
Making Purchases
What You Can Buy
- Your Purchasing Card can be used for official University of Virginia business purchases only.
- You may never use your card for personal expenditures, for cash advances, or to obtain "store credit."
- You may not use the card to purchase restricted items.
- You may not use the card to purchase commodities marked as restricted for the card on the
Goods and Services Procurement Guide.
- Resident Assistants list of approved vendors is now maintained by the University's Residence Life Office.
How Much You Can Spend
There are strict limits to how much you can spend per transaction, per month, and per non-contract vendor within a one-year period.
- Your individual spending limits have been set by your department up to a maximum of $4,999 per transaction and $7,500 per month
- Monthly Spending Limit -- With the approval of your supervisor or department head, your monthly spending limit may be temporarily raised by submitting
a PCard Change Request form.
Please note: Monthly spending limits are based on GE MasterCard's billing cycle which
runs from the 16th of the month through the 15th of the following month.
- Annual Spending Limit per Non-Contract Vendor -- With the
exception of air and rail tickets, your Purchasing Unit may NOT purchase $5,000 or
more per year from the same non-contract vendor without first obtaining
a Purchase Order using the following procedure:
- Submit a Buyer Assist Form and use "Note to Buyer" on the item line to inform Procurement Services that you are requesting a "zero dollar standing order to be paid by Purchasing Card."
- Always reference the resulting PO number on your Transaction Log whenever you make a purchase based on this Purchase Order.
Things You Should NEVER Do
- Never put your full card number or your date of birth in a fax, email or email attachment, though you may put the last six digits of your card number.
- Never allow another person to use your card.
- Never split a purchase in order to circumvent established limits.
- Never exceed the established limits for your card.
Purchase Checklist
Before You Order
- Check the Goods and Services Procurement Guide and the restricted item list to
verify that the purchase can be made with Purchasing Card.
- If you are purchasing air or rail tickets, see the Travel Basics page and
ensure that the planned purchase meets all travel regulations.
In some cases cost comparisons must be done prior to purchasing tickets.
- If air or rail tickets will be purchased on state funds, complete all prior approval requirements before purchasing.
- For a non-contract non-over-the-counter purchase,
locate a Virginia Department of Minority Business Enterprise (VDMBE)-certified Minority- or Woman-owned (M/W) vendor
and obtain a price quotation prior to making the purchase.
If you elect not to purchase from the M/W vendor, document this solicitation with either the
vendor's printed quote or a completed Phone Quote Summary form.
Phone quote documentation must include all of the following:
- vendor name and address
- description of goods or services required
- delivery dates and F.O.B. point
- name of person giving quote
- name of person receiving quote
- date information was obtained
- If you are about to purchase anything other than travel tickets
from a non-contract vendor, remember that your Purchasing Unit may only spend up to $5,000 in any 12-month period
with this vendor before a Purchase Requisition is required.
When You Order
- Claim the Virginia sales tax exemption for goods and services except for prepared food.
For other states, see the State Tax Exemption Certificates website
to determine exemption status.
- REMEMBER -- Never put your full card number or your date of birth in a fax, email or email attachment, though you may put the last six digits of your card number
- Record each purchase as you make it on the Purchasing Card Transaction Log.
- Make internet purchases from secure web sites only. Remember to record the vendor's Web address on your Transaction Log.
- Remind travelers for whom you purchased tickets to retain the
boarding pass if at all possible, or other clear proof that they took the
trip as purchased, and their confirmed travel itinerary.
After the Purchase
- If you mistakenly paid the sales tax, you need to call the vendor as soon as possible
and ask for them to credit that amount back onto your account.
- If you need to return an item, ask the vendor to credit the amount to
your Purchasing Card. Do NOT accept store credit for returned items. Contact the
Purchasing Card Administrator for direction if a vendor will only issue store credit.
Air & Rail Tickets: Raising Your Spending Limit
The Purchasing Card Administrator can temporarily raise your spending limits if necessary
to purchase air or rail tickets if you follow these procedures.
On any source of funds
Submit the PCard Change Request form with all requested information.
