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Supply Chain

Using a Procurement Card (P-Card)

A P-Card is a very helpful purchasing tool that comes with a great deal of responsibility. Refer to the information in this expanded Help Page to ensure that you responsibly manage your P-Card.

Table of Contents

P-Card Overview

A P-Card is a purchasing tool that functions as a credit card.

Unlike personal credit cards, there are only a few categories of goods that can be purchased with a P-Card. Additionally, the P-Card cannot be used to pay for purchase services. It is exclusively used to purchase permissible goods.

Additionally, the P-Card may only be used for the small purchase (i.e., <$20,000) of goods that are not available through any of UAMS’ procurement resources (e.g., Workday catalogs, UAMS-Vendor agreements).

  • P-Cards are governed by Arkansas OSP.
  • The rules for use are strict, but in general, we find P-Cards most useful for:
    • Payment of license and membership fees
    • Purchasing books or other printed publications on Amazon.com
    • Official Function expenses
  • Most departments have one P-card holder.
  • P-Card holders go through training to learn about allowable and non-allowable charges, as well as other duties associated with holding a P-card.

How P-Cards Work

This is an overview of how P-Cards function for the workplace; it does not
represent instructions for use, which are covered in the next sections of this help page.

  1. The cardholder uses the card to make a purchase.
  2. The charge is uploaded to Workday within 1-2 business days using an integration process with Bank of America.
  3. The cardholder uses the Verify Procurement Card Transactions task in Workday to identify the charge and enter funding source information (e.g., cost center) that describes where to get the funds to pay for the charge. This process is referred to as verification.
  4. The verification task data is reviewed and approved by the institutional APO. The funding source account ledger (i.e., Actuals ledger) is debited once the verification task is approved.
  5. The P-Card statement is paid by the Treasurer’s Office on the last day of the month.

Cardholder Responsibilities

Responsible and Permissible Purchases

A cardholder must ensure each purchase they make is a responsible use of funds and permissible by procurement laws and UAMS policies.

The cardholder must ensure that the goods they are purchasing are not
available through:

  1. One of the purchasing catalogs in Workday
  2. A current UAMS-vendor agreement
  3. A preferred vendor

See Help Page – Utilizing Current Contracts and Agreements for information about items (A), (B), and (C) above.

The cardholder must ensure that the goods they are purchasing are
permissible per the Arkansas P-Card Manual.

Card Statements and Verification

P-Card statements are issued on the 15th of every month. Some of the cardholder’s key responsibilities are directly related to the statement, the most important of which is verification. If a transaction is not verified, it will not be expensed to the correct funding source. Delays in transaction verifications can lead to expenses posting to the incorrect fiscal period.

The cardholder should keep a record of their statements.

All the transactions on a statement must be verified by the last business
day of the statement month.

For example, every transaction appearing on the January 15 statement must be verified by January 31.

See the article about P-Cards in Issue 2 of the Procurement Services newsletter for a great explanation of the purpose and meaning of verification.

Refer to the Verifying Procurement Card Transactions QRG for step-by-step instructions for completing the verification task in Workday.

Just like charges, returns (i.e., receiving a credit on your account) must be verified in Workday. Return receipt is uploaded during verification.

Note that return credits may take a few days to appear in Workday.

Reach out to UAMS APO if you do not receive credit for a return within 7 days of the return.

Additional Verification Help

Lose track of a verification task in Draft status?

No problem! You can run a report that returns a list of all your verification tasks, then filter the results to view only those in Draft status.

You can then Edit to finish submitting the verification or you can Cancel to delete the verification in draft.

Locating Verification Tasks in Draft Status

  1. In Workday, enter RPT- My Procurement Card Transactions to run a report.
  2. Filter the report results using a Value qualifier of Draft.
RPT- My Procurement Card Transactions Screen
  1. Use the related actions button to access the Edit and Cancel options.
My Procurement Card Transaction Verifications Screenshot (edit screen)

Summary of the Verification Task Workflow

  1. Purchase goods.
  2. Gather receipts.
  3. Complete Verify Procurement Card Transactions task in Workday. Procurement Services recommends completing the verification task the day after using the P-Card.
    • Document date: enter the current date

      NOTE ABOUT BACKDATING
      To expense a transaction to a previous fiscal period, the Document Date may be backdated, but only if the previous fiscal period has not been closed yet. If the fiscal period is closed, you will receive an error and be required to select a new date.
    • Post date: enter the transaction date as indicated in your account
  4. APO reviews and approves the verification.
  5. The funding source for each transaction is debited when the verification task is approved.
  6. The P-card statement is paid by the Treasurer’s Office on the last day of the month.

