Category: News

In-Store Sales Tax Exemption

  • June 2nd, 2023
  • in News

Purchases made within, or shipped to, the state of Alabama are exempt from state sales tax if they are charged to state funds (Chart A). Several merchants around Tuscaloosa have specific requirements for allowing purchases to be made without sales tax. Please visit the Tax Office’s website for specific instructions on making purchases with the following vendors: Dollar General, Hobby Lobby, Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, and Office Depot. In some cases, action is required before shopping in-store.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to pcard@ua.edu.

Delivery of Replacement P-Cards

  • May 2nd, 2023
  • in News

If a P-Card needs to be replaced due to fraud or a lost card, US Bank will cancel the current card and reissue a new card. When communicating with US Bank’s customer service team about card replacement, you may be asked how you would like the replacement card shipped. If you do not need your card urgently, please request regular shipping. In case of an urgent need, you can request expedited or overnight shipping to a UA address. When expedited or overnight shipping is selected, please be sure to provide the customer service representative with the street address for your UA building. This will prevent issues with cards being undeliverable and will ensure you get your card as quickly as possible.

Please visit the US Bank webpage for guidance on lost/stolen cards, fraudulent charges, and other helpful information about working with US Bank.

Tips for Minimizing Disruptions

  • March 3rd, 2023
  • in News

The P-Card is an easy and convenient way to pay for supplies and travel needed for UA operations. Since the purchases made by UA employees are essential to the goals and missions of departments and UA as a whole, it can be a major inconvenience when declines occur. This is especially important before business travel. Here are some tips for preventing issues that arise when using the P-Card:

  • Be aware of your available credit. You can call US Bank’s customer service number or log in to Access Online to check your available credit.
  • Know your spending limits. There are two spending limits on p-cards. The single purchase limit is the amount you can spend in one purchase. The monthly or cycle limit is the total amount you can spend in the cycle (26th of the month through the 25th of the next month). This can be increased if approved by your department.
  • Determine whether your card is meant to be used for travel-only or both travel and supplies.
  • Reconcile reports in a timely manner to avoid card suspension.
  • Make sure you know the following information associated with your account: billing address, CVV, expiration date. Declines commonly occur because this information in entered incorrectly. It’s a good idea to confirm these details and try the charge again when your card declines.

Please feel free to reach out to P-Card Services at pcard@ua.edu with any questions.

P-Card Online Banking Software Access – Now Available!

  • February 3rd, 2023
  • in News

Access Online user profiles have now been set up for UA purchasing card holders. Access Online will allow cardholders to view posted transactions, single purchase and monthly limits, balances, available credit, and other account details. If you would like to use this resource, please view the registration instructions and then log into Access Online for the first time and finish setting up your profile. In the future this link will be added to the employee tab of MyBama.

Please note: Accountholders with a ghost account (no physical plastic) will not have access to their accounts in Access Online.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Pcard@ua.edu.

Fiscal Year-End 2022 Reminder

  • September 6th, 2022
  • in News

With FY2022 ending in a few short weeks, it is important to note the below dates to ensure that Procurement Services can process all orders and post all transactions to Banner within the Financial Accounting deadlines:

  • New bids should have been requested by Wednesday, August 31, 2022, at 5 p.m.
  • buyBama Purchase Orders must be created and approved by Monday, September 19, 2022, at 5 p.m.
  • Concur PO Invoices that have been assigned to users need to be submitted and approved as soon as possible for purchase orders where the product has been delivered.  For questions regarding Concur PO Invoices, contact Accounts Payable.
  • Concur Invoices must be submitted, approved by all approvers, and to Accounts Payable for processing by Thursday, October 6, 2022, at 5:00 p.m.
  • Concur Expense Reports must be submitted, approved by all approvers, and to Accounts Payable and P-Card for processing by Thursday, October 6, 2022, at 5:00 p.m.
  • Banner Encumbrances will roll forward on Monday, October 17, 2022

Did you know?

  • July 22nd, 2022
  • in News

Did you know that it is important to advise your vendor of Contract Management’s role in the contracting process?  This helps us keep your contract moving and makes the vendor aware that they will receive communications from the Contract Administrator assigned to your contract record.

