The University of Guelph Procurement Card (PCard) is provided by the University to its employees for the purchases of low value goods and services.

Designed to streamline the procure-to-pay process for goods and services of less than $5000, the PCard is an efficient shop and payment tool when used properly.

 

Using the PCard

PCards are not transferable and must be used only by the cardholder for approved University purchases.

• Certain types of transactions are restricted, as per the Purchasing Policy
• Transactions will appear in the cardholder's CenterSuite account, this system is used for reconciliation
• Reconciliation must be completed by the stated deadlines, failure to do so may result in cancellation of your PCard, late reconciliations must be corrected using journal entries
• The balance is paid automatically by the University at the end of each cycle
• Transactions are posted to the general ledger in FRS according to the GL information provided in the reconciliation

 

Responsibilities of Department Head/Approver

• Review and approve Pcard statements monthly to ensure that charges are appropriate and comply with University policies
• Notify the PCard Administrator to suspend or terminate PCards in instances of misuse, retirement or resignation of departmental cardholders
• PCards should be suspended in the event of extended leave from the University

 

Restrictions & Limits

Restrictions:

The PCard is to be used for University purchases only. Any personal use is strictly prohibited. Misuse of the PCard for personal purchases may result in the immediate and irrevocable forfeiture of the card and/or disciplinary actions.

The following items must NOT be charged to the PCard:

• Internal campus purchases, such as purchases from the Bookstore and Hospitality Services including all restaurants and food services providers
• Travel expenses including flights, train or bus transport, taxi services, car rentals, accommodations and other travel incidentals
• Meal and entertainment expenses including alcohol
• Gas when personal vehicles are used for business travel ^note
• Cash advances and ATM withdrawals
• Controlled goods and substances including but not limited to hazardous materials, radioactive materials and chemicals
• Live animals including vertebrates and invertebrates, animal tissue, seeds or plant material
• Goods that require a government permit including but not limited to viruses
• Items covered by Blanket Purchase Orders and Direct Billed contracts 

Note: Gas is an allowable expense when a University vehicle or rental car is used for a business trip. Where personal vehicles are used gas may be claimed as an expense and should not be charged to the PCard

Limits:

• The default single transaction limit is $5000, including shipping costs, currency exchange and taxes.  
• PCards have a pre-determined monthly credit limit

To request a change to the transaction limit, tap limit or monthly credit limit complete the PCard Change Request Form including the appropriate approval and submit it to treasury@uoguelph.ca

 

Requesting a PCard

Eligibility

PCards will only be issued to permanent, full time employees who are authorized to purchase goods and services.

Application

• Complete the UofG Credit Card Application Form
• Obtain the appropriate approvals according to your departmental procedure
• Submit the approved application to Credit Card Administrator at treasury@uoguelph.ca.
• The PCard will be ordered, upon receipt the cardholder will be requested to go to the Treasury dept in person to pick it up
• Cardholders must read, sign and abide by the terms and conditions in the Credit Card Employee Agreement

Activation and Registration

Prior to use, the PCard must be activated. Failure to activate the PCard prior to the first use will result in the card being declined.

To activate the PCard, call the phone number on the card and provide the requested information

To register the card go the www.centresuite.com.  A username and password will be created, this information should be kept confidential. 

Change of Procurement Card Information

Cardholders or the departmental administrator must notify the PCard Administrator of any updates or modifications to names, addresses, transaction limits etc. using the PCard Change Request Form. 

 

General Conditions

Cardholders should ensure all purchases made by PCards are approved by department signing authorities prior to making the purchase.

Both cardholders and their supervisors are responsible to ensure the use of PCards is in compliance with the University's Purchasing Policy and Procurement Card Procedure.

