The appropriate Vice President, Dean, Director or Chair must make the decision as to who receives a Procurement card. Employees who are in a position to actually make purchases are ideal cardholders.

Prior to the issuance of the Procurement card, the cardholder will be required to attend a training workshop and will receive a Procurement Card Manual.

Each card will be issued in the cardholder’s name but is the property of Northern Kentucky University and is only to be used for official purchases as defined in this manual.

Procurement Services will be responsible for all issues related to card control. Procurement Services will maintain a list of cardholders along with established spending limits. Questions related to the Procurement Card Program should be directed to Procurement Services at 572-5265.

 

Spending Limits

THE STANDARD LIMIT PER PURCHASE IS $1,000.00, and a monthly limit will be established upon completion of the application and discussions with Procurement Services. There is no annual limit, therefore, reconciling your monthly statement is critical for budget control.

 

Obtaining a Card

The following steps must be completed to obtain a Procurement Card:

• Complete and sign the Procurement Card Application.
• Your supervisor and the budget unit administrator must approve the application.
• Your supervisor may request, using the account maintenance form, any revision to the $1,000.00 per transaction limit for each card. This form must accompany the Procurement Card Application.
• Forward the signed forms to Procurement Services.
• The Grants Accountant, in the Office of the Comptroller, must approve all card applications using a grant or contract budget account number. (i.e., Cost Center XXXXXXX65 Grant Number 4000XXX)
• Procurement will notify the cardholder when the card is available to be picked up. The cardholder must receive the Procurement card in person and sign a Procurement Cardholder Agreement. Photo identification may be required.
• The cardholder must sign the back of the card immediately upon receipt.
• Procurement Services must be contacted if changes in the card are needed.

 

Card Cancellation

To cancel a Procurement card, the card should be cut in half and delivered to Procurement Services with a memo signed by the budget unit administrator requesting cancellation. (A Card Application may be completed and marked "deleted" in lieu of the memo.)

The Procurement card should be canceled for the following reasons:

• The cardholder’s termination of employment with the University.
• The cardholder’s transfer to another position within the University.
• The deletion of the University budget account number.
• The revocation of the card by the cardholder’s supervisor or Procurement Services due to misuse by the cardholder.

 

Card Renewal

A renewal Procurement card will automatically be mailed to Procurement Services two years from the issue date. Cardholders will be notified when their Procurement cards are available for pick up. Renewal cards must be personally picked up in Procurement Services or designated area and an agreement form showing receipt must be signed.

 

Lost or Stolen Card

If a Procurement card is lost or stolen, notify Fifth Third Bank at 1-800-782-0279 (or locally at 513-579-5642). Representatives are available 7:00 A.M. - Midnight, otherwise, leave a message to cancel your card. As soon as possible, during working hours, notify Procurement Services at (859) 572-5265. If you are fairly certain that the card has been stolen you should also notify Public Safety at 572-5500.

If the cardholder requests emergency Procurement card replacement (within 24 hours), Fifth Third Bank will assess a fee which will be charged to your card. If you can wait a week to ten days for the replacement card, emergency replacement should not be requested. No fee is assessed for normal replacement.

 

Card Information Revision

Should any information on the original Procurement Card Application need to be revised, a new application must be completed and forwarded to Procurement Services.

---

 CARDHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES

• Receipt of Materials and Services
• Record Keeping
• Reconciliation
• Disputed Transactions
• Procurement Card Abuse
   

Along with the authority to use the Procurement card comes the responsibility of:

• Securing the Procurement card.
• Obtaining and retaining appropriate documentation for purchases.
• Maintaining a log of all transactions.
• Reconciling transactions.

 

Receipt of Materials and Services

The cardholder is responsible for ensuring receipt of materials and services, and for contacting the vendor to resolve any delivery problems, discrepancies and damaged goods claims.

 

Record Keeping

The cardholder is responsible for retaining all credit card receipts, cash register receipts, packing slips, etc. If a charge or credit slip have been misplaced, a copy can be obtained by calling the Fifth Third Bank Customer Service Department 1-800-375-1747. There may be a charge for each copy which will be billed to your Procurement card. Retain all documentation in the Transaction Summary envelope provided.

Procurement Services and the Office of the Comptroller will have screen access to all transactions within 24 hours. These transactions will in turn be charged to the appropriate University account monthly.

Cardholders should remember credit card transactions are not encumbered against their departmental accounts. They are expensed when the monthly charges are paid.

