PCard
The PCard is the preferred method of payment for purchases totaling less than $5,000. The University offers use of a VISA card to authorized, full-time employees. This card may be used wherever VISA is accepted, within the prescribed limits set forth in the PCard Policies. Please refer to the Allowable / Unallowable tab for proper and improper PCard uses.
Procedures/How-to’s
The most recent User Guide is located at the bottom of the Works Application page.
User Guide as of 5/5/2015 (.pdf)
Some vendors have special instructions that need to be followed when making tax-exempt purchases:
Harris Teeter
- Please notify your cashier that we are sales-tax exempt BEFORE you begin your purchase.
- Ask your cashier to retrieve the “Tax Exempt Clipboard” to record your purchase.
- This will cue them to properly process your charge.
- You will need your UNCG ID and PCard to prove that you are with the university.
- PLEASE NOTE: We need to be registered at the INDIVIDUAL store that you are purchasing from. Currently, we are registered at the following locations:
• Friendly Center: 3310 W. Friendly Ave., Greensboro, NC
• North Elm Village: 401 Pisgah Church Rd., Greensboro, NC
• Tanglewood Commons: 4150 Clemmons Rd, Clemmons, NC - If you need access to another location, please notify the PCard Department at 334-4461.
Lowe’s Foods
- Please notify your cashier that we are sales-tax exempt BEFORE you begin your purchase.
- Ask your cashier to retrieve the “Tax Exempt Notebook” to record your purchase.
- This will cue them to properly process your charge.
- You will need your UNCG ID and PCard to prove that you are with the university.
- PLEASE NOTE: We need to be registered at the INDIVIDUAL store that you are purchasing from. Currently, we are registered at the following locations:
• 1581 New Garden Rd., Greensboro, NC - If you need access to another location, please notify the PCard Department at 334-4461.
Lowe’s Home Improvement
- Purchases from Lowe’s Home Improvement should be made through the punchout catalog in eMarketplace to receive pricing at higher discounts. Lowe’s ships, delivers or will have your order available for in-store pickup
- In the case of an emergency:
• Please notify your cashier that we are sales-tax exempt BEFORE you begin your purchase.
• Provide your cashier with our account number of 038700007.
• If your cashier needs to look us up using our name, we are in their system as “UNC Greensboro”.
• You will need your UNCG ID and PCard to prove that you are with the university.
Office Depot
- Purchases from Office Depot should be made through the punchout catalog in UNCG’s eMarketplace. Tax exemption is already applied to orders placed through the eMarketplace system.
- In case of emergency:
• Please notify your cashier that we are sales-tax exempt BEFORE you begin your purchase.
• Provide your cashier with our account number of 24951479.
• You will need your UNCG ID and PCard to prove that you are with the university.
Staples
- Purchases from Staples should be made through the punchout catalog in UNCG’s eMarketplace. Tax exemption is already applied to orders placed through the eMarketplace system.
- In case of emergency:
• Please notify your cashier that we are sales-tax exempt BEFORE you begin your purchase.
Best Buy
- Each department must establish their own sales tax exempt account with Best Buy. Best Buy will not accept UNCG’s 400004.
- You will need your UNCG ID card to prove that you are with the University to establish your sales tax exempt account, called a “Quick Card” account.
- Be sure to notify your cashier that you are making a sales tax exempt purchase BEFORE the first item is scanned. You must present your ORIGINAL Quick Card. Copies will NOT be honored.
Wal-Mart
- Each department must establish their own sales tax exempt account with Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart will not accept UNCG’s 400004.
- You will need your UNCG ID card to prove that you are with the University to establish your sales tax exempt account.
- Be sure to notify your cashier that you are making a sales tax exempt purchase BEFORE the first item is scanned. You must present your ORIGINAL sales tax exempt card. Copies will NOT be honored.
Allowable and Unallowable Expenses on the UNC Greensboro PCard
Allowable Expenses
Material/Supplies/Commodity
- Services from Incorporated Suppliers (INC)
- Services from Limited Liability Corporations (LLC)
- Advertising*
- Off-campus Catering, Fast Food (refer to food section for more details)
- Groceries**
- Computers (eMarketplace only)
- iPads (5Ws and product Serial Number required)
- Utilities (cell phones, pagers, cable, etc.)
- Professional Licenses (In-line with job duties)
- Rental orders (one-time/non-recurring only; not monthly, annual rent/lease agreements)
- Memberships
- Recruiting Services
- Subscriptions and Magazines (delivered to UNCG address)
- Shipping & Handling
- State/Federal Surplus and Purchases from State Agencies
- Postage (for specific mailing only)
- UNCG Bookstore Purchases
- Office Supplies
- Managed Printing Services (MPS)
*Proof of advertisement must be provided with monthly PCard packet
**Refer to: UNCG Basic Spending Guidelines
Travel*
- Transportation
- Commercial Airline, Railroad (coach rate)
- Rental Cars, Bus (to destination), Taxi (including tip)
- Airport Limousine, Shuttle Service (including tip)
- Bus or other Public Transportation (between airport/station and hotel)
- Internet Services, telephone calls (approved business related)
- Rental Car Insurance in a foreign country
- Hotel Room
- Registrations
- Parking
- Gasoline (rental cars only)
- Travel Agent Fees (although it is recommended to make own travel arrangements)
*Any travel for a Non-Resident Alien must be processed via reimbursement. Form NRA-001 must be completed prior to the University issuing payment. The PCard is not allowed to pay for Non-Resident Alien travel.
