News & Updates

Missing Receipts

• November 11th, 2019
• in News

UA P-Card Policy and Procedures requires that each transaction charged to the P-Card that totals over $75.00 be represented by an itemized receipt or other acceptable form of documentation that verifies the date of purchase, the vendor name, each item purchased and price of each item. The itemized receipt requirement may be satisfied by providing one of the following:

• Sales Receipt
• Priced Packing Slip
• Cash Register Receipt
• Faxed Receipt
• Emailed Receipt

If documentation has been lost or misplaced, contact the vendor for a duplicate copy. If a duplicate copy is impossible to obtain, a Missing Receipt Affidavit must be completed inside Concur and attached to the transaction. Please see the University’s Concur Website for additional information.

FY19 P-Card Due Date and Suspension Date

• October 2nd, 2019
• in News

All P-Card transactions (travel and non-travel) with a September 30, 2019, or prior Transaction/Purchase Date should be reconciled, approved, and received in Procurement Services by 5 p.m. on Monday, October 7, 2019. To ensure that cardholders are complying with this deadline, cards with outstanding transactions from September 30 or prior will be suspended on Tuesday morning, October 8, 2019. If you have any issues meeting this deadline, please contact P-Card Services at pcard@ua.edu.

Protecting Your P-Card While on Extended Leave

• September 5th, 2019
• in News

If you are going to be out of the office on sabbatical or extended leave, it is best practice to contact P-Card Services so that your card can be temporarily suspended while you are away. The last thing you want to deal with while on leave is fraud, and a temporary card suspension can prevent any unauthorized charges from hitting your card. If you have unreconciled charges during this time, you can also request that your card be temporarily reassigned in Concur to someone in your department for reconciling.  Upon your return to work, please contact P-Card Services to let us know that you need your card reactivated and reassigned to you.

Departments should not use employees’ P-Cards while they are on leave. If your department needs additional P-Cards, please apply here.

P-Card Re-training Requirement

• August 6th, 2019
• in News

Beginning with cards that are suspended on October 1, 2019, re-training of the Purchasing Card Policy and Procedures in-person course will now be required for all cardholders who have had their P-Card suspended three times within a rolling 12-month period. This suspension review period will begin with January 2019 card suspensions. This re-training requirement is to help ensure that all cardholders know when their transactions are due to Procurement Services for review and posting to Banner. If you have any questions about card suspensions, please email P-Card Services at pcard@ua.edu.

Why Use Your P-Card for Purchases?

• August 6th, 2019
• in News

Campus partners are encouraged to use their P-Card whenever accepted by vendors for all allowable purchases in compliance with Procurement Services policies.  Please note that P-Cards should not be used for payment of professional services.  See common questions / comments below related to using P-Cards and clarifications from Procurement for each.

1. I prefer to issue a PO; it’s easier for me.

• While it may seem easier for you, it is a much more time-consuming process for the University as a whole. Per National Association of Purchasing Card Professionals research, when the payment method is switched from the traditional process (e.g. purchase order) to a P-Card process, efficiency savings range from 55% to 80% of the traditional process cost.  The primary efficiency is time saved – It takes far less time to make a P-Card payment, reconcile the transaction, and audit the transaction than the purchase order issuance, receipt, payment and closeout process.

2. The charge exceeds my single purchase limit.

• Temporary increases to the single purchase limit outside of the University’s e-procurement system may be granted on a case by case basis. The Supervisory or Budgetary Approver may request a temporary increase by emailing P-Card Services with an explanation of the circumstances and a copy of the itemized invoice/quote.

3. The charge will push me over my monthly P-Card limit.

• Monthly limits are based on department need and set by the Budgetary Approvers when the initial request for a p-card is made, but these limits can be increased on a temporary or permanent basis. All that is needed to process a monthly limit increase is the amount to increase to, the length of the increase if temporary, and approval from the Supervisory or Budgetary Approver.

4. The charge is for property costing $5,000 or more, which requires tagging by Property Management.

• P-Card can be used for the purchase of property that requires tagging by Property Management. Property Management receives reports that provide all information needed from all payment method types (p-card, purchase orders, and Concur Invoice).  See Equipment Purchases and Your Departmental Responsibilities for associated information.