SAP Information Available on report ZFBC (click here for help viewing SAP postings):

• Vendor: Fifth Third Bank
• Transaction date: Date of your statement (usually the 27^th of the month).
• Amount: The sum of the transactions listed on your statement.

 

 Reconciliation

To reconcile your account login to the Fifth Third Procurement Card Website.  Follow the instructions available at: http://access.nku.edu/purchasing/procard/forms/SDOL_Cardholder_Startup.pdf, and reconcile your charges online.

You will not receive a statement in the mail, but you can go to the Reports section of the Fifth Third website and run the Account Statement Report to print a copy for your records.

NOTE: You will receive an email from Procurement Services or Accounts Payable reminding you to complete your reconciliation.  Failure to reconcile your Card may result in suspension of Procurement Card privileges.

• Reconciliation is simple and straightforward. Compare the individual charges on your statement to the charges recorded on your transaction summary form. (NOTE: The statement totals will not match the sum of the charges.) If the individual transactions match, the reconciliation is complete. Sign the form and file for future reference. Payment will be automatic. This is similar to the "receiving by exception" process currently in place for office supplies. In the absence of a problem, the bill is paid.
• If a transaction amount does not match, or if you have not received the ordered materials, contact the vendor.
• If the vendor will not issue credit or otherwise correct the problem, complete a "Cardholder Statement of Disputed Item" form and forward it immediately to the bank with a copy to Procurement Services. (A discussion of this form follows this section.)
• Payment against your statement for that month will be reduced by the amount billed for that item.
• All charges will be paid if Procurement Services has not received the disputed item form by the 10^th of the month.
• Transaction Summary Forms shall be retained, along with appropriate receipts and other documentation, such as registration forms, in the user department for a minimum of three (3) years.

The department and the cardholder must be willing and able to answer any questions pertaining to any purchase. These questions could come from spot audits performed by Procurement Services, Accounts Payable or Internal Audit. The University’s external auditors will choose specific reconciliations to review during their annual audit. The transaction summaries, receipts and other documentation will help answer any questions.

 

Disputed Transactions

The cardholder is responsible for contacting the vendor and/or Fifth Third Bank about any erroneous charges, returns or disputed items. Disputed billing can result from:

• failure to receive goods or services charged
• fraud or misuse
• altered charges
• defective merchandise
• incorrect amounts
• duplicate charges
• credits not processed

In case of fraud, please notify the Office of Public Safety as soon as possible at 572-5500.

Contact the vendor first to resolve any questionable charges. If agreement cannot be reached with the vendor, notification to Fifth Third Bank should be made by use of the "Cardholder Statement of Disputed Item" form. Fax the form to the bank no later than the 10^th of the month following the billing cycle. A completed copy of the dispute form should also be mailed or faxed to Procurement. If you have a routine question, Fifth Third Bank Customer Services Department may be able to provide information. They may contacted at 1-800-375-1747.

After the bank has completed its investigation, the cardholder will be notified of the resolution. If the dispute is settled in the favor of the cardholder, the account will be credited for the disputed amount.

Cardholders should contact Procurement Services with any irresolvable issues regarding the receipt and return of material. For assistance, call 572-5265.

 

Procurement Card Abuse

Abuse of the Procurement card will result in revocation of the card. Procurement Services, the Office of the Comptroller, and/or the Office of Internal Audit will perform random audits on various accounts for compliance. The budget unit administrator will be notified of any improper Procurement made by a cardholder and upon the second notice of misuse by the cardholder, the card will be revoked immediately No personal expenses are to be charged to the Procurement Card.

---

USING THE CARD

• Telephone, Fax and Internet Orders
• Sales and Use Tax
• Examples of Allowable Use
• Items not to be Purchased

The card may be used in person, by mail, fax, telephone or Internet. The $1,000.00 limit, per purchase, includes shipping and handling. Transactions for more than this amount will be declined at the point of sale.

• To save dollars, you should strive to use the card with vendors that the University has under contract.
• On-campus purchases should continue to be processed as per requirements from the various areas. The Procurement card shall not be used for purchases between University units.
• Purchases from other state agencies should continue to be paid with a State Inter-Account Bill.

 

Telephone, Fax and Internet Orders

Telephone, Fax and Internet orders should all be treated with care in giving out your card number. Many scams that have been conducted by mail or phone are now being found on the Internet so be especially wary of this option. If using the Internet try to assure that the card number will be encrypted. Fraudulent sites may state that this is not required, but do not believe it. Giving out your card number on the net or on E-mail has been compared to sending it through the mail on the back of a postcard. It is probably wise to forego Internet ordering until better security technology has been developed and is in place.

