Purchasing cards save the university millions. But they also open the university to audit and public scrutiny. That was evident when the state auditor announced his review of the university’s purchasing card program on Oct. 29.

Following the release of the report by auditor Mike Foley, a universitywide task force of procurement officers will address recommendations and possible new policies.

Christine Jackson, UNL vice chancellor of Business and Finance, said the audit report and the accompanying public attention reminds “everyone at the university to remember the necessity for following the policies, including earnestly documenting and filing the required paperwork.”

“The overwhelming majority of issues discovered at UNL were related to documentation and internal controls – that is, not following our own requirements,” Jackson said. “It is unfortunate that the public perception may be that we had a large amount of questionable or even wasteful spending. That’s just not the case. Many were procedural issues.”

The VISA credit cards enable faculty and staff with immediate access to purchase research materials, supplies, airline tickets and conference registrations and any number of things that they need to conduct university business. The four campuses annually purchase approximately $40 million using the purchasing cards, including about $28 million at UNL. Running purchases through the card system saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in processing and writing checks, including staff time, and speeds up the purchasing process and makes it more convenient.

There were no uncovered issues with intentional wrongdoing by cardholders or any evidence of material weakness in internal controls, the Foley report said.

In addition to reviewing and tightening some policies, Jackson already has made some oversight changes at the business administration level. In an e-mail to cardholders, reconcilers and approving authorities on Oct. 2 she announced a change in oversight. Responsibilities for the Purchasing Card and Team Travel Card programs have been consolidated in Financial Services. Previously they had been divided between Financial Services and University Services. UNL has already strengthened its management of the program. An e-mail to all faculty and staff was sent Oct. 29 to highlight purchasing card program changes. Information about the Purchasing Card Program is available at http://accounting.unl.edu/pcard/.

Jackson asked that everyone with purchasing card responsibilities review the policies and to contact Accounting with questions.

For more information contact Accounting at mpyatt2@unl.edu or 472-8778.

Purchasing Cards | By the Numbers

40
Total cards issued when the purchase card program started in 1995

1,176
Total purchasing cards at UNL today.

Millions
estimated dollars the purchasing card program saves annually by improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the purchasing process

70,000
estimated number of checks and requisitions that would need to be run through the state annually without the purchasing card program

$67
estimated savings to the state for each individual purchasing card purchase

– INFORMATION PROVIDED BY NU AND UNL BUSINESS OFFICERS

Purchasing card rules, reminders

• No one but the employee in whose name the card is issued may use the purchasing card or the team travel card. When a cardholder leaves UNL, his/her card is canceled. A new cardholder should be identified and trained. If a purchasing cardholder is not available for an expenditure, a vendor invoice can be used that will be processed through Accounts Payable.

• Cardholders cannot, under any circumstance, reconcile their own purchasing or team travel cards.

• All purchasing and team travel card transactions must be supported by documentation (receipts, invoices) that establish validity and the appropriateness.

• Each department should review the number of cardholders and the spending limits on their cards at least annually to assure that no more cards are in circulation than necessary.

• All purchasing and team travel card transactions must be approved by an approving official. This is to assure that someone other than the cardholder has determined that purchases are valid and proper.

• Gifts, regardless of reason or occasion, are not allowed.

• Where the University has established “Preferred Vendor” contracts, cardholders are strongly encouraged to check the prices from the university’s preferred vendors, like Office Depot, before purchasing commodities from other vendors/suppliers.

• Dividing a large purchase into smaller ones to bypass a spending limit is never permitted. This is called pyramiding. If necessary, and approved by the approving official, purchasing limits on cards may be increased by request to the UNL Accounting Department.