The P-Card is a corporate liability card that is used like a credit card. The P-Card is ASU’s preferred method for purchasing low-dollar goods and services that serve a public purpose. Using the P-Card will eliminate the need for supplier setup, entering requisitions and receivers and requesting reimbursement. ASU pays the P-Card bill weekly, and departments are responsible for reconciling and maintaining their own records in FMS. All purchases must comply with P-Card, Purchasing and Financial Services policies. For more information, visit the P-Card users guide and review the P-Card Use at ASU Career EDGE training. ASU staff may use ProcureBot to ask a procurement question.
General information
Starting January 18, 2023, ASU Central Receiving and Distribution Services will provide central processing and delivery for all Tempe campus business-related small package deliveries from Amazon, FedEx, UPS and other carriers purchased on P-Card. Please visit the Central Receiving and Distribution website for delivery addresses and further instructions.
Obtaining a P-Card
If you do not have a P-Card and do not wish to obtain one, you may:
- Enter a requisition in the Financial Management System.
- Petty Cash — for certain restricted purchases under $500 FIN 403.
- Travel Card — for travel use only.
P-Card best practices
Cardholder responsibilities
The purchasing cardholder must perform the following duties:
- Maintain the P-Card in a secure location.
- Notify the P-Card administrator when someone’s employment status changes, such as a transfer to another department or campus, leaving the campus, etc.
- Initiate all P-Card transactions in compliance with department-specific and ASU policies and procedures, including:
- Upload supporting documentation for each transaction in the P-Card verification process in Workday in a timely fashion. Ensure you attach business meal forms, which will include the public purpose.
- Attach required or relevant documentation like receipts, invoices, etc.
- Ensure the business purpose of each purchase is documented in either the attachments or the memo field.
- Ensure no charges have been split to circumvent P-Card daily or transactional spending limits.
- Finalize and submit P-Card transactions in Workday to the cost center P-Card manager for review.
- The cardholder must submit P-Card transactions in a timely fashion. Failure to submit information to the reviewer may result in P-Card cancelation.
Reviewer responsibilities
Reviewer duties should be performed by a business manager or someone in a related position who has complete knowledge of ASU policies and procedures. They will also have the authority to question others’ transactions. The reviewer should not be the cardholder’s direct report. The reviewer must:
- Maintain a control list of all P-Cards issued in the area for which they have responsibility.
- Review the control list to ensure the reviewer submitted all backup documentation for P-Card transactions within the month.
- Departments can run the P-Card Transaction Verification Lines report within Workday to see if there were any transactions for a cardholder during a specific month.
- Contact your Financial Services accountant for additional help.
- Examine each transaction and verification in a timely way to review the public purpose by the cost center manager P-Card manager.
- Request additional documentation for any transaction appearing to be personal and is not fully explained in the provided documentation.
- Be knowledgeable of PUR, P-Card and FIN policies and procedures, what is appropriate to be charged to a P-Card and what is allowable based on the type of account the card is tied to — general operating, local, sponsored, etc.
- If necessary, seek a third-level review from senior management or business official within your area to help ensure transactions are allowable, supported by a public purpose, within budget and appropriate for the department.
If the cardholder cannot appropriately support or explain a questionable transaction, the reviewer should contact the appropriate administrator for guidance on the next steps. This should, at a minimum, be a dean or director’s office.
Purchases that cannot be fully documented as having a valid ASU business purpose must be immediately and fully reimbursed by the cardholder into the account linked to the P-Card incurring the expense. The reimbursement documentation must be uploaded with the applicable P-Card verification, including the cashier’s receipt from ASU Cashiering Services.
Note: Expenses with no ASU business purpose cannot be reimbursed with deposit funds at the ASU Foundation or any other ASU-affiliated organization, such as the Sun Angels Foundation or ASU Alumni Association.
Repeated personal use by a cardholder must be reported to the P-Card administrator and may result in canceling the cardholder’s P-Card. The Arizona Board of Regents has stressed that accountability for adherence to policies and procedures rests with the cardholder and the designated reviewer. If inappropriate or personal transactions have occurred and were not detected and reported through the reviewer’s regular duties, the reviewer and cardholder may be subject to disciplinary action.
Advanced review techniques
Another valuable tool for monitoring P-Card transactions is J.P. Morgan’s PaymentNet system. Purchases post first to PaymentNet based on the vendor’s merchant category code and a mapping application to place the item in the default spend category. Each transaction stays in PaymentNet for at least five business days before posting to Workday. This allows users to add optional worktags or change the expense to the most appropriate spend category to ensure proper financial reporting.
Using PaymentNet avoids processing accounting journals in Workday and allows you to identify errors or fraudulent charges promptly. Review PaymentNet frequently to quickly identify and formally dispute questionable transactions with J.P. Morgan.
Please complete a PaymentNet Access Request form to request access. The P-Card administrative team can set up cardholders and reviewers with the appropriate PaymentNet access levels and train them on the queries and reports available.
References and training
- Decline definitions.
- Fraud alert frequently asked questions.
- Fraud alert setup guide.
- P-Card restricted purchases list.
- P-Card Use at ASU.
- P-Card user guide.
- Quick guide: Authorizations and declines in PaymentNet.
- Quick guide: Allocator access with statements.
- Quick guide: Useful reports in PaymentNet.
Contact
ASU staff may use ProcureBot to ask a procurement question.
