Who is Eligible?

Eligibility for a PCard is limited to faculty and staff of the University of Utah or Hospitals and Clinics.

Important Notes:

• To become a cardholder, participation in cardholder training is required.
• Student employees are not eligible to be issued a Purchasing Card or act as card custodians in the case of a department card.
• Department cards may be checked out and used by staff, employees, and faculty, including student employees or students working in administrative roles on behalf of the University or hospitals.

Applying for a PCard

The following steps are required prior to obtaining a PCard. Steps may be skipped if cardholder already has access to the relevant system.

1. Use the Concur Access Request in ServiceNow to have a Concur account created (if you do not already have access to Concur). After access has been granted to Concur, you can apply for a PCard through Concur.
2. Use the request module in Concur to submit a new card application.
3. Participate in the new cardholder training. Training will be assigned to you and must be completed before a PCard is issued.

PCard Training

Before being issued a PCard, completion of PCard training is mandatory. Training completion will be verified before any cards are issued. Visit the PCard Training Website to view supporting training materials following completion of training.

While cardholder training is not required for delegates, it is available. Cardholders can add delegates to act on their behalf at any time.

Concur Overview

SAP Concur is the University's comprehensive platform for managing all aspects of your Procurement Card activities. The PCard portion of Concur is referred to as Concur PCard. Concur PCard serves as the central hub for:

• Transaction Management: Easily track and manage PCard transactions, ensuring accurate and timely
  reconciliation.
• Card Requests: Request new card applications, changes to card limits, card closures, and other card-
  related modifications.
• Documentation Storage: Securely store all relevant documentation and approvals for PCard
  transactions, providing a clear audit trail.
• Audit: Will be used by internal and external auditors to verify for accuracy, compliance, and to assess
  risk.

SAP Concur streamlines the PCard process, helping you maintain organization and compliance with University policies.

Concur PCard Roles

Best Practices When Using a PCard

1. Follow your department's purchase approval procedures.
2. Review other procurement methods, such as UShop, to determine if PCard is the only option.
3. Ensure that the total purchase price does not exceed the single procurement limit threshold of $10,000. Transactions that exceed $10,000 must go through the procurement process.
4. Ensure that the purchase is not restricted by any university policy. Please see PCard Restricted Items List.
5. Avoid paying sales tax in Utah and in any other states that honor the university’s tax exemption. (Jump to the Sales Tax section in this User Guide for more detailed information)

Approvals and Signatures

Most approvals will be completed in Concur. In the case of physical forms - Approval signatures can either be a handwritten signature (which will be verified in GFA), or it must be an official University-approved certified electronic signature (DocuSign or Adobe Sign) according to University Regulation 3-006.

Security and Fraud Protection

• If you see a suspicious transaction, call US Bank immediately at 1-800-344-5696.
• Never send the full credit card number in ANY correspondence.
• Ensure that you give your card number each time you make a purchase.
• A PCard should not be set on a recurring payment plan because your card information is susceptible to change, your card is more prone to fraud and the vendors can still post payments to your PCard even if it is closed.
• Vendors should not store your card information nor should you elect to save your card information to your Internet browser.

FMLA or Extended Leave

If you are planning on taking an extended leave including (but not limited to) maternity, paternity or FMLA, contact the PCard Office or use the request module in Concur to temporarily suspend your card while you will be absent. Your card can easily be reinstated upon your return.

Lost or Stolen Cards

If your card is lost or stolen, you should immediately call US Bank at 1-800-344-5696. The cardholder must be the one to contact the bank, and will be asked to accurately verify legitimate transactions, identify fraudulent transactions and provide personal security information.

Employee Termination or Transfer

When a cardholder leaves the University or transfers to a different department, their PCard must be canceled. You can request to close your PCard through the request module in Concur. Delegates can also request to cancel a card on the cardholders’ behalf.

Personal Purchases

Intentional personal purchases are not allowed on the PCard. This includes any transactions that do not directly serve the University’s or your department’s business needs and are not related to official business for yourself, your colleagues, or others.

Cardholders who intentionally use their pcard for personal purchases will be required to reimburse the total procurement price of the purchase and remit an administrative penalty in an amount equal to 50% of the personal use expenditure to the University (Utah Code 53B-7-1-106).

For example:

Total procurement price of purchase $1,500

Administrative Penalty (50%): $750

Total Reimbursement Amount: $2,250

Accidental Personal Purchase

If an accidental purchase is made on your PCard, please do the following: 

Before beginning the repayment process, the transactions should be attempted to be refunded. If the transaction is successfully refunded, both the debit and the credit should be marked as Expense Type: Personal/Non-Reimbursable in Concur, with receipts attached and the expense report submitted as normal. 

