transaction/spending limits at least annually • Request changes to card set up and role assignment Note: The Department Head may also act as an Approving Official

24. Approving Official Roles: • Required role (assigned by the Department Head) • Acting in a supervisory capacity to the cardholder Mandatory Duties: • Review the P-Card purchases of assigned cardholders on at least a monthly basis • The monthly review must be evidenced by a signature of the approving official on the monthly Bank of America statement for the assigned cardholder • Identify, document, and report cardholder violations • If desired, the approving official can also monitor P-Card purchases on a more frequent basis using the WorksTM program. Note: Responsibility for individual purchases rests with the individual cardholder making the purchase and the approving official who approves the purchase

25. Other Mandatory Duties/Functions The following duties must be performed to ensure that transactions are recorded correctly and reviewed on a timely basis: Enter comments in WorksTM that describe the item/service purchased including the reason for the purchase Change default account code in WorksTM (if necessary) Default object code 71490 must be changed in WorksTM Perform first level of sign off in WorksTM Perform second level of sign off in WorksTM Second level review must be completed by someone other than the cardholder or person performing the first level of sign off Reminder: Funds are refreshed at beginning of next billing cycle only IF second sign off occurs The duties/functions listed below may be performed by individuals other than the Cardholder, Approving Official or Department Head. The person completing these duties is considered to be performing the role of a “Facilitator”.

26. Other Mandatory Duties/Functions (cont.) Reconcile the monthly bank statement with the signed transaction log, receipts, invoices and other supporting documentation Ensure a propriety review has occurred and is documented. A propriety review indicates that the purchase was reasonable, appropriate and necessary while also in compliance with P-Card rules and regulations Retain the complete reconciled monthly billing statement with signatures and attached documentation for a period of five (5) years or if a sponsored account is involved for the life of the contract/grant plus an additional seven (7) years. The reconciled monthly billing statement cannot be retained by the Cardholder.

27. Use of the P-Card

28. Unallowable Uses: • Gift cards, gift certificates, or other equivalent forms of cash • Example: purchases of gift cards to provide incentives to research participants or to students, etc… • Agency account purchases • 90-xx-xxxxx-xxx • Exception: Study Abroad travel expenses for students • UGA has received clarification from the BOR indicating that this exception for Study Abroad programs does not apply to domestic Field School Programs or other student organizations established with agency accounts; however, UGA is researching ways to restructure the type of account for those programs currently set up as agency (90) accounts.

29. Unallowable Uses (cont.): • Split transactions purchased on statewide or agency contract to circumvent the single transaction limit • Purchasing items with the P-Card that are intended to be reimbursed by the Foundation • Intra-University charges (tickets) Examples include: • Georgia Center or CAES conference registration fees • Central Research Stores • Instrument Shop • MSD • Exception: UGA Bookstore (Athens/Gwinnett)

30. Unallowable Uses (cont.): • Use of coupons, rebates or rewards programs that offer free items or promotional items for the benefit of the cardholder are not allowed when purchasing items with the P-Card • Rebate checks must be made payable to UGA and sent to the Accounting Department for deposit • Example: The Office Depot rewards program that allows a customer to earn free items based on accumulated points/dollars spent • HB 1113 specifically prohibits employee personal use of rebates or refunds from vendors, banks or other institutions for a purchase or the use of the purchasing card

31. Common Errors • P-Cards may only be used to purchase items allowed on University accounts. Examples of unallowable purchases include: • Entertainment • Flowers/gifts to be given away • Service/Recognition awards i.e. plaques • Break room supplies for employee use • Personal purchases • Memberships • Inventoried Equipment • Travel (for employees and prospective employees) • Use of a retail site when vendor has established a specific website to provide statewide or agency contract pricing

32. P-Card and Sponsored Accounts

33. If a sponsored account is set up as the default account, all purchases made on this card must be intended for that default account only. If a general account is not available to use as the default account, then the following types of accounts could be used:  • UGA Indirect Cost Recovery account (xx-xx-Axxxx-xxx) • UGARF Indirect Cost Recovery account (xx-21-RRxxx-900) • Departmental Sales & Service account that is not for a specific project (xx-xx-Dxxxx-000) • Set up a new General account with no budget (xx-xx-Gxxxx-xxx)

34. P-Card Transfers (Journal Vouchers) • Charges to a sponsored default account should not be transferred to another account while in WorksTM , unless an error has been detected • Charges to a general/state account can be transferred to a sponsored account while in WorksTM • Once the charge posts to G/L, the Cost Transfer policy applies. (http://askuga.uga.edu/default.asp?id=1428&Lang=1&SID=)

35. Initial request forms will be forwarded to Contracts & Grants for approval • Changes to sponsored default accounts must also be routed through Contracts & Grants • Contracts & Grants will review for account type, business purpose, and budget restrictions imposed by agencies

36. P-Card Purchases • Must be allowable per the terms and conditions of the sponsored agency • Must be allowable per the University’s direct cost policy/procedures (http://askuga.uga.edu/default.asp?id=1429&Lang=1&SID) (http://askuga.uga.edu/default.asp?id=1432&Lang=1&SID=) • Must be allowable per the University’s P-Card policy

37. Things to Know • Some purchases that are allowable per the P-Card manual are not typically allowable on sponsored accounts. • Comments in WorksTM should be as specific as possible. • Food purchases must be approved in writing by the sponsoring agency. • Book purchases and subscriptions must be justified as a direct cost.

38. Q & A