So, maybe the real question should be – Why Not Use Your P-Card for Purchases?

Please contact Purchasing with any questions regarding the appropriate method of payment at 348-5230 or uapurchasing@ua.edu or P-Card Services at pcard@ua.edu to discuss monthly and single purchase limits.

In-State Per Diem and the P-Card

• July 8th, 2019
• in News

Please remember that when you are travelling on official University business within the state of Alabama, personal meals, lodging and gratuities should not be paid on the P-Card due to State of Alabama per diem laws.  These expenses should be paid out of pocket and reimbursed at the in-state per diem rates via Concur.  Business entertainment meals with a valid justification while in travel status are allowable on the P-Card.  Additionally, if an employee is traveling within the state of Alabama to attend a convention, conference, seminar or other meeting of a state, regional, or national organization of which the state or individual is a dues-paying member, the employee may be reimbursed for their actual expenses for meals and lodging in addition to the actual expenses for transportation.  When in-state travel falls under this specific exception, the P-Card can be used for lodging expenses, and the meals and incidental expenses will be reimbursed according to the GSA per diems established for the travel destination.  Please refer to the UA Travel Policy for additional guidance.

P-Card Out of Office Tips

• July 8th, 2019
• in News

It’s summertime at UA, and many faculty and staff members are traveling for both business and pleasure. If you are planning on going out of town for an extended period of time, a little preparation can go a long way in preventing any disruption in p-card usage for you and your department.

If you would like for P-Card Services to temporarily suspend your card while you’re traveling, you can email pcard@ua.edu and let us know when you’ll be out of town. It would also be a good idea to assign a delegate in Concur in case anything comes up while you’re out.

Whether you’re a cardholder or an approver, it’s a great idea to download the Concur Mobile app so that you can quickly prepare, review, and approve reports on the go. Instructions for setting up Concur Mobile can be found here.

If you’re traveling to a location where cell service or internet service are unreliable, please contact pcard@ua.edu prior to your trip so that we can help you and your department come up with a plan for preparing, reviewing, and approving reports in your absence.

Concur-P-Card User Access Form

• July 2nd, 2019
• in News

The new Concur P-Card User Access Form should be used to request (1) access to Concur, (2) a UA P-Card, and/or (3) a Concur Supervisor update.  The form can be completed by any UA employee or a delegate.  A delegate will need the individual’s CWID.  Once completed and submitted, the form will be routed to the org approver associated with the UA employee’s home org in Banner.  The form will then follow a predefined workflow in Procurement Services, and the employee and delegate will receive email updates along the way.  We are very excited to streamline the process for user access, P-Card applications, and Concur supervisor updates!  For more information on completing the form and/or approving the form, please see the  User Access Form page on the UA Concur website.

P-Card Roles and Responsibilities

• June 1st, 2019
• in News

Cardholders are responsible for reviewing and submitting completed expense reports to the Supervisory Approver and Budgetary Approver to comply with the deadline of the 18th of the following month. Supervisors and budgetary approvers are responsible for electronically approving Cardholders’ expense reports in a timely fashion to comply with the deadline of the 18th day of the following month. It may be necessary to set internal deadlines to ensure that all reports are received by Procurement Services on time. We recently learned that it takes an average of about four days for reports to reach Procurement Services from when a cardholder submits a report. This average includes all steps through the approval process, including reports sent back to users. This might be a good number to consider when setting internal deadlines.

P-Card can now be used at the SUPE Store

• May 1st, 2019
• in News

The P-Card may now be used on campus at the SUPE Store. Any purchase on the P-Card will receive departmental discounts when applicable. Please keep in mind that all purchases on the P-Card must adhere to the P-Card guidelines, including the requirement of a business purpose and an itemized receipt for reconciliation in Concur. Departmental transfers are still an acceptable option for payment to the SUPE Store. When making a purchase at the SUPE Store with your P-Card or with a DT, please let them know whether the charge should be taxable or non-taxable.