If the expense has already been allocated prior to receiving the refund and an expense type other than Personal/Non-Reimbursable was used in the expense report, the credit should be allocated to the same expense type and chartfield where the personal charge was posted. 

In either scenario, the debit and the credit should be allocated and documented identically, so the charges balance at the General Ledger and documentation remains consistent between both charges. 

If a refund cannot be obtained for the personal purchase, the following steps should be followed, in order: 

CONCUR 

1. Assign a header chartfield to the Expense Report (if not already completed). 
2. Locate personal expenses in Concur. 
3. Select expense type “Personal/Non-Reimbursable”. 
4. Allocate expense to: 01-01389-1000-37865-16413. 
5. Attach any receipt you have for the transaction. If no receipt is available, please attach a Missing Receipt Form.  
6. Provide an explanation of the personal charge in the comments, including any attempts to have the charge refunded (if applicable).  
7. Submit expense report.  

REPAYMENT 

1. Access the repayment storefront.
2. Complete the form with your contact information and the Concur report number (if known).
3. Input the price of the repayment, which should be the exact amount of the personal charge.
4. Add to cart.
5. Proceed to checkout with the shopping cart link in the top right of the screen.
6. Check out with a personal credit card like you would with any other online retailer.
   • If you prefer to repay via ACH bank payment, you must register a NelNet account. For more information on registration, please visit this link.
7. You will receive a confirmation email when the payment is completed. Please retain this confirmation for your records.

You will not need to select any chartfield information during this checkout process. The refund will post to the same chartfield where the expense posted, so they net to zero at the General Ledger. 

We understand that mistakes happen. This process is designed to make reconciling those mistakes as easy and painless as possible. However, excessive use of this process or an abuse of your university issued credit card will result in audit findings and possible revocation of your card. 

Sales Tax

Sales Tax Exempt Certificates

The University of Utah Sales Tax Exempt. Each cardholder is responsible to ensure that Sales Tax is not charged when making a purchase.

• Utah’s Certificate of Exemption
• Visit this page on the University’s Tax Services website to find a list of other states that honor the exemption

The Certificate of Exemption and Sales Tax License Numbers can only be used

when paying directly with a University Payment Method.

Plan Ahead Prior to Making a Purchase

When making a purchase, plan ahead and be prepared to work with the merchant to ensure that you are not paying sales tax for transactions originating with a merchant in Utah, or with a merchant in any of the other states that honor the exemption.

For online purchases, call the vendor’s customer service number to find out how to submit the Sales Tax Exemption Certificate before making the order.

If Charged Sales Tax, What Do You Do?

1. Attempt to have it refunded
2. If you are unsuccessful at obtaining a refund, clearly document your attempts to address the issue and include that information with your receipts/documentation.
3. Report Utah State Sales Tax paid in Concur PCard

Sales Tax and Concur PCard

Cardholders now have the ability to report Utah State Sales Tax paid for each transaction directly in Concur. Each transaction includes a required field where cardholders must indicate whether Utah State Sales Tax was paid. If you paid Utah Sales Tax and were unsuccessful in obtaining a refund, select “Yes” and enter the amount of sales tax paid.

By reporting the sales tax in Concur, Tax Services will have the necessary information to work with the State of Utah to request a refund on your behalf. If the funds are recovered, they will be returned to the Chartfield used for the transaction.

Please note that cardholder activity will be monitored. Accounts will be reviewed to ensure that cardholders are following correct tax reporting protocols or procedures. Frequent misuse of this option in Concur may result in measures that could affect future cardholder status.

Order Splitting

The State Procurement Code prohibits order splitting to avoid the single purchase limit. Utah Code 63G-6a-506.8

Multiple charges to a vendor that total an amount that exceeds the Single Procurement Threshold ($10,000) and are made on the same day (or within a period of time) is a split transaction. This includes voluntarily splitting the payment.

When planning a purchase that will approach your Single Purchase Limit, be sure to consider the total procurement price. The total procurement price must include the total acquisition price, i.e., cost of goods/services plus shipping, installation, ancillary items, training, tips, etc. It is imperative that the total procurement price is under your Single Purchase Limit before making a purchase on your PCard.

If you need to make a purchase that is above the Single Procurement Threshold ($10,000), contact the Purchasing Department at 801-581-7241.

