TO: Deans, Directors, and Department Chairs
FROM: Martha J. Pendergrass
Director, Material & Disbursement Services
I write to emphasize the importance of proper administration of the P-Card program. The P-Card program enhances a department’s purchasing power and flexibility for small purchases. As a valuable departmental tool for reducing paperwork, we want to ensure Carolina’s continued approval to use the State’s P-Card Program through proper central and departmental controls.
The University has published policies and procedures regarding the usage of the P-Card, located in the P-Card Handbook. Purchasing Services monitors the use of the card to ensure that these policies and procedures are being followed. Every cardholder is required to attend training before they are given a card and Purchasing Services performs compliance reviews and provides refresher training as needed.
The Dean, Director, or Department Chair has responsibility for ensuring the correct usage of the cards. Areas identified in a recent audit where departmental managers need to ensure staff fully understand the policies are, as follows:
- Registrations are travel expenses and are not allowable P-Card expenses.
- Gift cards are not allowable P-Card purchases.
- Purchasers are required to recover the tax if inadvertently paid using the P-Card.
- Receipts should note the business purpose of the purchases.
- If a receipt is missing, a missing receipt affidavit must be completed by the purchaser explaining what happened and documenting the purchase.
Failure to correct these or similar problems will result in the suspension of the card immediately and require the cardholder to repeat training before the suspension can be lifted. Any further misuse results in termination of the card.
If you have any questions about procedures for proper administration of the P-Card program, please contact Ms. Hua Shen, P-Card Administrator for UNC, at 919-962-2255 or hua_shen@unc.edu.