University of Wisconsin
Department of Medicine
Purchasing Card Guidelines

1. General Information

• DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator - Accounting employee who is approved to audit all Department of Medicine (DoM) Purchase Cards, approves card requests and changes, and is the liaison between the Department and the School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH).
• Purchasing Card Site Mangers - DoM employees who are authorized by the Dean's Office to reconcile specific purchasing cards.
• Purchasing Card Holder - Employee who has been approved for and is responsible for a Purchase Card and all transactions.
• Purchasing Card Designated User - Employee who has been approved to make purchases with a Purchase Card Holder's card.

DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator
Marilyn McDole
263-6989
msm@medicine.wisc.edu

Note: Please review the web links located throughout this document for additional important information.

The information provided on the following website is general in nature and is intended to supplement/complement information available on the UW-Purchasing Card site: http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/purchcd/index.html. All forms required for the Purchasing Card can be found at this site, as well as valuable information regarding the entire purchasing card process.

As you review the information on the UW Purchasing Card website, please understand that the School of Medicine and Public Health, and Departments can and do have additional restrictions on Purchasing Card use than does UW Accounting Services.

The Purchasing Card is intended for best judgment purchases under $5,000. All purchases must comply with the University of Wisconsin-Madison's purchasing and accounting policies and procedures, and with extramural funding agency restrictions. All purchases charged to DoM-managed funds must be made in the employee's Section and not through another Section in the Department or through another Department or Unit on campus.

The following link from the UW Purchasing Card website outlines allowable and non-allowable purchases: please see the list of commonly questioned items. If you have additional questions, please contact your Site Manager and/or the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator prior to making a purchase.

2. How to Enroll and Obtain a Purchasing Card

All requests for new cards, designated user status, changes in funding, and deletions are to be processed first through your Division Administrator who will work with the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator to obtain approval. Do not send these forms to the Department Chair.

1. To initiate a request to be a Purchasing Card Holder, review the UW Cardholder Guides.
2. Download the Cardholder Agreement and Cardholder Account Set Up Form from the Accounting Services website. Complete the forms and submit them to the Division Administrator who will forward them to the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator.
3. Sign up for Cardholder training. New Cardholders should attend a training session. Your Purchasing Card will be provided to you at the training session. Allow seven working days for the processing of your cardholder forms.
4. To initiate a request for Designated User status, the following forms should be completed and submitted to the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator: Purchasing Card Designated User Agreement.
5. To obtain Purchasing Card Site Manager status, review the UW-Purchasing Card site: http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/purchcd/index.html. Obtain the Site Manager Form http://bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/forms/pcsitemgr.doc. Submit the completed form to the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator.
6. New Site Managers will be given a Logon ID and password for the UW's web-based reconciliation system. New Site Mangers must attend a training session. Sign up for Cardholder training.
7. All changes to cards must be processed by the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator.
8. Cardholders are limited to one card only.

3a. Illegal Purchases

Non-compliance with policy or prohibited purchases will be addressed immediately with the SMPH and with UW Purchasing Administration. Therefore, it is imperative that you consult with your DoM Purchasing Card Site Manager prior to the purchase of capital equipment. It is important to be aware that items $5,000 and over cannot be split up into individual purchases to complete the whole. For example, a $30,000 microscope cannot be purchased with a UW Purchasing Card by making separate purchases of its individual components that may be less than $5,000 each. State law requires that the UW use an External Requisition to purchase items that cost more than $4,999. Please consult with your Division Administrator and DoM accounting personnel regarding correct purchasing procedures for high-cost research items. Every effort will be made by Division Administrators and accounting staff to work with you and UW Purchasing to acquire required capital equipment using the appropriate process. Examples of illegal purchases include flowers, individual meals, gifts, alcohol, etc.

The procedures that will be taken by UW Purchasing Services if illegal acquisitions are processed can be found at http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/purch/ppp6.html.

