Responsible Procurement Credit Card Use

Making A Purchase 

The Procurement Credit Card (P-Card) may be used to purchase goods in person at the supplier site, over the phone, or internet, via fax, or by mail. When you are placing an order remember to:

• Identify yourself as a Queen's employee
• Inform the supplier that you are using a Queen's Procurement Credit Card
• Inform the supplier that they are not to send a bill or invoice to the ordering local unit of Accounts Payable
• Provide cardholder name
• Provide individual P-Card number
• Provide expiration date of the card
• Provide description of goods to be ordered and confirm prices
• Inform the supplier that Queen's research purchases are PST exempt
• Provide delivery address including building and room number
• Double-check to find out if your purchase requires a permit or other shipping documentation (for more information see Customs & Shipping )
• Confirm that the total order including shipping, handling and exchange rate does not exceed your single-purchase limit.
• Provide any other information necessary to make the purchase
• If making purchase over the internet, print confirmation receipt showing item(s) purchase, date, cost of goods etc., for month-end reconciliation purposes as no further receipt may be issued.
• Donations of any kind to charitable organizations.

The cardholder is responsiblefor ensuring receipt of goods, and for following up with the vendor to resolve any delivery problems, discrepancies or damaged-merchandise concerns. 

Upon receipt of your order keep the documentation received from the supplier (typically a sales receipt or packing slip with pricing information) for monthly reconciliation. After reconciling, file and store your receipts, statements and any other supporting documentation for audit review by the Credit Card Program Manager and / or Risk Management Audit Services.

Receipts and records must be kept on file for at least 7 years before being destroyed.  If receipts are for a Research project please contact Financial Services for the term over the 7 years your receipts must be maintained.

Note:  Please ensure documentation is accessible to at least one other person in your department  during a temporary leave of absence from the University (e.g., sabbatical, sick leave, maternity leave, etc.)

 

Restricted Commodities

The P-Card is not to be used to purchase any commodities from the list below, even if they are Queen's University business related. There are compliance issues relating to many of these items that require either pre-audit or pre-authorization. If you require a card for Travelling on behalf of the University please apply for the University Corporate Travel Card ( American Express Travel Card Application) Acess key 0svacdkj.

 If a cardholder purchases a restricted commodity, they will reimburse the university for the cost.

The Procurement Credit Card is not to be used for:

• Travel and entertainment purchases such as:
  • Airline tickets
  • Train tickets
  • Bus or coach tickets
  • Ferry tickets
  • Car rentals
  • Taxis used during cardholders business travel
  • Hotel bookings
  • Food
  • Entertainment tickets for theatres, cinemas, theme parks, and events
• Internal service providers (i.e., any supplier using Queen's internal chart of accounts numbers)
• Hazardous or Radioactive materials
• Office furniture
• Products/services greater than $5000, including taxes and exchange
• Long term (1 year or more) rental or lease of equipment
• Automatic annual payments of subscriptions(Manual payments are permissable when it has been confirmed funds are available)
• Materials requiring a Government permit (radioisotopes, viruses, etc.) or other hazardous materials
• Personal purchases
• Alcohol 
• Gift certificates intended for employees may not be purchased from a University account due to Canada Customs and Revenue Agency Guidelines.  Please refer to Hospitality Policy Section 7 - Ineligible Expenses.
• Departmental Food purchasesfrom restaurants, fast food restaurants, etc.
• Any computer hardware, computer comsumables, computer peripherals and computer software that have been identified as be readily available and competively priced from the Campus Computer Store.  To check if product is available go to the CCS website or call CCS at 533-2058.  Cardholders must retain written proof, in Visa file, from CCS that the items could not be supplied by them

If you have any questions regarding these restrictions, or the appropriate use of the Procurement Credit Card, please contact the Credit Card Program Assistant or Administrator from the contact list above.

Misuse Of Cards

The issuing of a Queen's P-Card represents Queen's trust in you as a responsible employee who will safeguard and protect university assets. As a cardholder, you assume the responsibility for the protection and proper use of the procurement card. This includes both the proper and ethical use of the P-Card as well as the regular reconciling of the associated account. (For more information, see the Reconciling Accounts section).

The card may only be used by the individual whose name appears on the card. P-Cards and card numbers must be safeguarded against use by unauthorized individuals within or outside the university.

The following situations are examples of misuse of the procurement card:

Personal misuse:

• Purchases made for the sole benefit of the employee
• Assignment or transfer of an individual card to another person
• Use of a procurement card by a suspended or terminated employee

Administrative misuse:

• Lack of proper and timely reconciliation of individual cardholder accounts
• Lack of funds in your departmental or research budget accounts
• Splitting an order to avoid the single-purchase limit
• Use of the P-Card to purchase commodities that have been restricted by policy as described above

 

Procurement card reviewers have the responsibility to report instances of misuse.  Supervisors have the responsibility to suspend or terminate card privileges in instances of misuse, and report them to the Credit Card Program Manager.  As the Supervisor approving the issuance of the card to the cardholder, the Supervisor is responsible for verifying proper use and monthly reconciliation of the card by the cardholder or other designated individual and signs to this effect on the monthly "Cardholder Activity Statement". 

Improper use of the card may also result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.Strategic Procurement Services may cancel procurement cards for non-adherence to the Procurement Card Policy and Procedures.

It is the responsibility of the department head and the cardholder to ensure Strategic Procurement Services is notified no less than 2 weeks prior to cardholder leaving the University upon termination of employment, sabbatical, maternity or parental leave or any other applicable circumstances.

Identifying Phishing scams

No financial institution, whether bank, credit card company, or otherwise, contacts their customers via email to request account information. Often these emails claim that accounts have been declared suspended or on hold, and request that the card information be resubmitted or updated in order to reactivate the account.

If there is any concern about a card or card number, financial institutions will phone you first, or if they are unable to reach you, will contact Strategic Procurement Services and / or post you a mailed notification. The only email you should ever receive from a financial institution will be updated terms of service.

Any email, regardless of how professional or legitimate it may appear (i.e. professional wording, logos or graphics), that requests your account information is fraudulent. These emails are referred to as "phishing" emails.

If you are at all in doubt as to the legitimacy of an email, please contact either Strategic Procurement Services or call the phone number for Customer Service on the back of your Queen's P-Card in order to speak with a US Bank or Customer Service Representative. For more information on phishing emails or other concerns regarding potential fraudulent activities, visit VISA's Common Frauds information page.