Proof of Purchase

All PCard transactions must have proof of purchase (receipt or invoice) retained in Concur. A valid proof of purchase contains the following information:

• Purchase Date
• Vendor
• Detailed List of Items Purchased
  (including the amount for each individual item)
• Total Transaction Amount
• Proof of Payment
  • An invoice alone is missing the
    proof that the payment was processed.
  • Having the proof of payment ensures
    that the invoice isn’t paid twice by
    other means of payment.
  • This can also be accomplished by a “PAID”
    stamp, an email confirming the payment
    was processed, or a note that the PCard
    was processed successfully (or something similar).

Missing a Receipt?

If a cardholder or delegate is missing a receipt, they should start by contacting the vendor to see if it can be reprinted or resent. Most vendors are willing to provide this information. If a missing receipt cannot be acquired the attempt to obtain it should be documented, and a Missing Receipt Form should be filled out and uploaded in place of the missing receipt. This form should be used sparingly.

PCard Submission Timeline

Be attentive to your transaction and submission dates so they post within the correct accounting month. We recommend cardholders review their transactions often as a best practice.

PCard Expense Report Review

The Cardholder and the ADSC approver (or whomever they identify as their delegate) must both review and submit/approve an expense report monthly in Concur. Refer to the PCard Submission Timeline to learn more about specific dates to keep in mind when reviewing, submitting, and approving the expense reports. The deadlines in the timeline are a recommended best practice to ensure transactions post to the general ledger prior to the accounting month close. Expense reports can be submitted after that date; however, they may not post in the accounting month in which the transaction occurred.

When reviewing the expense report, approver(s) should verify that the correct allocation information has been entered where needed. Additionally, every charge must be supported by appropriate documentation and original receipts, all of which must be uploaded to Concur.

Two separate people must be part of the expense report review and approval process. Both the cardholder, and the approver, can also forward the expense report to other approvers if necessary.

By submitting and approving an expense report, the cardholder and the approver(s) are certifying that the following are true:

• The transaction was allocated correctly
• The reason for purchase has been accurately described, including why the purchase was made.
• Anything unusual or unique about the purchase has been recorded in the expense report (i.e., tax refunded, restricted item exception granted prior to purchase, etc.).
• All original documentation for the purchase is retained in Concur.
• The total amounts on the proof of purchase (receipts) match the report amount in Concur.
• The documentation is complete, including purchase date, vendor information, transaction amount, and itemized summary of the item(s) purchased.
• All transactions contained within the report are: appropriate to the mission of the cardholders’ department, support the University of Utah’s goals, and are compliant with University of Utah policy.

If it’s impossible or unclear how to accomplish any of the requirements above, it is the responsibility of the cardholder and the approver(s) to contact the PCard office and describe the issue they’ve encountered. The PCard office is eager to work with cardholders to resolve the situation and find a possible solution.

Failure to meet the above requirements or to contact the PCard office prior to submitting the expense report can result in disciplinary actions, including a possible revocation of the cardholder’s PCard.

Expense Report Review Deadlines

Cardholders must ensure that the PCard monthly expense reports are reviewed in a timely manner. All transactions must be reviewed and expense reports submitted within 30 days of the transaction. Failure to review and post transactions within 30 days can result in a loss of fraud protection on your card, and an inability for the University to recoup lost funds. Departments are liable for fraudulent charges not caught and reported to the bank in 30 days.

Identifying and Correcting Errors

Transactions must be reviewed in a timely manner. Problem transactions must be disputed with the bank within 30 days. To contact US Bank, call 800-344-5696. This number is also listed on the back of each PCard.

PCard Audit

All cardholders are subject to university, state and federal audits at any time.

The PCard department conducts regular, unscheduled and unannounced audits of PCard accounts. Concur is the primary auditing tool for PCard transactions. With the built in AI feature, all transactions are monitored and reviewed for compliance in real time. PCard holders will be alerted if there is a discrepancy on a PCard report. If caught in prepayment, the status in Concur will display as pending external validation and reports will not pass submission until the issue is resolved.

Following the guidelines and using the resources in this handbook will ensure that you are within policy and that there is no reason for the PCard office to contact you. In the event that the PCard office finds a violation or needs clarification on any transaction, they may contact the cardholder and approvers.

If additional information is needed from you, our auditors will reach out. The email will come from UniversityofUtah@audit.concursolutions.com. Please respond within the timeframe given in the email. Failure to respond could result in you being considered non-compliant in the audit.

The Purchasing Card office reserves the right to require retraining or to revoke PCards for failure to comply with rules and guidelines or failure to provide accurate documentation.