Non-Allowable Expenses
*Any exceptions must have prior approval from the Purchasing Office.
Material/Supplies/Commodity
- Maintenance contracts
- Rent/Leases (recurring monthly, annually, etc.)
- Tuition Payments
- Consulting Fees/Services
- Services from Independent Contractors
- Legal Fees/Services
- Medical Fees/Services
- Cash Advances
- Personal/Unapproved/Unofficial Purchases
- Commitments for greater than one fiscal year
- Commitments that span fiscal years
- Transactions that Exceed or Circumvent Spending Limits
- Gasoline (other than rental car)
- Furniture – with exception of one replacement chair
- Controlled Substances
- Sit-Down meals*
- Charitable contributions
- Insurance
- Cash or Cash Advances
- Moving Expenses
- Construction or Renovation Services
*Refer to: UNCG Basic Spending Guidelines
Travel
- Restaurants (casual or fine dining)/Food/beverages
- Limousine (other than airport)
- Any transportation method not directly related to business
- Hotel Services/entertainment, including, but not limited to:
• Movies
• Sauna
• Room Service
• Gym/Weight Room
• Refrigerator/Microwave requests
• Foldaway Bed requests
• Laundry (hotel or outside)
• In-room Vending
• Meals/beverages
• Tips (other than stated as allowable)
• In-room Vending (stocked fridge/bar, bottled water, etc.) - Insurance of any kind except car rental insurance in a foreign country. (The University has an insurance policy for rentals inside the U.S.)
- Tours or Other Social Activities
- Expenses of a Personal Nature
- Any travel arrangements for Non-Resident Aliens*
*Any travel for a Non-Resident Alien must be processed via reimbursement. Form NRA-001 must be completed prior to the University issuing payment. The PCard is not allowed to pay for Non-Resident Alien travel.
FAQs
Basic Information
The PCard is a University issued VISA card. It is accepted anywhere, place or time that a VISA card is. Currently, Bank of America supplies UNCG with our PCards.
The PCard should be issued only to University employees authorized by their departments to make purchases on a regular basis. All Card Reconcilers will be issued a card in their name unless otherwise requested. The PCard should not be used by anyone other than the person whose name appears on the card. Only UNCG employees may be issued a PCard.
The Card Reconciler is the person that will be responsible for tracking and reconciling the PCard transactions. This person should be the person currently responsible for entering requisitions into the Banner Finance system.
It is a very good idea to have a back up Card Reconciler. You may structure your department any way that works best for you. Please contact the PCard Office for help with multiple Reconcilers.
A. Cardholders should complete the New PCard / Works User Request Form.
B. Card Reconcilers should complete the PCard Group Maintenance Form. If they do not currently have an account or card, Reconcilers should also complete the New PCard / Works User Request Form. In addition, Reconcilers must have maintenance access in Banner Finance for the funds they are charging purchases to. If a prospective Reconciler does not already have this access, they must complete the Banner Finance Security Access form and submit it to Financial Systems Support.
This should be signed by the first responsible person for the funds tied to this PCard. This will usually be the department head, or in the case of a grant, the principal investigator.
No. A person may be the Cardholder and Reconciler, but an Approver may not sign off on his/her own transactions nor transactions he/she has reconciled.
Everyone that expects to have a PCard MUST attend one of these classes.
It depends. If you are a Card Reconciler you will need to attend both the Cardholder and Reconciler classes. If you are a Cardholder you will only need to attend the Cardholder class.
The PCard may be used for any Banner funds a cardholder has authority to make purchases from.
All PCards must have a default Banner Fund/Account listed on the application. The Default Banner fund/account serves as a fund for the PCard Department to charge, in the event that a department fails to reconcile its PCard charges by the stated deadline. The use of this fund is an absolute last resort for the PCard department.
While this card does not impact your personal credit, you will be held responsible for its use. You may be held liable for any unauthorized purchases.
You will receive your PCard after attending the training class.
You are required to keep your monthly PCard packets, with all paper documentation of your purchases (transaction approval reports, receipts, etc) for 7 calendar years.
Making Purchases
A list of appropriate PCard purchases is available in the PCard menu above.
A list of appropriate PCard purchases is available in the PCard menu above.
The following limits are the maximum allowable per purchasing card. The actual limits assigned to individual cards may vary. Contact the PCard Office if you have questions about the limits on an individual card.
- There is a single purchase limit of $4,999.99.
- DO NOT split orders to avoid this dollar amount.
- There is a daily purchase limit of $10,000.
