Updates

Greetings PCard Community,

As part of a refresh of the Boston University Purchasing Card (PCard) program, the standard per-card purchase limit will be automatically raised from $1,000 per purchase to $3,000, effective Wednesday, September 1, 2021.  This change has been made to reduce the number of requests for one-time increases.

Please note, there are no changes to the prohibited commodities* on the PCard. The PCard is not to be used for purchases of items found in Guided BUying catalogs, or with suppliers who are fully registered, unless the purchases are small dollar transactions. All transactions are reviewed monthly to ensure all cardholders comply with the Purchasing Card Policy.

Your PCard account must be current to receive the per-card purchase limit increase to $3,000.  If your account has transactions that are overdue for sign off or have missing receipts, you will need to reconcile these transactions first before receiving the limit increase. Please remember, all card accounts that have transactions overdue for 60 days or more are automatically suspended until the account is brought up to date.

*Prohibited Commodities:

  1. Local Travel Expenses**
  2. Fuel/Gasoline
  3. Car Rentals
  4. Furniture, Drapes, Carpeting
  5. Radioactive Substances
  6. Controlled Substances
  7. Equipment Leases, including Copiers/Printers
  8. Service/Maintenance Contracts
  9. Legal Fees
  10. Mortgages
  11. Rents
  12. Real Estate Taxes
  13. Space/Facilities
  14. Employee Relocation Services
  15. Translations and Interpreting
  16. Royalties
  17. Donations
  18. Consulting Services and Independent Contractors, such as:
    1. Attorneys
    2. Guest speakers/Lecturers
    3. Health care or medical care, including physicians
    4. Performers
    5. Human subjects
    6. Honorarium
  19. Purchases that are subject to any special regulations or require detailed documentation and/or special authorization in advance of the commitment of university resources

**Local Travel Expenses: Use of the PCard for employee local travel expenses outside the Boston, Brookline, and Cambridge areas, including off campus meals, is prohibited. If a local travel expense exceeds $50, the PCard should not be used; instead, the University Travel Card should be used for the purchase. Because of the sensitivity of these transactions, the employee is required to complete an expense report in the expense management system to reconcile the card transaction, or prior to reimbursement of the expense for any out-of-pocket expenses.

Non-Local Travel: The PCard must not to be used for non-local business travel or non-local meeting expenses, including guest and/or student travel expenses.

Thank you,
Pcard Team