3b. Cell Phones

The SMPH does not allow cell phone purchases and/or monthly charges or plans to be applied to purchase cards. Repairs to cell phones are allowable charges on UW-Madison Purchasing cards.

3c. Travel Agreements

SMPH does not allow faculty or research staff to have travel agreements. Travel agreements can only be requested and attached to a department or section administrative staff person's purchasing card.

Again, SMPH does not allow faculty and research staff to have a travel agreement attached to a purchasing card.

Department and Section Administration Staff: Travel Agreement Forms are located at: http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/forms.html#ta

The DoM allows airfare and conference registrations to be charged to a Purchasing Card that has an approved travel agreement. Note: You may also charge conference registrations to a standard purchasing card that does not have a travel agreement attached.

Car rental and hotel charges are to be reimbursed via a Travel Expense Report (TER) or Payment to Individual Form (PIR) and are NOT TO BE charged on a purchasing card.

4. DoM Online Purchasing Card Log

The DoM Purchasing Card Log takes the place of the Excel spreadsheet provided by UW Accounting Services. This database program can perform queries and prepare reports required for each two-week purchasing card cycle. Use of this program is mandatory for all DoM Purchase Cardholders and Designated Users.

Training for the DoM online Purchasing Card Log is available to view as a webcast at the following link:
http://uwdom.mediasite.com/uwdom/Viewer/?peid=ccc1bc5ea9de410b961ef6ee3d805512.

If you have further questions about how the log database program works after viewing the training, contact the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator.

5. Information for Department Purchasing Cardholders

General Information

The general UW Cardholder Guidelines are available from the UW Purchasing Card website. The link for this site is: http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/purchcd/index.html. Please review this site periodically for updates or contact the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator for assistance.

Cardholders are responsible for following UW Purchasing Guidelines when using the Purchasing Card. The following link from the UW Purchasing Card website outlines allowable and non-allowable purchases: please see the list of commonly questioned items. If you have further questions, please contact your Purchasing Card Site Manager or the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator.

Editing Purchases on the UW PVS Site

Edits need to be input into the UW PVS site by noon on the Thursday following the end of the two-week purchasing card cycle. Site Managers will verify that the funding information provided by the Cardholder is complete and accurate. If there are discrepancies, please work with the Cardholder to resolve these before the edit deadline.

Designated Users

Designated Users have the same ability as Cardholders to make purchases, update logs, and assemble the receipts for the Site Manager's use. To add a Designated User, please use the form at the following link: http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/forms.html#dua. Please send the completed form to the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator to ensure that the designated user is added as an authorized user to the DOM P-card Log Site.

DoM Purchasing Card Log Training

Cardholders and Designated Users should enter charges into the DoM online Purchasing Card Log as purchases are made. Cardholders should view the training webcast that is available on the DoM Intranet accounting page. The link to this training is:
http://uwdom.mediasite.com/uwdom/Viewer/?peid=ccc1bc5ea9de410b961ef6ee3d805512.

Appropriate Receipts Needed

Cardholders must provide Site Managers with the appropriate receipts and funding information the Monday following the end of the two-week purchasing card cycle. It is important that the Site Manager receive accurate information about purchases as quickly as possible after the end of the cycle. The Cardholder Calendar is an important planning tool to help manage the purchasing/receipt submission process. The link to the Cardholder Calendar is: http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/purchcd/2009CardholderCalendar.pdf.

Away From the Office - Back Up System

There are times when Cardholders are out of town when receipts are due. Campus expects the information to be provided to the Site Manager no matter the circumstances. Therefore, it is essential to have a backup system in place to ensure that the Site Manager receives the correct funding information and receipts in time to make the edits. If there are questions about how this should be implemented, please contact the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator for suggestions.

Lost Receipts

On a rare occasion, a receipt will be lost. If this happens, please use the Purchasing Card Missing Receipt Form. This form is available at: http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/purchcd/index.html. The University Purchasing Card Guidelines state this form should be used sparingly. Thus, it is important to manage receipts and other documentation as carefully as possible.