Please encourage the vendor to respond directly with our Contract Management Team.  Often vendors will report that they saw an email but, because they did not recognize the sender, they dismissed it as spam.  Also, if they respond directly to you, be sure to pull your Contract Administrator back in.

We  appreciate your partnership!  Thanks for helping us continue to strive for accuracy and efficiency in contract execution!  If you have questions regarding the Procurement Contract Portal or would like to schedule a training session for your department, please contact Julie Love.

PPE Updates

  • June 13th, 2022
  • in News

The University previously purchased over 250k various items for distribution across our campus and there are still plenty of the below items available. For more information on how you can obtain these items and to see what is remaining please reach out to Logistical Support Services. When making requests to logistics.ic@ua.edu please include the Department, contact person with email address, number of employees needing PPE, and purpose of PPE. Any PPE that would be ordered by a department under normal operations unrelated to any COVID safety measures may be purchased through normal procurement methods.

Masks – KN95, cloth, disposable, adjustable
Wipes
Sanitizer – all sizes
Disinfectant spray
Clear masks
Safety goggles
Safety glasses
Face shields

New Concur User Interface – Now Live!

  • June 13th, 2022
  • in News

The new Concur User Interface (UI) went live for all campus users on Monday, June 13.  All training reference documents on the Concur Website have been updated to provide users with ample resources to navigate this change. Additionally, we will hold Help Sessions in the Procurement Services Building to provide in-person assistance related to this update. After using the new interface, if you would like to attend a help session, please sign up using this Registration Link.

As a reminder, this update will only impact the Request and Expense modules for the user creating and submitting reports. Concur Travel Bookings, Concur Invoice, and the Concur Mobile App will not change as part of this UI change.

This new UI is intended to provide users with a more accessible design and an improved user experience. It is easier to learn, should save users time, and make it easier to complete many tasks. Accessibility is also improved as the new UI provides a more intuitive and approachable experience for users with visual, auditory, motor, cognitive, or speech disabilities to use our solutions, making them more inclusive.

Throughout the pilot phase, we have received questions primarily on two topics – Available Expenses and Available Receipts.

Available Expenses
The Available Expenses section includes items that could be true P-Card charges, e-Receipts, or itineraries. In the Old Concur User Interface, P-Card transactions, e-receipts, and itinerary items had a “Source” column that colored icons to indicate what type of expense the line item was. In the New Concur User Interface, the Source column has been replaced with a “Payment Type” column.
1. US Bank PCard – this Payment Type indicates that the transaction was paid with a US Bank P-Card.
2. Pending Card Transaction – This is an itinerary, e-receipt, or mobile app receipt picture that has not yet matched with a p-card transaction. This line item does not have to be reconciled until the card charge posts.

Please be mindful that P-Card transactions typically take 3-5 business days from the date the card was swiped to post into Concur. Please make sure you are waiting until card transactions post and reconcile only US Bank P-Card items from your Available Expenses.

This is summarized further with screenshots included in the Available Expenses Changes Guide.

Available Receipts
The Available Receipts sections includes receipts that have been uploaded to Concur or emailed from a verified email address. Previously, in the Old Concur User Interface, users could drag and drop multiple files at once from their desktop or another folder to their Available Receipts section. In the New Concur User Interface, the drag and drop ability has been removed. Pilot users have been frustrated with this change as they do not want to upload many receipt files separately. There is a solution. When you click Upload Receipt Image and navigate to the folder that houses your receipt files, you can select multiple files to upload at once by holding down the Ctrl key as you are selecting files for upload. This will allow you to select multiple files to upload at one time.

If you have any questions, or need any help, please reach out to the Concur Help Desk.

Medical Purchases

  • June 1st, 2022
  • in News

Departments across campus sometimes feel the need to purchase various medications for disbursement to faculty, staff, or students. This includes Tylenol, Advil, Aleve or any other over-the-counter medications. These purchases cannot be paid for using any type of UA funding (state funds or foundation funds). If you have any questions, please reach out to Robby Plumb in Risk Management.