PURCHASING CARD
PROGRAM
INTRODUCTION
The District is
providing an alternate approach to purchasing products by offering a
purchasing card program to select District employees, administered by
the Bank.
Purchasing cards are designed
to consolidate many small transactions onto a single monthly invoice.
This program will expedite the accounts payable function for any
department or building that makes multiple supply purchases in a given
month. The purchasing cards will not replace the normal purchasing
procedures established by the Business Office, but will be used in
instances where it is not advantageous or cost effective to issue a
Purchase Order.
These policies and procedures
are intended to provide guidelines to cardholders in utilizing their
purchasing cards, and all cardholders should carefully read this
document. A cardholder’s signature on the Cardholder Agreement Form
(Policy DJEK-E) indicates that the cardholder understands the intent of
the program and agrees to adhere to these guidelines.
The following information is
intended to clarify how the purchasing card is to be used and how the
cardholder’s transactions are invoiced.
ETHICS
The District strives to maintain and practice the highest possible
standards of business ethics, professionalism, and competence in all
purchases and business transactions. It is the cardholder’s
responsibility to purchase only those goods that are necessary for
District purposes.
Suppliers/vendors, their
products, personnel and services are a natural extension of our own
resources. It is the responsibility, and expected of all employees in
the District, to develop and maintain professional relationships between
the District and its vendors and to keep in mind that personal contacts
form much of the basis for the vendor’s opinion of the District. In
this regard, the following should be observed when dealing with vendors
and their representatives:
-
Assure the confidentially of all
specifications and price quotations made by vendors.
-
Decline to take advantage of vendor’s
errors and show consideration for vendor difficulties by cooperating
with the vendor whenever possible to resolve problems.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the purchasing card is to provide the District with
an alternate method of purchasing low-dollar goods. The purchasing card
enables employees to order and receive products directly from any
MasterCard vendor, it gives employees the authority and flexibility to
purchase supplies when the District needs them at competitive prices,
and it helps employees get faster delivery on low-cost items.
PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION
The District’s purchasing card program is administered through The
Bank, under a statewide purchasing card program designed specially for
Michigan public school districts. The District’s purchasing card
program administrator is the Assistant Superintendent of Business &
Finance.
GENERAL POLICIES
The District issues purchasing cards to designated employees. No
person other than the person to whom the purchasing card is issued is
authorized to use the assigned purchasing card. The card is to be used
for school district business only.
The purchasing cards are
issued to the District and assigned to specific users. Personal
information of cardholders is NOT provided to the Bank when cards are
issued. The Bank is provided with a cardholder’s date of birth and the
last four digits of their Social Security number for verification
purposes only. Card activity is not reported on a cardholder’s personal
credit report, and, likewise, activity on the card is not used to
compute a cardholder’s credit score with reporting agencies. Activity
on the purchasing card program is reported on the District’s credit
report.
The purchasing card is as
easy to use as any credit card and is just as widely accepted. The only
difference between a credit card and a purchasing card is that the
latter is a corporate liability charge card with certain restrictions
and limitations imposed on the cardholder. Card privileges may be
rescinded at any time at the discretion of the Purchasing Card
Administrator if the cardholder does not follow policies and/or
procedures. The Business Office will audit card usage and the
cardholder will be personally liable for any unauthorized use that
occurs with the purchasing card.
Purchasing cards must be kept
in a secure place. Although the purchasing card is issued in the
cardholder’s name, the card remains the property of the Bank and is only
to be used for District purchases as allowed by the District’s
policies. Cardholders are committing District funds each time the
purchasing card is used.
All charges made on all District
purchasing cards are billed directly to the District on a monthly
summary invoice. This process minimizes paperwork and streamlines the
payment process. Each purchasing card is assigned to a default
accounting code, using a District account number. Other account numbers
may be assigned to a transaction by purchasing cardholders when
reconciling their monthly transactions using the Bank’s Smart Data
Online web-based program.
Training will be provided
with the issuance of the purchasing card to ensure that all policies and
procedures are understood. An employee will not be issued a purchasing
card until training has taken place.
The cardholder will only be
able to use the purchasing card for specific Merchant Category Codes (MCC)
assigned for each user, based on necessity specific to each cardholder.
Each card will be issued with a group of MCC’s based on the probable use
of the card by each user. If the cardholder attempts to use the
purchasing card for a Merchant category not set up, the transaction will
be denied. The District’s program administrator can adjust the MCC’s
assigned to each user.
Each user will be required to
review their purchasing card transactions on a monthly basis using the
Bank’s Smart Data Online Internet application. Please refer to the
“Cardholder Recordkeeping Requirements” section of Policy DJEK-R.
The following types of
purchases are prohibited on the purchasing card:
