Purchasing
Card Program: The Purchasing Card is a Visa card issued by Bank
of America. It is a fast, flexible purchasing tool that provides an extremely
efficient and effective method for purchasing and paying for supplies with a
total value of $1,500 or less. The Visa Purchasing Card will enable you to purchase
non-restricted commodities, by telephone or in person, directly from the vendors.
The Visa Purchasing Card will be issued in the authorized employee's name with
the State of South Carolina emblem, the wording "For Official Use Only," and
the "The Citadel" clearly indicated on the card.
How
do I get one? An applicant must be a full-time employee of The Citadel
and obtain approval by his/her Department Head. The Department Head must provide
the name of the Departmental Liaison to whom the Cardholder will be assigned
and the default College account number for the Purchasing Card. Applicants must
attend a training session before being issued a Purchasing Card. Each individual
Cardholder must sign a Cardholder agreement in the presence of the College Purchasing
Card Coordinator.
How
does the purchasing card work? The card works just like your personal
credit card, except The Citadel pays all charges in full. It is to be used for
the purchase of supplies and services that do not require a contract where complicated
specifications are required. The Citadel's spending parameters for each Purchasing
Card issued are set at a maximum of $1,500 per transaction and $5,000 per month,
per card. The Citadel will adjust monthly limits as determined by demonstrated
need. The State of South Carolina requires that certain types of vendors be
blocked from Purchasing Card use. Among these are travel, entertainment, and
cash transactions. Please refer to the listing in the back of this manual for
the types of vendors blocked from Purchasing Card use. Transactions will be
blocked at the point-of-sale level.
What
do I do if my card is lost, misplaced or stolen? Report any lost or
stolen Purchasing Card immediately to Bank of America toll-free at 1-800-538-8788.
Bank of America representatives are available to assist you 24 hours a day,
365 days a year. Be sure to notify your Department Liaison and/or the College
Purchasing Card Coordinator about the lost or stolen card at the first opportunity
during normal business hours.
What
do I do if I dispute a transaction on my statement? You should always
attempt to resolve any dispute or billing error directly with the vendor. In
most cases, the vendor will issue a credit to the card account. If an agreement
cannot be reached with the vendor, you should contact to Bank of America at
1-800-538-8788. Bank of America may request you to mail or fax 1-800-253-5846
a signed dispute form to document the reason for the dispute. Nearly all issues
can be resolved using this process. If you are unable to obtain an acceptable
resolution, the Cardholder or Departmental Liaison must contact the College
Purchasing Card Coordinator for assistance. The total amount billed by Bank
of America will be charged to the individual departmental accounts, and credits
for disputed transactions will be posted to departmental accounts when credit
appears on the Bank of America billing.
How
are the transactions paid? Purchasing Card purchases are charged to
a default account. However, departments may charge the purchases to other accounts
by use of the Purchasing Card System. The Purchasing Card System is also used
to indicate that sales tax needs to be paid on a purchase and to record that
the purchase was for a travel-related commodity. The monthly billing cycle is
the 27th of each month. The College Purchasing Card Coordinator will notify
the Departmental Liaisons when the billing data has been uploaded and is ready
for reconciliation. Reconciliation is a ten-day period when department liaison
can reconciliation the transaction and assign to differenct accounts and object
codes. . If reconciliation is not completed during the ten-day period, the default
account will automatically be charged. Once charged to the default account,
further changes cannot be made.
Additional
Support Documentation: The following links provide a more detailed
explanation of the Purchasing Card Program. All Department Heads, Cardholders
and Department Liaision are incouraged to view these links. .
- Reconciliation Tutorial
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The Internal Auditor will periodically audit each department to test
compliance with the above procedures.
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Violations of these established standard procedures could result in revocation
of this limited purchasing authority for the department involved.
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The Vice President of Finance and Business Affairs will adjudicate all
recommendations for revocation made by the Director of Procurement Services.