Placing orders

• When placing orders other than in person purchases, copies of the order confirmation, invoice or payment receipt should be kept as the record of the transaction.
• If there is no documentation available during the ordering process, cardholders should request a copy of the receipt to be sent with the shipment, and also keep a record of the merchant name, and the final amount of the order.
• For orders where goods are shipping from outside of Canada, cardholders should clarify with the merchant who is responsible for customs clearance.  If the University is responsible, cardholders should forward a copy of the order and invoice to the Customs Officer at purchasinghelpdesk@uoguelph.ca for customs clearance.
• Upon receiving the shipment, packing slips, invoices and any other delivery documentation as well as the shipment itself should be checked against the original order for completeness and accuracy.

Misuse of Procurement Card

The following situations are some examples of misuse of the PCard:

• Personal purchases
• Lending the card to another individual
• Use of a PCard by a suspended or terminated employee
• Lack of proper and timely reconciliation 
• Splitting an order to avoid the single purchase limit
• Purchase of commodities that have been restricted by any University policy
• Improper use of the card may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

 

Monthly Reconciliation

Monthly reconciliation is a mandatory process to ensure all transactions are reviewed and verified, appropriate object codes are assigned to each transaction, and detailed descriptions are added to the record before the transactions are posted in the general ledger by the University. 

As part of the reconciliation process, cardholders will:

• Sign in to the PCard account in CentreSuite, Scotiabank's online management tool
• Review all transactions for accuracy
• Assign the correct object codes, if a transaction is to be allocated to more than one GL code, multiple coding can be applied by splitting the charge either by percentage or by dollar amount
• Add detailed information describing the goods or services to the comment section.  This section information will be transferred to the FRS report
• Attach a receipt for each transaction
• Complete the reconciliation and save it, which forwards the report to the approving authority

If the object code is not reallocated prior to posting, all PCard transactions will be posted to a default object code and budget information in FRS will not be updated, requiring journal entries later (prior to year end) to correct the object codes

Even though the journal entries can change object code after the fact, journal entries must not be considered as an alternative for the monthly reconciliation.  

The monthly billing cycle closing date is different from the monthly reconciling cut-off date.  Transactions can be reconciled as soon as they are posted to the PCard even when the current month cycle is still open. Cardholders have until the end of the last reconciliation date to complete the monthly reconciliation.  For detailed last reconciliation date of each month, please see Monthly Reconciling Dates.

 

Record Keeping & Audit Requirements

It is the responsibility of the department of the Cardholder to retain all PCard related documentation in accordance with the University's record retention policy.

• All transaction records must be retained by the Cardholder's department for minimum of seven (7) years after fiscal year end 
• If purchases are for research projects, the copy of transaction records must also be retained in compliance with the rules of funding agencies (e.g., for CFI, records must be retained for 10 years)
• In the event that documentation for purchases is missing or receipts are lost or misplaced, Cardholders must contact the Supplier and obtain a duplicate receipt/invoice or complete a Missing Receipt form.

Financial Services and Internal Audit will make periodic random audits. In addition, external audits may be done by research funding agencies for research projects involving PCard purchases

 

Taxes & Duties

TAXES

By default, the PCard tax system assumes all taxes are applicable per the following table:

Ontario Purchases	Canadian Purchases (outside of Ontario)	International Purchases
13% HST included in the invoice	5% GST included in the invoice;   Provincial Portion of HST to be self-assessed	Zero tax included in the invoice; 13% HST to be self-accessed

For each PCard transaction, the tax status will be determined based on the origin of the transaction, for example where the transaction takes place or where the supplier is located. Taxes will be self-assessed the tax rebate will be calculated accordingly.

To correct any incorrect tax assessment and calculation for a particular transaction, Cardholders should email a copy of the invoice and a screen print of what has been charged in FRS to acctspay@uoguelph.ca.

DUTIES

For all international orders without a physical shipment, there is no duty involved.

For international orders with physical shipments, Cardholders should determine who is responsible for customs prior to shipping. When the University is responsible for duties, Cardholders should email a copy of the order and invoice to customs@uoguelph.ca prior to shipping.

 

Return or Cancellation of the Pcard

PCards are cancelled or returned under the following conditions:

• Employee termination, retirement of change of status from full time;
• When deemed appropriate and necessary by the department budget authorities.