As a general guideline, make sure you know who you are dealing with and NEVER place an order based on a telephone solicitation, where the firm initiates the contact. As an example, office supply "liquidators" are notorious for having a major overstock of printer and copier toner cartridges (or other products) and will let them go for a song if you order a full case or half case within the next 24 hours. The discounted price usually ends up near, or higher, than the price of a name brand, and the product is of very poor quality. By the time you are aware of this, the charge has been made to your card and getting a credit is next to impossible. If you initiate the contact, and know with whom are dealing, use of the card should pose no problem.  Just beware of the "deal" that sounds too good to be true. It usually is.

Items purchased with the Procurement card must be shipped for "desktop" delivery rather than to Mail/Distribution Services.  Vendors should be given the complete departmental mailing address as it appears in SAP and follows:

Company Name Employee Name Department Address Department Name City, State, Zip

Ask all vendors to include sales receipt(s) in shipment of order. Cardholder should retain all receipts, packing slips, and other shipping documentation.

The cardholder will be responsible for coordinating the return of damaged or unwanted items directly with the vendor. Neither Procurement Services nor Central Receiving will be responsible for processing returns.

 

Sales and Use Tax

NKU is exempt from payment of Kentucky sales tax. Most states recognize the University’s tax exempt status for items to be delivered to the University, however use of the card in person, out of state, may result in non-acceptance. The cardholder should emphasize this tax-exempt status at the time of purchase. The University’s tax-exempt number is A-9029 and is shown on the second line on your card. Vendors may obtain a copy of our tax exemption certificate, by calling Procurement Services at (859) 572-5265.

 

Examples of Allowable Use:

The following are just as few examples of where use of the procurement card should reduce paperwork and expedite the procurement process.

• NEW:  Hotel/Motel Expense for Business Travel:  Room expense only.
  If you charge the hotel bill to your pro-card, you MUST include a copy of that bill with your travel voucher, whether incidentals are charged to the room or not.
• NEW:  Automobile Rental- when traveling & when NKU fleet not available
• NEW:  Effective immediately, the card is to be the ONLY method of payment for:

1. Chartwells
2. Follett Bookstore Charges
3. Cardinal Office Products orders

• Meals (off campus)  The ONLY off campus meals the card may be used for include:

1. Meals for job candidates (one university host and the candidate) or
2. Meals for organized student functions or traveling students
3. Meals authorized by Grants

Procurement Card/IRS form is required for all meals listed above and should be kept with your Procurement Card records.

• Gasoline for Rental or Leased Vehicles (gasoline for your personal vehicle is covered under reimbursement for mileage, on the travel voucher)
• Gift Cards associated with Grants, Research, and Student Contests

• Registration Fees

• Membership Fees and Dues
• Subscriptions
• Books, recordings, films and other copyrighted materials
• Government Publications
• Lab Supplies
• Instructional materials and supplies
• Airline tickets for employee business travel
• Recruitment expenses: airline tickets, lodging and meals for candidates
• Equipment purchase or repair, and equipment rental under $1,000 (for purchases over $500, notify Comptroller’s office (572-6453) for inventory purposes)
• Price contract purchases under $1,000
• Local purchases of non-contract items.

The card is not to be used for the following:

• Purchases over $1,000.00 (or your per transaction limit). Do not have a vendor split a bill to avoid your per-purchase limit; this is known as "split purchasing". The procurement card program was established as a privilege to departments to make small purchases, not to provide departments the means to circumvent Procurement Services.
• General Entertaining and Meals off campus other than described above.
• Meals when traveling (these are reimbursed on a travel voucher at per diem rates)
• Bursar Office Payments for any reason
• Payments on behalf of students - ie:  books, supplies, tuition.
• Cash Advances
• Flowers
• Gifts and Gift Cards for students, faculty or staff.   
• University Events
• Gasoline for Privately Owned Vehicles
• Office Supplies from Non-Contract Holder (i.e., Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, etc.)
• Christmas Decorations or General Office Decorations.
• Christmas or Holiday Cards
• Equipment maintenance contracts
• Services subject to Personal Service contracts and Entertainment Contracts
• Prescription drugs and controlled substances
• Radioactive and hazardous materials
• Printing
• Purchases requiring you to sign the vendor’s contract

Purchases that exceed card transaction limits should continue to be processed on a requisition through Procurement Services. Purchases shall not be artificially divided to avoid the $1,000.00 limit.

Click here for further clarification regarding acceptable and unacceptable uses of the Procurement Card.