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Procurement Card Policies
The Dartmouth College Procurement Card (P-Card) Program is designed to improve efficiency in processing low dollar value purchases ($2499.00 or less). The Procurement Card is a Visa Card and can be used to make purchases for goods (not services) with any merchant who accepts the Visa Card. Procurement Card transactions for non-restricted commodities cannot exceed the $2,499.00 (including all delivery, shipping and/or special handling charges) per transaction limit. Transactions exceeding the $2499.00 limit will require a Purchase Order. Pyramiding (splitting) transactions to exceed the per transaction limit is not permitted by Dartmouth College. Visa/MasterCard regulations also prohibit vendors from this practice.
The Dartmouth P-Card does not have any insurances connected with the credit card and should never be used for travel related items or services. Purchases must be for the use and benefit of the College. No personal purchases are allowed – regardless of intent to reimburse the College. If you fail to comply with the policies and procedures associated with the Procurement Card, Procurement Services reserves the right to cancel your credit card at any time. Fraudulent or misuse of the Procurement Card may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
The person whose name appears on the card is responsible for protecting the card and is accountable for all purchases made using the card number. All purchases processed against a Procurement Card must be made by, or under the immediate direction of, the person to whom the card is issued.
When the cardholder signs the Dartmouth College Procurement Card Application & Agreement form, they are agreeing to protect the card and adhere to the policies and procedures of the Procurement Card Program. The cardholders and Procurement Card Approvers within each department are responsible for the integrity and accuracy of their department’s Procurement Card purchases.
The cardholders and Procurement Card Approver(s) within each department are responsible for receipts for ALL Purchase Card transactions. Purchase Card receipts for catered or take-out food must show detail of all items purchased. Receipts that show only a total amount without any itemized details are unacceptable. Cardholders who do not retain acceptable receipts for P-Card purchases may have their credit card suspended or cancelled.
Departmental Procurement Cards
Dartmouth College no longer supports or issues P-Cards that are in a department or project name. Procurement Cards will only be issued to specific, individual’s linked directly with the College. The banking industry has made recent changes that no longer provide coverage of any kind (dispute or fraud) for any P-Card that is not in an individual’s name. Any department / division using a P-Card with a departmental name will be solely responsible for any financial losses due to disputes or fraudulent activities until the card has been replaced. A departmental account will be charged the fraudulent or disputed amounts if the bank cannot recover the funds.
Multiple Procurement Cards
Dartmouth College no longer issues multiple P-Cards to individuals. Previously, staff may have received multiple credit cards so that each Procurement Card defaulted to a different/specific account string. This also means that if a department has duplicate Procurement Cards (cards that have the same exact information on them, but having more than one card on hand) they must destroy any additional/extra Procurement Cards immediately. Having more than one copy of a Procurement card automatically loses any dispute or fraud rights. This practice has ceased. These security measures will aid in sustaining Dartmouth College’s fiscal integrity. For every P-Card Dartmouth has the likelihood of fraudulent activity rises.
Who Should Have and Use a P-Card?
§ Regular staff or faculty who are directly paid by Dartmouth College may apply for a P-Card
§ Staff or faculty who make frequent, low dollar purchases. P-Cards should only be given to individuals who make frequent, low dollar purchases. P-Cards are audited regularly for appropriate use as well as the frequency of use. P-Cards may be cancelled anytime at the discretion of Procurement Services.
Who Should NOT Have or Use a P-Card.
§ Undergraduate or Graduate students may not have or use a P-Card. The College’s contract with JPMorganChase bank only covers regular, Dartmouth employees or faculty.
§ Temporary employees
§ Visiting staff, faculty, Alumni or guests
The contract between Dartmouth College and JPMorganChase is a legal and binding agreement that does not extend support or coverage for students, temporary employees or any other persons not directly paid by Dartmouth College. Please note that if a student is given a P-Card to use, JPMorganChase is not obligated to assist with any disputes or fraudulent activities that might arise from this use. Each department, where P-Cards are used, is financially responsible for all transactions.