Documentation

Another cardholder responsibility is documentation. As with purchases made using a Requisition, purchases made with a P-Card must be accompanied by supporting documentation.

The cardholder must provide a receipt for every transaction. The receipt is uploaded during verification.

Scanned images and/or pictures of paper receipts must be clear.

Screenshots of electronic receipts are not acceptable.

The cardholder must provide additional documentation when required.
See the Section Using a P-Card for Official Functions, Memberships.

Monitoring Card Activity

As explained in the How P-Cards Work section, card activity data is transferred from Bank of America to Workday. The cardholder is responsible for monitoring card activity for accuracy.

The cardholder must ensure all transactions correctly made their way into Workday. Procurement Services recommends comparing your Bank Of
America (BOA) statement to your transactions in Workday. This comparison
task is easy using a report available through Workday. See the Workday Report to Support the Cardholder instructions below.

Workday Report to Support the Cardholder

  1. In Workday, enter RPT – Find Credit Card Transactions to enter desired report details.
  2. Clear the dates that auto-populate in the Transaction Date fields.
RPT-Find Credit Card Transactions Screen Image
  1. Enter the BOA statement Start and End dates in the Posted Date fields.
  2. Enter your last name in the Cardholder Name field.
  3. Enter the last four numbers of your P-Card in the Last 4 Digits of Credit Card Number field.
  4. Select UAMS PCARD from the Corporate Credit Card Billing Account field.
  5. Click OK to run the report.
RPT – Find Credit Card Transactions Workday screen image(2)
  1. Compare the report transactions to the BOA statement transactions to ensure alignment.

Some transactions require more than just a receipt to be attached during Verification. See this section for additional information.

Using A P-Card For Professional Memberships

Verification Attachments

  • The following information and/or attachments are required to verify transactions for membership dues/payments.
    1. Membership Form
    2. Receipt*

* The information on receipt must include: vendor name, purchase date, total dollar amount, itemized cost description

Allowable Charges

In general, the P-card may be used for small purchases of goods that are not available through one of our catalogs. For example:

  • Books for students, residents, and faculty.
    • The purchase of 20 or more copies of a text should be facilitated through the library and processed on a requisition.
  • Postage
  • Memberships (requires membership justification form)
  • Licenses or certifications required for an employee to work (e.g., ASMB)
  • Online webinars or conferences (may also be purchased using a travel card)
  • Publication fees, as long as it has been verified that the journal is not considered a predatory journal
  • Roadside emergencies of UAMS vehicles

Non-Allowable Charges

Non-allowable charges as read in the Arkansas P-Card Manual:

  1. Any non-allowable transaction to the card that could result in disciplinary action.
  2. Alcoholic beverages of any kind. The purchase of alcohol is never permitted using a P-Card, regardless of funding source. Violations will result in suspension of the account.
  3. Cash advances.
  4. Personal type purchases of any kind, items or services (gift certificates, food, cards such as get-well, birthday, etc. flowers, etc.).
  5. Printing subject to Amendment 54 to the Arkansas Constitution and Arkansas State Procurement Laws.
  6. Travel expenses or travel-related expenses, unless authorized.
  7. Vehicle rentals unless approval has been granted by the Credit Card Manager.
  8. Any items listed on mandatory agency or state contracts without vendor approval. The item may be paid for using the purchasing card if the contract (see OSP website) allows the payment of items with the P-card or prior approval from the contractor is received.
  9. Split purchase or any other form of incremental purchasing.
  10. Any purchase that would involve a trade-in.
  11. Any equipment or other items, both high and low value according to AASIS standards, which should be included on an agency inventory listing.

In addition to the rules issued by the State of Arkansas, the following charges are not allowed per institutional policy:

  1. Payment for services (i.e., work performed for payment)
  2. Medications
  3. IT equipment
  4. Capital equipment
  5. Fixed assets (i.e., an asset that is depreciated)
  6. Employee appreciation events
  7. Items for which there is a current agreement or can be purchased through a Punchout catalog. For example:
    • Medical or lab suppliers
    • Medical devices
    • Medical equipment
    • Personal protective equipment
    • Janitorial supplies
    • Office supplies
    • Office furniture
  8. Convenience items for use in a breakroom (e.g., coffee, coffee makers, refrigerators, ice makers)
  9. Moving/relocation expenses
  10. Pre-paid cards
  11. Construction or remodeling
  12. Decorative items, unless for a public area.

Additional Help And Information

Issue 2 of the Procurement Services newsletter addresses the topic of permissible P-Card expenses.

UA System QRG – Verify Procurement Card Transactions
Quick Reference Guides (QRG) contain instructions for completing tasks in Workday, including screen-by-screen and field-by-field information.

State of Arkansas P-Card Program Policies and Guidelines Manual