PCard cancellations require the following action:

• Cardholder's supervisor should complete and approve the PCard Change Request form
• Email the completed PCard Change Request form to treasury@uoguelph.ca.
• Cardholder's supervisor must take possession of the PCard and destroy it

Employee Transfer

• If an employee is transferred to a new department within the University, the employee's PCard should be changed to reflect the unit code of the new department.
• To make this change, the Cardholder's supervisor should complete PCard Change Request form and email it to treasury@uoguelph.ca.
• If the employee doesn't need to use the PCard in the new department, the PCard should be cancelled.

 

Troubleshooting

Lost/Stolen/Damaged PCards

• In the event a PCard is lost or stolen, Cardholders should report to the incident by calling the 24-hour number listed on the card immediately and notify the PCard Administrator.
• In the event a PCard is damaged beyond use, Cardholders should call the customer service number shown in the card to request a replacement card
• The replacement card will be mailed to the PCard Administrator, the Cardholder will then need to go to the Treasury office to pick it up
• Cardholders will be required to sign a PCard Employee Agreement for the replacement card

Disputing Charges

Cardholders may dispute charges that appear on their monthly account statement for reasons such as: 

• Fraud or misuse
• Altered charges
• Incorrect amounts or sales tax charges
• Duplicate charges
• Credits not processed

Cardholders should contact the Supplier first in order to resolve any erroneous charges or outstanding issues. Most issues can be resolved in this way. If successful, Cardholders should get written confirmation of the transaction from the Supplier.

For fraudulent charges, Cardholders should contact the customer service number shown on the card, and contact the PCard Administrator immediately.  The card will be cancelled and a replacement card will be issued.

Declined Purchases At Point of Sale

There are a number of possible reasons why a purchase is declined at the point of sale:

• Incorrect PIN or CVV number has been given to the seller or entered into a point of purchase terminal
• Incorrect billing address is given to the seller
• The total cost of the purchase exceeds the transaction limit for the card
• The item falls under a restricted merchant category code
• The card has been de-activated by the University
• The card has been de-activated by the bank

Cardholders should attempt to determine the reason and resolve the issue accordingly. To inquire further, contact the PCard Administrator or the bank's customer service department.

Goods Return and Credits

If goods need to be returned, Cardholders should work directly with the Supplier.  All goods returned should have a corresponding credit. 

Cardholders should:

• Retain boxes and packaging for a reasonable time
• Obtain a "Return Authorization Number" from the Supplier if required
• Ensure the credit appears on your card account
• In case of a disputed transaction with the Supplier, contact the Supplier immediately and report to customer service within 30 days of the purchase date

 

Best Practices

Safeguard Your PCard Information

• Keep the online account user name and password confidential
• Do not provide your PCard information to strangers other than legitimate merchants
• Always write down the name of the person taking your order

Record Keeping 

• Keep all documentation in order, check them against the statement monthly
• File the documentation with the monthly statement in a manner that they can be easily retrieved

Reconciliation

• Don't wait until the last day to start reconciling.  Assigning end uses and object codes, and adding comments for transactions can be done at any time during the billing cycle
• Review the entire monthly activity report before approving 

Keep Your Card Active

• If you don't use your PCard very often but would like to keep it in good standing, use the card at least once a year
• Cards without any activity in a period of 17 months are considered inactive accounts and may be cancelled  

Be Alert to Scams

• If there is suspected fraud the bank will contact you directly. If they are unable to reach you, they will contact the PCard Administrator
• Any email, regardless of how professional or legitimate it may appear (i.e. professional wording, logos or graphics), that requests your account information be resubmitted, updated or reactivated could very well be fraudulent
• If you are at all in doubt as to the legitimacy of an email, please contact customer service using the number shown on the card

 

Monthly Reconciling Dates

The PCard billing cycle closes on 20th of every month.

All expenses must be allocated to the right GL, have receipts attached and be submitted to approvers by the 24th of each month.