Any department/division that allows any student to use a P-Card will be solely responsible for any financial losses due to disputes or fraudulent activities. A departmental account will be charged the fraudulent or disputed amounts if the bank cannot recover the funds. Procurement Services strongly recommends that any P-Cards that are used frequently by students should have significantly lower single dollar and monthly dollar limits. Standard limits for a P-Card are $2499.00 for the single transaction limit and $5000.00 for the monthly limit. Procurement Cards for student use should have more limited purchasing capacity. Changing single transaction limits to limits to $250.00 - $500.00 will significantly reduce possible financial losses to Dartmouth College.
Approving P-Card Transactions On-Line in the Oracle P-Card System
§ All P-Card transactions must be approved on-line in the P-Card reallocation system before the sweep/post date. Departments, who are not approving P-Card transactions weekly, on-line will not be issued any new P-Cards until the situation is resolved. If the lack of on-line approval is not rectified in a reasonable amount of time, the department may have Procurement card access suspended.
§ Each department should have at least (2) staff assigned to approve all P-Card transactions for the department on-line. One as the primary approver and one to act as back up. In larger departments, additional approvers may be permitted at the discretion of the Procurement Card Manager.
§ No person may approve a Procurement Card in their name. This conforms to standard accounting and auditing practices.
§ The Oracle P-Card reallocation system is a secure system that requires authentication and access should not be requested for multiple individuals unless the department has worked with the Purchase Card Manager and Procurement Services to review the current practices.
Examples of prohibited goods/services that cannot be charged to a P-Card:
v Cash Cards (credit cards that are used like cash), Travelers Checks, etc.
v Travel and Entertainment related expenses and advances (this includes but
is not limited to: airfare, cabs, car rentals, buses, trains, parking fees, hotel fees - including room rentals for conferences, meals in restaurants/hotels, etc.)
v Alcoholic beverages
v Items/services for other than College related purposes (personal use)
v Meals in restaurants - NO sit down or in-house service is allowed
v Catered events from non approved caterers (approved caterers link is below)
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rmi/forms/caterers.html
v Annual contract maintenance
v Automotive gasoline
v Construction and renovations
v Consulting services (“services” in general should not be charged to the P-Card)
v Office furniture (*)
v Prescription drugs and controlled substances
v Radioactive and hazardous (**) materials
v Animals (***)
v Gifts and Gift Certificates for employees or students over $50.00 total may not be purchased using a P-Card. A gift certificate of $50.00 or less may be charged to the P-Card. Any gift or gift certificate that exceeds $50.00 total is considered taxable income by the IRS and must be reported to Dartmouth’s Payroll department for tax purposes. Multiple gifts or gift certificates that total over $50.00 must be purchased using a Travel & Entertainment Voucher available from the Controller’s Office. This form ensures that applicable taxes are applied. Contact the Controller’s Office for specific details on what information you will need to provide.
(*) Contact Denise Rowell in Procurement Services before purchasing any furniture
(**) Contact Environmental Health and Safety regarding hazardous materials
(***) Contact Animal Resources
Cardholder and Departmental Responsibilities
It is the Cardholder’s responsibility to report the loss of the card immediately to the Procurement Card Administrator, JPMorganChase, and the appropriate department Purchase Card Approver. Email Linda.L.Lagasse@Dartmouth.Edu with the last six digits of the credit card that was lost and the full name of the cardholder. JPMorganChase may be contacted at: 1-800-888-307-2990.
The Cardholder is responsible for attempting to resolve a dispute with the vendor within fifteen (15) days of receipt of a disputed purchase. If a resolution is not possible, the next step is to alert JPMorganChase of the disputed item. The bank will provide a dispute form that the cardholder will need to fill out and return to JPMorganChase. The bank will work directly with the cardholder to resolve the problem.
Updated 6/08
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