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Review and Approval of Purchasing Card Expenses
The Boston University purchasing card is designed to provide a more efficient means of making routine small dollar purchases by reducing paperwork, allowing more control and responsibility at the school or department level and streamlining the purchasing cycle for frequent purchases. It is important to remember that appropriate use of the purchasing card is essential in protecting the University and individual schools/departments against theft and fraud.
In order to ensure compliance to the University’s governances, the purchasing cardholder’s supervisor is required to review and approve purchases on a monthly basis. The supervisor must review, approve and sign the cardholder’s expense log report which should be collected with the monthly statement and receipts.
- The purchasing card was used by the authorized person
- Supporting documentation is in compliance with purchasing card policies ( http://www.bu.edu/sourcing/pcard/procedures/)
- The purchases are not for personal use
- The purchase was not split into separate transactions or to multiple days to circumvent individual transaction limits
- The business purpose of the transaction is noted in the America Express SAM system, on the receipt, and/or by another method approved by your school/department
While reviewing the statement the supervisor should be mindful of the following:
If the nature of any business activity seems questionable, the supervisor should contact the cardholder directly for an explanation. Issues that require escalation should be brought to the Department Administrative Head and the Comptroller’s office. Any changes made to the monthly statement once it has been submitted must be initialed by both the supervisor and cardholder.
Once it has been confirmed that the cardholder’s use was in compliance with University policies and procedures, the supervisor should sign, date, and file each monthly statement. University record retention policies require that financial records be kept for a period of seven years.
For questions relating to user support or to discuss your department’s participation, please email pcard@bu.edu or call the Purchasing Card Administrator at 617-358-3234.