PCard
The U-M Purchasing Card (PCard) is issued to eligible employees and may be used solely for purchases related to official university business. All items purchased with a PCard are the university’s property.
Coming soon – New Travel Card! On June 1, Procurement Services is implementing a U-M Travel Card as a subset of the current PCard program. The Travel Card is restricted to travel merchants only and is for employees who travel but do not make any other business purchases for their department. The application for U-M’s new Travel Card will be available on June 1. To learn more about the program, review the Travel Card FAQs.
Use PCards For:
- Travel and travel-related expenses, especially international and conference travel
- Hosting expenses, memberships, dues, and subscriptions
- Transactions under $5,000 when the item is not available through an internal service provider or university contract (see Find Products & Services search tool)
Do Not Use PCards For:
- Personal purchases
- Goods and services available through a university contract or an internal service provider
- Expenses that will be reimbursed by an external party. The only exception is if the transactions are intermingled with transactions that will be charged to U-M.
- Services, unless the purchase is pre-approved by a Procurement Services agent
- Items on the list of Restricted Purchases and Special Approvals, or items not considered an allowable business expense
- Purchases from payment systems that do not provide visibility into the item(s) that was purchased on the PCard statement (e.g., PayPal, Google Wallet, etc.). If such a system is the only way the supplier accepts payment, detailed receipts showing the supplier and item details must be provided.
The university is exempt from the payment of sales and use taxes. The Michigan Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption can be used in accordance with SPG 502.03—Michigan Sales and Use Tax for university business.
Before making a PCard purchase, ask the supplier if sales tax can be excluded from the cost of the transaction. The university tax ID number is embossed on the PCard and most suppliers will accept this as evidence of U-M’s non-taxable status.
If you have any additional questions or inquiries about the tax status, please contact the Tax Compliance and Planning Department.
Responsibilites
All policies and procedures must be strictly followed. JPMorgan Chase or U-M may suspend or cancel cardholder privileges at any time for any reason. Failure to comply with these policies may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination. See SPG 507.01 Procurement General Policies (section X.D) and SPG 507.10-1 Travel and Business Hosting Expense Policy for further information on PCard policies.
Cardholder Responsibilities
- The PCard is only to be used by the person it is issued to (the cardholder). Allowing other employees to use a PCard can result in its cancellation.
- PCards remain the property of the financial institution issuing the PCard (JPMorgan Chase). It may not be transferred to, assigned to, or used by anyone other than the cardholder.
- All PCard holders must take the required training, PRE110, every 3 years and must review the terms and conditions as written in the PCard Cardholder Agreement.
- PCard holders are responsible for the proper use of the card and recording of the charges in Concur. Note: Items coded as a personal expense and submitted within Concur will serve as written consent to deduct from the cardholder’s pay.
Unit Responsibilities
- Units determine who may be good candidates for a PCard and are responsible for making applicants aware of the risks of being a PCard holder, such as fraud or misuse.
- Units should monitor their employees’ PCard use to ensure that credit limits are appropriate and in line with spending needs. For those with Business Objects access, this report is a recommended management tool: FN06 Procurement Travel & Expense PCard Holder & Limits by DeptID, Dept Grp, or EmplID.
- Ensure the proper use of the PCard by determining the business appropriateness of the transactions.
Expense Approver Responsibilities
Units select their own approver(s). Both the expense approver and the cardholder are equally responsible and accountable for transactions.
Expense approvers:
- Should be in a position of authority and at a higher level than the cardholder.
- Review the transactions on the expense report and all supporting documentation to ensure compliance.
- Approve the expense report in Concur, thereby attesting that they have thoroughly reviewed each transaction and have verified that all transactions are business appropriate and allowable expenses.
- Must take the required approver training, TEE102, and the required refresher training, TEE103, every 3 years.