Introduction:

A Procurement credit card (procard) is not meant to be the first line for purchasing as it has the least amount of immediate oversight. The Business Services Team is not aware of misuse until the procard reconciliation process, which takes place after the policy violation has occurred, discussed further below. As the procard holder is the personally responsible for any non-reconcilable transaction, the procard card should be used sparingly or only when the procard holder is 100% certain that the expense is allowed on the procard.

In order to receive a procard, all procard holders must first undergone procard use training prior to submitting an application to request a procard.If you are interested in applying for a procard, please contact Arturo Flores at arturo.flores@austin.utexas.edu. Amongst the school staff, we aim limit the number of procards to one per department staff.

As the procard holder is personally liable for any non-reconcilable transactions on their procard it is their choice if they would like to have their procard available for department checkout.  A procard holder can refuse to share their card with anyone whom is not willing to follow university policies.

It's the procard holder responsibility to remain up-to-date on procard usage changes and verify if the purchase is allowed on their procard. When in doubt about proper usage of their procard, the procard holder should reach out to the university's Procard Office for guidance, purchasing-procards@austin.utexas.edu. All procard resources, including the disallowed lists of purchases, additional training, and frequently asked questions can be found at https://procard.financials.utexas.edu/.

Using  a procard:

Only certain purchases are allowed on university procards. All procard holders have undergone procard use training prior to receiving their procard. As the procard holder is personally liable for any non-reconcilable transactions on their procard they can refuse to share their card with anyone whom is not willing to follow university policies. Should the procard holder decide to share their procard, they must maintain a procard sharing log, https://utexas.app.box.com/v/Procard-Ref-Kit/folder/157255887808. Regardless if a procard is shared, the procard holder should verify the transaction is allowed on their procard prior to placing the expense their procard.

It is the procard holder responsibility to remain up-to-date on procard usage changes and verify purchases are allowed on their procard. All procard resources, including the disallowed lists and other training, can be found at https://procard.financials.utexas.edu/. When in doubt about allowable usage of a procard, the procard holder should reach out to the university's Procard Office for guidance, purchasing-procards@austin.utexas.edu.

As the procard is used, if shared, the procard holder should ensure their procard sharing log, https://utexas.app.box.com/v/Procard-Ref-Kit/folder/157255887808, is maintained as it will be needed during the procard reconciliation process, discussed further below. Any approvals from university offices related to procard purchasing should also be included as part of your supporting documentation during the procard's monthly reconciliation process. 

Please ensure no sales taxes are charged to the procard. You should send sales tax exemption certificates to vendor prior to making a purchase. If sales taxes are unavoidable, you should not proceed with the purchase as the procard holder will need to reimburse the university for the sales tax, when not immediately refunded, and a misuse report will be submitted on behalf of the procard holder. Please note, multiple misuse reports can lead to the procard holder's permanent loss of card privileges. More detailed information about the consequences of misuse can be found at: https://afm.utexas.edu/hbp/part-7/8-7-consequences-of-misuse.

Upon completion of the verified allowable transaction, the individual who used the card should prepare and submit a procard supporting documentation packet within three days of using the procard. Each transaction, debit or credit, on a procard requires a completed procard supporting documentation packet. The procard supporting documentation packet must consist of a signed Procard Charge Form: https://utexas.app.box.com/folder/11144874848, itemized paid receipt with the signed goods/services received stamp, and any other relevant supporting documentation such as an approved OOEF, an approved procard exception, approved request for travel authorization, etc.

Please ensure all fields of the signed Procard Charge Form: https://utexas.app.box.com/folder/11144874848 are complete. It is important this form be signed by the purchaser as they are confirming they have compiled with university purchasing policies. This form should only be signed by the procard holder when they are also the purchaser.

In the "Reason for Purchase" field of the procard charge form, you must provide the business justification for the purchase. This is not a one word field, you should include information such as the study name, class number & title, instructor names, etc.  When paying for memberships or subscriptions also include the range of dates the goods/services were received in this field. If the dates are linked to an annual membership, the full year’s date range for which the membership runs should be listed. If it’s a monthly expense, the monthly billing cycle for the period being paid or reimbursed should be listed. When paying for conference registrations also include the approved request for travel authorization (RTA) number in this field, RTA numbers being with TV.

