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Using The Purchasing Card
Making Purchases
- Refer to the Purchasing Card Basics Page to determine if the required payment method for a purchase must be the Pcard
- Consult the Guidelines for Competition to determine if your purchase will require competition or other processing by Procurement Services or if your department may order it directly.
- Check the Goods and Services Procurement Guide and the restricted item list to verify that the purchase can be made with Pcard.
If you are purchasing air or rail tickets, see the Travel Basics page and ensure that the planned purchase meets all travel regulations.
If you are purchasing food with the Pcard, you must follow the Business Meal policy.
Purchasing Check List
When You Order
- Ask for and receive confirmation from the vendor for each order that the requested items are not subject to the Internal Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR) and document that information. If one or more items are subject to the ITAR; contact the UVA Office of Export Controls (OEC) at export-controls@virginia.edu or 434-982-5725 before proceeding.
- Claim the Virginia sales tax exemption for goods and services, except for prepared food and air/rail tickets. 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. However, you may put the last four digits of your card number.
- Make internet purchases from secure web sites only. Website addresses begin with "https://" when the Secure Socket Layer is present, although this may not appear until the order is placed. Information on the vendor's security certification can be found under Help in the browser's toolbar.
- Maintain all receipts and/or packing slips to document purchases and reconcile to your monthly purchasing card statement.
- Maintain confirmed travel itinerary to document air and rail ticket purchases.
After the Purchase
- If you mistakenly paid the sales tax, call the vendor as soon as possible and ask for them to credit that amount back to your account.
- If you need to return an item, ask the vendor to credit the amount to your Pcard. 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:
Submit the Pcard Change Request form with all requested information. For a ticket purchase of $5,000 or more from a non-contract vendor, provide at least three quotes from travel vendors.
Pre-payment of First Night Lodging: Lifting the Lodging Restriction
To pre-pay for first night lodging, the lodging restriction must be lifted on the purchasing card by completing a Purchasing Card Change Request form. All University travel regulations still apply including lodging limit restrictions.
Documenting Purchases
You must keep all original receipts and other documentation for each of your purchases. All Pcard documentation must be kept in the cardholder’s department per the University's Record Retention policy.
Periodically, the University or State will audit documentation to ensure compliance with all applicable guidelines. If it is found that a card is misused, your cardholder privileges may be suspended or revoked.
Pcard Purchasing Log - Annual Workbook
Although a purchasing card log is not required documentation, it is a tool that can be used to track purchases and help analyze annual spend. To use the Pcard log, record each transaction as you make it on your current Pcard transaction log in the Pcard Purchasing Log - Annual Workbook. This will ensure that the last two tabs of the log reflect your annual usage.
Maintaining Proof of Receipt of Goods and Services
- Maintain detailed and dated packing slips and/or credit card receipts. If goods and/or services are received by someone other than the cardholder, the documentation detailing proof of receipt must to signed and dated by that person.
- For air and rail tickets maintain confirmed travel itinerary and boarding passes to document purchase.
Pcard Statement
Each month the cardholder will receive a monthly statement from Bank of America at the end of the Pcard billing cycle.
- Purchasing Card Billing Dates for 2011
- Please note: Monthly spending limits are based on the Pcard billing Cycle.
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In addition to your mailed paper statement, you will be able to view your Pcard transactions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and you may print your statement one day after cycle close through an online service called WORKS. Example: For March closing date 03/15/2011, the electronic statement would be available 03/16/2011 in WORKS.
Monthly Reconciliation
- You are required to reconcile the Pcard monthly statement each month within three days of receipt.
- Attach all receipts including order confirmations for online purchases to the Pcard statement. 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 the Pcard monthly statement.
- Your Authorized Approver must sign and date the Pcard monthly statement(s).
- 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 Pcard transactions as needed. This person is often referred to as the "PTAEO Changer". Forward the Pcard statement and receipts to the "PTAEO Changer" in your department and then to your department's Recon@UVA Preparer for reconciliation to Grants Management.