- There is a monthly purchase limit of $25,000.
UNCG uses a uniform billing address for all Pcards on campus:
P. O. Box 26170 Greensboro, NC 27402
UNCG uses a uniform billing phone number for all PCards on campus:
(336) 334-4461
Please note that you will not be sent any receipts when you place most online orders. In place of your receipt, please print your shopping cart and/or your confirmation page. The information that the PCard Department needs for all orders is: Who you purchased from, What you purchased, When the purchase was made, and How much the purchase was.
It is the Cardholder’s responsibility to ensure that sales tax is not charged to their card. However, if sales tax is charged, the cardholder must contact the vendor and request a credit be issued for the amount of the sales tax. If a vendor refuses to issue a credit for the sales tax charged, the cardholder must provide documentation outlining the steps they took to request a credit and explaining the final outcome. This documentation needs to be kept with the purchase receipt/monthly PCard packet for auditing purposes.
We may deviate from state contracts on our purchases if the price of the item is significantly less than that on state contract. If the price is not less and the purchaser simply does not follow the state contract where she/he should, we may have them either explain their actions and/or return the items that were purchased. State contracts are covered in the trainings.
Your department Reconciler can provide you with a listing of the transactions posted on your bank statement.
Contact the vendor to see if the situation can be handled at that level. If not, complete a Dispute Form and fax it to Bank of America at 1-888-678-6046. Bank of America will research the situation and should notify you of the outcome within 7 business days. It can take up to 60 days for the credit to be posted to your account.
Reconciliation
UNCG uses Bank of America Works – a web-based software application – that allows for complete reconciliation of PCard charges by acting as an interface between the bank and Banner Finance.
As purchases are made, departmental Reconcilers enter receipts and transaction details that correspond with the purchase into Works. Reconcilers and Approvers then reconcile their transactions by electronically signing off on the detailed transactions in Works. Once this process is completed, the purchase information is uploaded into Banner Finance and the correct funds/accounts are debited.
UNCG’s bank statement currently runs from the 26th of the month to the 25th of the following month. Emails will be automatically sent by Works to Reconcilers, depending on their email preference settings, who have transactions to reconcile. The PCard department strongly recommends reconciling on a daily or weekly basis. After the bank statement cut off date, coordinators will have until the 5th of the following month to reconcile their charges.
UNCG uses a web based card management program called Works to manage all aspects of the Bank of America PCard program. Reconcilers will be able to access statement information on the cards they are responsible for by logging into Works.
After attending PCard Reconciler training, you will be sent a welcome email from the Works program. This email contains a URL you will use to log into the Works program for the first time. You will be asked to choose a password and a security question. Write down your user name and password – you will need it to log into Works each time after that.
Save your receipts to match to the statement that the charges appear on. Remember that charges that you make may take up to 6 months to post to your account and appear on your statement. You may wish to contact the vendor to check if they have initiated the transaction with the bank.
You should reconcile the original charge once that charge shows on your statement. When the credit appears on your statement, you should reconcile that just as you would any charge. This will result in your Banner fund/account being charged for the initial purchase and then being credited for the credit that you received. You may want to stay in close contact with your vendor to ensure that credits are posted to your credit card in a timely fashion.
No. Audits take place in Works and are based on information entered by the Reconciler. If there is a discrepancy, the PCard Office will contact the Reconciler for clarification.
PCard Compliance
Delegation of authority to purchase goods using the PCard is a privilege that automatically ceases upon separation from the university or reassignment to another department. The PCard Administrator reserves the right to revoke or cancel PCards where cardholders fail to comply with policy and/or procedure. Audits are performed randomly throughout the month to determine whether or not purchases are made in accordance to State/Federal and University Policies as well as Spending Guidelines. When there is a finding that policy or procedure is not compliant, the PCard Administrator will file for disciplinary action via a PCard Compliance Review Form.
Non-Compliance Issues include but are not limited to:
- Failing to reconcile by the deadline
- Failing to approve by the deadline
- Accidental personal purchase
- Split transaction to circumvent spending limit
- Inappropriate or unallowable purchase
- Failure to comply with NC State Contract Terms
- Using Debarred vendors
- Gift Card issues
- Missing or inadequate receipt
- Missing 5 Ws, (Who, What, When, Where, Why) information
- Sales tax issues
- Misappropriation of funds
- Other issues deemed as minor by the Purchasing Department
Disciplinary Actions for non-compliance will be communicated via PCard Compliance Review Form:
- First Offense – Written warning and/or two week suspension
- Second Offense – Written warning and two week or up to one month suspension
- Third Offense – Written warning and revocation of card for one month to permanent
(Any of these offenses may include a request for the PCard holder to repeat PCard training.)
Note – The Purchasing Department reserves the right to determine the consequence depending on the severity of the infraction. Willful misuse may result in immediate suspension of the PCard and/or termination of the card. Infractions going beyond the third offense will be handled on a case-by-case basis and may result in the permanent cancellation of the cardholder’s PCard.