Faculty procard holders using a non-shared procard should submit their procard supporting documentation packets to their department administrators. The method of this submission differs in SoHE from unit to unit, please check with department administrative team for their preferred submission method. If you used a shared procard, you must submit your supporting documentation to the procard holder within three days of using the procard. For shared procards, upon accepting procard supporting documentation from an individual the procard holder should review the the submitted supporting documentation for completion and accuracy based outlined above guidance.

Procard Reconcilation:

The procard reconciliation vouchers, VP7s,  are automatically created in define by the Office of Accounting typically on a monthly basis. The procard cycle dates for this fiscal year can be found at https://procard.financials.utexas.edu/cardholder_guidance/procard-cycle-dates. If you have a procard that will need to reconciled during a cycle, shortly after the VP7 vouchers are created, you’ll receive a message from Brandi Bankhead with the vouchers VP7 document ID and information to proceed. Please note, the reconciliation process involves multiple offices so it is very important that the you meet the school deadline outlined in the notification message. Do not wait until the last minute to begin to process your VP7 document(s).

As individuals who used the procard are required to submit their procard supporting documentation within three days of using the procard, you should have all the complete files for each procard transactions for the reconciliation period. To start the reconciliation, the department administrator should gather these files and enter define to determine which  procard supporting documentation packet files will be needed for this cycle. In define, per transaction, the department administrator will assign an account as outlined on the procard form portion of the supporting documentation packet, update the object code, and assign define codes. The business services team has detailed step by step instructions outlined here.

After, the department administrators has made the necessary adjustments to the procard reconciliation voucher, VP7,  in define and FYA'ed this updated voucher to HEBJB (Brandi) for review. The department administrator will need to collect the VP7 cover sheet electronically and organize the procard supporting documentation packets in the order to align with the transactions as they appear on the cover sheet. The below links will guide you on how electronically print define voucher cover sheet. Please note, electronically printed define voucher cover sheets are sent to your EID assigned eReports folder for download. Below is the link access your electronically printed define voucher cover sheets.

How to electronically print a define voucher cover sheet - https://austin-utexas.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8705/~/print-a-define-screen-to-green-output

Accessing electronically printed define voucher cover sheets - https://webdav.austin.utexas.edu/eReports/EID  (Input Your EID)

After you’ve routed the updated VP7 to Brandi in define, electronically printed define the voucher cover sheet, reorganized the  procard supporting documentation packets in the order the transactions appear on the voucher cover sheet, you should compile these in one file to create your complete VP7 reconciliation packet. Please note, we do not need DocuSign completion certificates as part of the complete VP7 reconciliation packet.

The preferred method for the submission of a complete VP7 reconciliation packet is to submit a paper VP7 packet to Brandi, in GEA 101. However, if you are unable to submit in person, you should upload the complete VP7 reconciliation packet as one file to the below UTBox folder. If you do not have access to this share UTbox folder please contact Arturo Flores at arturo.flores@austin.utexas.edu. You should name your complete VP7 reconciliation file using the voucher document ID followed by proccard holder's last name.

VP7s FYAed to HEBJB UTBox Folder: https://utexas.app.box.com/folder/109637275214

Again, it is very important that you meet the school deadline to allow the Business Services Team sufficient time to review the file and collect additional details if needed. When the school deadline is missed and the supporting documentation is not complete, it will likely result in your reconciliation going directly to the purchasing office and bypassing business services creating additional work for multiple office and increases the chances of a misuse report.

If a VP7 voucher is returned to you in define, Brandi will send you a message outlining what updates or corrections are needed.  It's important to prioritize addressing this issue in attempt to avoid misuse reports. Please note, multiple misuse reports can lead to the procard holder's permanent loss of card privileges. More detailed information about the consequences of misuse can be found at: https://afm.utexas.edu/hbp/part-7/8-7-consequences-of-misuse. After the corrections have been made and you've FYA'ed the voucher back HEBJB, you will need to supply a revised complete VP7 reconciliation packet as one file to the UTBox folder or in person to GEA 101.

If you have any questions or concerns about the reconciliation process, please send an email to he-business_services@utlists.utexas.edu.