General Questions
The cardholder can reimbursement the university by providing a check to the business office to complete a Cash Receipt in UAccess Financials and deposit the funds with the Bursar's Office. The cardholder and business office may also request to reimburse the University by with a payroll deduction when completing the Self-Reporting Violation form. Payroll deductions may be divided into four pay checks if necessary, depending on the total amount due the university.
The free promotional items should go to the Fiscal Officer for the college/department. This free promotional item must be used for the benefit of the university in line with the funding source and applicable policies unique to the situation. The use of the promotional item should be noted on the related PCard transaction eDoc in UAccess Financials.
Documentation Requirements
All PCard transactions (PCDO) must include:
All expense transactions including the PCDO must include:
- An original invoice/receipt attached to the Notes and Attachments tab on the PCDO. Original invoices/receipts must include:
- Name of the vendor
- A title/description of each item purchased
- An amount for each item purchased
- Any tip (may be handwritten)
- Tax (if charged)
- Shipping (if charged)
- Other fees charged
- A total that matches the charge to the PCard
- A business purpose for the expenditure.
- In addition to the business purpose, the following common PCard purchases require the documentation listed in the table below:
| Type of Purchase | Documents Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Airline Ticket |
|
|
| Conferences |
|
|
| Food items and/or Restaurant according to 9.13 Business Meals |
|
|
| Gasoline |
|
|
| Rental Vehicle |
|
|
If all the required information is attached to the Notes and Attachments, additional forms are not required. Departments may use the Purchase Authorization Form or create their own form if they choose.
No, downloading and saving statements is not required. Statements contain confidential and security sensitive information. Instead, us the General - Purchasing Card to reconcile or review transactions.
The inclusion of packing slips as part of PCard documentation is optional.
- Business units are responsible for maintaining all original receipts and supporting documentation until record retention requirements have been met.
- After 180 days from the date the Purchasing Card transaction was approved, the original copy, or non-official record, may be destroyed at the department’s business office discretion.
- FEDERAL EXCEPTION: If documentation is to support a federal grant expenditure, the record retention policy requires maintaining the original documentation for one year from the date the expense was finalized
Allowable and Unallowable Expenditures
Tipping of any kind (i.e. food, taxis, etc.) should not be greater than 20% of the total post-tax amount.
No, meals while on travel status should be processed through Finance & Budget Travel with the State of Arizona meal reimbursements rates.. University employees have the option of obtaining a Travel Advance to assist with avoiding out-of-pocket fundsor personal credit card charges.
No, purchase of gasoline for a personal vehicle is not allowed on the PCard even while on University approved business. However, Finance & Budget Travel handles reimbursement for mileage for a personal vehicle on University business.
No, university insurance liability does not cover rental vehicles cars rented/driven by non-employees.
No, payments to or on behalf of a non-employee, non-student, who is not a US citizen or permanent resident, cannot be made using the PCard. Due to the complexity of immigration laws, we suggest that you contact Accounts Payable at 520-621-9097 or FNSV-Accounts-Payable@arizona.edu regarding expenses/reimbursements that are allowed under specific visa types.
The PCard can be used to pay for an all-inclusive conference. The card will need to have the travel and hotel enhancement.
Uber drivers notify the traveler via their mobile device upon arrival that "wait time" charges are initiated two minutes upon the Uber driver's arrival at the designated location. Business units should advise travelers to avoid excessive wait times whenever possible. The department may require repayment if the wait time is excessive although, in general these are de minimis and do not require repayment to the University.
If a PCard was used, a Self-Reporting Violation Form should be completed and included with the documentation. In addition, the PCard should not be saved to any merchant account.
Foreign Merchant Transactions
On the PCard document, click on Vendor Name to view the information. Under the vendor state code, the initials of the state or foreign country are listed.
A Self-Reporting Violation will need to be completed by the responsible user and if valid business purpose, reimbursement to the university is not required. The department will need to work with Accounts Payable to determine if there is a tax liability in which, the department will need to record by grossing up the expenditure and creating a Distribution of Income and Expense.
Payments to a foreign merchant processed as international transactions are assessed a 1% fee by the processor/bank (not the merchant). The invoice may be in US dollars or a foreign currency. In addition, the conversion rate will vary depending on the day and hour the transaction was processed.
To calculate the amount of the international fee, open the PCDO and click on the Transaction ID Number and review the currency code under Transaction Original Currency Code.