For a ticket purchase of $5,000 or more from a non-contract vendor, you must provide at least three quotes from
travel vendors. Your limit can be raised to accommodate the lowest of the quotes.
On state funds
Make sure ALL pre-approval requirements
have been met and required signatures obtained, as specified in the
section "Overnight Travel on State Funds" on the Travel Basics page.
Documenting Purchases
All of your documentation is subject to audit and must be kept on file in your department for three years plus the current fiscal year.
- Record each MasterCard transaction as you make it on your current Purchasing Card transaction log in the PCard Purchasing Log -
Annual Workbook. This will ensure that the last two tabs of the log reflect your annual usage.
- For the "Minority/Woman Quote Confirmation" column, if you are buying from a contact
vendor, just enter "Contract vendor" in this column. Otherwise, you must do one of the following:
- If you were unable to find a VDMBE-certified minority/woman-owned
vendor or if this was an over-the-counter purchase, enter "None available."
- If the vendor used was a VDMBE-certified minority/woman-owned
vendor, enter "Vendor is M/W Owned."
- If you did not make the purchase from the Minority/Woman-owned
vendor from whom you solicited a quote, enter "Quote from xxxxxx is attached",
where xxxx is the name of the Minority/Woman vendor. You must attach the written
quotation from the vendor or a completed "Phone Quote Summary" sheet to the log,
if you complete the field in this way.
- Maintain detailed and dated packing slips and/or credit card receipts.
- For air and rail tickets:
- The boarding pass and confirmed travel itinerary must also be kept with the transaction log.
If the boarding pass is not available, contact the Purchasing Card Administrator to determine what can
be used as proof that trip was taken as purchased.
- If tickets were purchased on state funds, keep all required signed
pre-approval documents with the PCard Purchasing Log - Annual Workbook.
If originals are sent to Procurement Services as Payment Voucher documentation, keep a copy.
- Monthly reconciliation:
- Please note: Monthly spending limits are based on GE MasterCard's billing cycle.
Purchasing Card Billing Dates for 2008
| Month |
Starting Date |
Closing Date |
| January |
18 Dec
|
15 Jan
|
| February |
16 Jan
|
15 Feb
|
| March |
16 Feb
|
17 Mar
|
| April |
18 Mar
|
15 Apr
|
| May |
16 Apr
|
15 May
|
| June |
16 May
|
16 Jun
|
| July |
17 Jun
|
15 Jul
|
|
| Month |
Starting Date |
Closing Date |
| August |
16 Jul
|
15 Aug
|
| September |
16 Aug
|
15 Sep
|
| October |
16 Sep
|
15 Oct
|
| November |
16 Oct
|
17 Nov
|
| December |
18 Nov
|
15 Dec
|
| January |
16 Dec
|
15 Jan
|
| |
|
|
|
- You are required to reconcile the Transaction Log to all Purchasing Card monthly statements,
each month within three days of receipt.
Attach all receipts including order confirmations for online purchases to the Transaction Log.
If the recipient of the goods and/or services is different than the cardholder, then the recipient should sign the receipt, packing slip,
or whatever documentation is available at the time of receipt.
- You must sign and date both the Transaction Log and the monthly
statement(s). If you had no purchases during the month and therefore have no statement,
add a note to that effect to the Transaction Log.
- Your supervisor must sign and date the Purchasing Card monthly statement(s).
If there is no statement for the month, your Supervisor must sign and date the
Transaction Log in lieu of the statement. This should be done within three days
of your normal statement date.
- There is an individual in your department who has "AP P-Card Holder" responsibility
in the Integrated System and whose responsibility it is to change PTAEO distributions on Purchasing
Card transactions as needed. This person is often referred to as the "PTAEO Changer". Forward the Transaction Log,
receipts, and MasterCard statement(s) to the "PTAEO Changer" in your department and then
to your department's fiscal administrator for reconciliation to Grants Management.
Accessing Your Account Online
In addition to your mailed paper statement, you will be able to view your purchasing card transactions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
and you may print your statement one day after cycle close through an online service called
NetService. Example: For December closing date 12/15/2005, the electronic statement
would be available 12/16/2005 in NetService.
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