• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.

• 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.