- If the amount is in US dollars (Code 840), subtract the Transaction Total Amount from the Transaction Original Currency Amount. The difference is the international fee, and it should be equal to 1% of the Transaction Original Currency Amount
- If the amount is in a foreign currency (other codes), the international fee must be factored from the total amount. Divide the Transaction Total Amount by 1.0 which will provide the Transaction Original Amount in US dollars. Then, subtract the Transaction Total Amount from the Transaction Original Amount in US dollars.
Example: Transaction Billing Currency Code is EUR and the Transaction Total Amount is $619.44. Divide $619.44/1.00. Transaction Original Amount in US dollars is $613.30. Then, the international processing fee is $6.14 ($619.44 – $613.30).
Use tax should not be paid on these types of fees. Object code 5535 Purchasing Transaction Fees should be used on a separate accounting line for the international processing fee amount.
There are two types of enhancements
- General Purchases – Included with every card.
- Travel and Entertainment – added upon request.
Contact FNSV-Accounts-Payable@arizona.edu if you need to know the enhancement included with a specific card.
Travel and entertainment are a separate enhancement. Security features on university cards inclusive of Merchant Category Codes will be blocked unless the PCard has the enhancement turned on.
Some hotel restaurants have a merchant category code as a hotel instead of a restaurant, which may be why the charge declined.
Traveler must review and adhere to FSM Policy 14.00 Travel.
If a credit card authorization form is required, the cardholder will only include the last 4 digits and not the three-digit security code. The cardholder will contact the lodging venue via phone after faxing the credit card authorization form and provide additional information verbally. Traveler should verify with the lodging venue all information has been provided and will maintain on file for the reservation.
University Employee must present a personal form of payment (i.e., personal credit card) at time of check-in at hotel for all incidentals.
Object Codes to be used transaction(s):
- 6142 – Travel-In State Hotel
- 6242 – Travel-Out of State Hotel
- 6342 – Travel-Foreign Hotel
In UAccess Financials, select the Accounting tab (make sure Reference and Administration box just below Search Bar are checked) then select Procurement Cardholder Defaults.
- Alternative option: Type Procurement in Search Bar and then select Procurement Cardholder Defaults (not PCard, or Purchasing). Enter the default org code and then select Search.
In Analytics: You can look up this information in the Financials by selecting General - Purchasing Card dashboard PCard Information by Organization enter your criteria as Organization Name or Reconciler Group Name, Cardholder Name. Keep in mind there is a one day delay of data from UAccess Financials.
Costco no longer allows university employees to shop in-store without having a Costco Membership Account. See Costco Business Membership.
If a department would like to purchase their own departmental Costco Membership, they can do so by contacting Costco Business Membership.
Arizona Buyways is the University preferred method to purchase with Amazon.
If you are an Individual PCard cardholder, lock the card by logging in to Bank of America Global Access.
A university PCard can be issued to any employee in a paid, benefits eligible active status.
No, you cannot share your individual PCard with another employee. However, you can make purchases on behalf of another employee.
Yes, all policies and procedures governing a sponsored account apply in the PCard Program.
- Note: Sponsored Project account numbers cannot be used as defaults. Additional Restrictions may apply based on the SPSP requirement. Contact Sponsored Projects Services Proposal Support.
- 3820
- 3870
- 5520
- 5540
- 5535
- 5560
- 5810
- 5830
- 7810
- 7820
- 7830
Refer to Expenditure Object Codes
Tips to merchants (i.e., restaurants) exceeding 20% of total, post-tax bill are unallowable. Refer to Policy 9.10 Requisitions/Reimbursements for more information.
To avoid being charged use tax on airline ticket transactions the tax-exempt checkbox must be marked. If you forget to mark the checkbox, a General Error Correction will be required to reverse the use tax.
Yes, please refer to 9.01 Determining Purchasing Method. For additional information, contact Risk Management.
The PCard can be used for allowable expenses according to the open enchantments on the card. Bank of America does not have a Stranded Travel program; therefore, a traveler should have a backup payment method when traveling.
Travel and entertainment are a separate enhancement. Security features on university cards inclusive of Merchant Category Codes will be blocked unless the PCard has the enhancement turned on.
Some hotel restaurants have a merchant category code as a hotel instead of a restaurant, which may be why the charge declined.
No, Bank of America monitors expiring cards during the expiration month and will send a new PCard directly to the address associated with the PCard. If you do not receive the PCard prior to one week of expiration, contact the PCard team.