Cardholders cannot use the Procurement Card to obtain cash, such as money orders or traveler's checks. Cardholders are not to receive cash as a credit for the return of an item.
Cash like transactions, such as gift cards, are only allowable if purchased in accordance with the following Procedural Statements: Gift Cards; Recognition and Training; and, Study Subject Payments.
Cardholders are required to provide receipts for each purchase, unless the transaction amount is $25 or less and is not for an official function. If the Cardholder is unable to obtain a valid receipt, they may add a comment to the report, explaining why the receipt was unobtainable. Multiple missing receipts may result in a violation.
Cardholders cannot use the Procurement Card to purchase human fetal tissue.
Procurement Cards may be used to make payment to foreign companies only for purchase (not rental) of the following goods and services:
All purchases on the Procurement Card must follow the Finance Procedural Statement Sensitive Expenses [1] and (if appropriate) Official Functions [2]. Departments contemplating purchases of official functions, gifts, flowers, alcohol, memberships, contributions, and/or other sensitive items should refer to those policies for clarification.
Cardholders cannot use the Procurement Card to purchase alcohol or other items at liquor stores.
Cardholders are not to use the Procurement Card to purchase items otherwise covered by a mandatory price agreement. Mandatory price agreements include Staples for office supply purchases, Xerox and Konica Minolta for copiers and multi-function devices, and a variety of suppliers included in the listing of mandatory temporary labor providers . For a complete list of goods and services covered by such agreements, see the Commodity Listing [3].
Mandatory price agreements should be leveraged from the participating suppliers in CU Marketplace, and not on the Procurement Card. For more information about purchasing furniture on existing price agreements, see How to Buy Furniture [4].
Cardholders must immediately report any inadvertent personal purchase to their AOs and must immediately either reimburse the University or arrange for a credit transaction from the merchant. Documentation shall include proof of reimbursement by employee or credit by merchant.
Personal purchases not reported by Cardholders to their AOs immediately may be considered Suspected Fiscal Misconduct and may result in termination and possible prosecution. Any suspected fiscal misconduct or abuse of the card for personal purchases must be reported immediately to both PSC Commercial Card Administration and the CU System Department of Internal Audit.
The purchase of telephone calls is prohibited where there is no billing available from the merchant itemizing the calls.
Cardholders are not to use the Procurement Card to purchase Pre-Paid Parking or Meter Keys unless they are purchased directly from the University.
Cardholders shall not share their cards or card numbers with other individuals for use. Only the designated Cardholder is allowed to use his or her Procurement Card.
Under University Procurement Rules and State of Colorado Fiscal Rules, it is prohibited to split a purchase in order to circumvent Procurement Card limits. A split purchase is defined as:
Cardholders are required to inform each merchant of the University's status as a tax-exempt organization. Taxes being charged consistently on a Cardholder's transactions may indicate the Cardholder is not letting vendors know that the University is tax exempt.
The purchase of most travel-related expenses for both employees and non-employees is prohibited on the Procurement Card. This includes:
The Procurement Card may be used for the following travel-related expenses:
Cardholders are not to use the Procurement Card to purchase any items that will be charged to a sponsored project unless those items are in accordance with the terms of the specific grant or contract.
All transactions are required to be assigned to a report and submitted to an Approving Official within 30 days of the transaction date. The Commercial Card Office will run a report once a month of all unsubmitted charges and issue violations accordingly.
All departmental procurement card program participants - Cardholders, Delegates, and Approving Officials - are required to know and follow Commercial Card Program policies, including those defining program violations and their consequences.
It is the responsibility of the AO (sometimes with the assistance of the department's delegates) to review transaction documentation in order to identify possible violations in card use. This review must be conducted for all transactions in each cycle period.
PSC Commercial Card Administration will issue 50 points to the Cardholder for each of the following types of Procurement Card violations.
Other violations may only warrant a violation warning unless chronic abuse is noted by the Commercial Card Administration. If chronic abuse is noted, violation points will be issued. The PSC Commercial Card Administration will use their discretion to determine whether chronic abuse exists and how many violation points will be issued. In severe cases, cards may be immediately suspended or revoked.
Links
[1] https://www.cu.edu/controller/procedures/finance-procedural-statements/finance-procedural-statement-sensitive-expenses
[2] https://www.cu.edu/controller/procedures/finance-procedural-statements/finance-procedural-statement-official-functions
[3] https://www.cu.edu/psc/commodity-listing
[4] https://www.cu.edu/psc/procurement/how-buy-furniture