Default Funding

Default funding on the Purchasing Card can change from time-to-time, particularly if you have a 144 fund as the default account. When the default funding source changes, be certain to submit a Cardholder Account Setup Form to the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator in order to update the default information in the DoM Online Purchasing Card Log. This form is available at: http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/forms.html#ca.

Reminder: Changes in default funding and purchasing cycle dollar limits must be submitted to the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator for processing, and are not to go directly to SMPH or UW-Accounting Services. This delays the changes requested, since forms are returned to the Department Purchasing Card Coordinator for approval and processing.

6. Information for Department Purchasing Card Site Managers

Division Administrators assign the DoM Site Managers for Division Purchasing cards. DoM Site Managers are assigned by the Division Administrator. DoM Site Managers are required to edit purchases from the card/s they manage by noon on the Thursday following the end of the two-week Purchasing Card cycle. As part of this responsibility, they will ensure that all purchases are legal, allowable, that the funding information is correct, and that Cardholders are providing receipts in a timely manner. If there are questions about allowable and non-allowable purchases, please see the following link from the UW Purchasing Card website: please see the list of commonly questioned items. The UW Site Manager Guidelines and the Site Manager Calendar are available at the following two links:

http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/purchcd/siteman.html

http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/purchcd/2009SiteManagerEditingCalendar.pdf

It is also helpful to bookmark the following link: http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/ccode.html. This link lists all account codes in the UW Shared Financial System (SFS) and will be helpful when making the bi-monthly edits in the UW system.

DoM Purchasing Card Log Training

The Site Manager will review the DoM Purchasing Card Log as purchases are made, if possible, and suggest changes to the card holder as necessary. The Site Manager and Cardholder should view the training webcast that is available on the DoM Intranet on the accounting page. The link to this training is:

http://uwdom.mediasite.com/uwdom/Viewer/?peid=ccc1bc5ea9de410b961ef6ee3d805512.

Auditing Issues

A useful tool for the Site Manager to review is the Purchasing Card Audit Guide, available at the UW Purchasing Card Site in the Document Section. Periodically, UW Accounting Services, SMPH and/or DoM will audit purchasing card records. The link for the Guide is http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/acct/purchcd/index.html.

Away From the Office - Back Up System

There are times when Site Managers are out of town during the edit period. Campus expects the information to be input by the edit deadline to avoid Non-Salary Cost Transfers (NSCTs) after the fact. Therefore it is essential that a backup system be in place to ensure that the appropriate edits are made on time.

7. DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator Responsibilities

The DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator is responsible for the oversight of all Department Purchasing Cards and is the liaison with the SMPH. Please direct all questions to the DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator to facilitate consistent practices within the Department.

The DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator is the Chair's designee for approving Purchasing Card requests and changes, and works with the Division Administrator to approve these requests. Please send all requests for cards, user additions, and user deletions first to the Division Administrator, who will forward them to the DOM Purchasing Card Coordinator. Do not send these forms to the Department Chair.

In addition to approving the purchasing card authorizations, the Coordinator will periodically review all DoM Purchasing Card Logs and statements to ensure that proper fiscal requirements/regulations are being met and that the log is being completed appropriately. Feedback will be provided as necessary to help staff in the Section/Division manage the card according to the guidelines.

Important: The Purchasing Card Coordinator and DoM accounting staff keep up-to-date on policy and procedure changes affecting the UW Accounting and Purchasing system. Please contact the Coordinator directly with questions. As mentioned previously, Departments and Centers can and do have additional restrictions on Purchasing Cards than does University Accounting Services. Therefore, UW Accounting Services cannot give you specific information regarding what is an allowable expenditure item on UW Purchasing Cards from the Department perspective.

DoM Purchasing Card Coordinator
Marilyn McDole
263-6989
msm@medicine.wisc.edu

Print Version of this webpage is available here.