Purchasing Card

3027.1 Approval to Purchase Gift Cards on a UW Purchasing Card Procedure

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This procedure outlines the process of creating and submitting a Spend Authorization to purchase gift cards with a purchasing card, as well as the transaction reconciliation process after the purchase has been made.

Procedure # 3027.1; Rev. 1 (Effective July 1, 2026)
Related Policy: UW-3027 Gift Cards
Functional Owner: Travel and Card Team, Division of Business Services
Contact: Credit Card Program Manager: (608) 262-3300, meghann.grove@wisc.edu

Contents

  1. Procedure statement
  2. Who is affected by this procedure
  3. Procedure
  4. Contact roles and responsibilities
  5. Definitions
  6. Related references
  7. Revisions

I. Procedure statement

Gift cards to be used as prizes or awards may be purchased with a UW purchasing card when pursuant to UW-3027 – Gift Cards. Prior to payment, these gift card purchases must be pre-approved by the budgetary authority and Divisional Business Office leadership. Approval is obtained via the Workday Expenses Spend Authorization. This procedure outlines the process of creating and submitting a Spend Authorization to purchase gift cards, as well as the transaction reconciliation process after the purchase has been made.

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II. Who is affected by this procedure

UW purchasing cardholders; Expense Data Entry Specialists; Driver Worktag Managers; Central Grant Accountants; Expense Operations Leads; Expense Partners.

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III. Procedure

  1. Spend Authorization submission: Prior to purchasing gift cards on a UW purchasing card, the purchasing cardholder must submit a Spend Authorization.
    1. Log in to Workday.
    2. From the Workday Homepage, click on Personal, then Expenses Hub.
      Screenshot highlighting the navigation path to the "Expenses Hub" under the "Personal" tab on the Workday home page
    3. On the subsequent screen, under “Tasks”, click the Create Spend Authorization button.
      Screenshot of Workday Expenses Hub and the "Create Spend Authorization" button is highlighted under the "Tasks" section
    4. Complete the resulting page (“Create Spend Authorization”) with the following:
      1. Company: Leave as defaulted.
      2. State/End Date: Enter the anticipated date of purchase.
      3. Description: Enter a brief description of the gift card purchase and intended use. This field will be used to identify the appropriate Spend Authorization during the reconciliation process.
      4. Business Purpose: Select Gift Cards (Spend Auth Only).
      5. Justification: Enter the business purpose for the gift card purchase including how the distribution of gift cards will benefit the university.
      6. Scrolling down the page, under “Spend Authorization Lines”, click Add.
      7. Complete the “Spend Authorization Line” requirements:
        1. Expense Item: Select Gift Card.
        2. Quantity: Enter the number of gift cards to be purchased at a particular dollar amount.
        3. Per Unit Amount: Enter the dollar amount of the gift card(s).
        4. Memo: Enter a brief business purpose statement.
        5. Worktags: Enter relevant Worktags.
        6. Note: If additional gift cards are to be requested at another dollar value, scroll up and click Add. Then complete these steps again.
        7. If requesting gift cards in amounts greater than $50, navigate to the Attachments tab and provide a copy of the grant agreement allowing the purchase.
        8. Click Submit.
  2. Approval process:
    1. Driver Worktag Manager: The Driver Worktag Manager reviews the Spend Authorization for appropriateness of funding/budget. Driver Worktag Managers may “Approve” the Spend Authorization to advance it in the approval workflow, “Send Back” the Spend Authorization for editing and resubmission, or “Deny” the Spend Authorization to eliminate it from the approval workflow.
    2. Central Grant Accountant: A Spend Authorization with the Gift Card (Spend Auth Only) “Business Purpose” will only route to the Central Grant Accountant if a Grant Worktag is referenced on the expense lines. The Grant Accountant reviews the Spend Authorization for appropriateness of gift card purchases on the grant(s) referenced.
    3. Expense Operations Lead: The Expense Operations Lead reviews the Spend Authorization for compliance with UW-3027 – Gift Cards. Expense Operations Leads may “Approve” the Spend Authorization, “Send Back” the Spend Authorization for editing and resubmission, or “Deny” the Spend Authorization to eliminate it from the approval workflow.
    4. Once fully approved, the employee/cardholder receives a Workday Notification and may proceed with the gift card purchase.
  3. Reconciliation: Cardholders will reconcile the gift card transaction by linking the approved Spend Authorization to an Expense Report containing the related credit card transaction.
    1. Log in to Workday.
    2. Navigate to the Expense Report:
      1. If creating an expense report for yourself: From the Workday Homepage, click on Personal, then Expenses Hub. On the subsequent screen, under “Tasks,” click the Create Expense Report button.
      2. If creating an expense report for someone else, use the Workday Search bar to search for either the Create Expense Report for Worker task or the Create Expense Report for Non-Worker task. Click on the appropriate task. On the resulting screen, search for the employee or External Committee Member (non-employee) by entering their name in the “For” field, clicking Enter, and then selecting the appropriate individual from the resulting list.
      3. If adding a Spend Authorization to an existing expense report in “Draft” status, open the report, click the Edit button on the bottom of the Header tab, click into the “Spend Authorization” field, and add the related Spend Authorization.
    3. On the subsequent screen, complete the following:
      1. Creation Options: Select the third radio button, Create New Expense Report from Spend Authorization. Click into the related field and select the appropriate Spend Authorization from the resulting list.
      2. Update the Business Purpose, if necessary.  When creating an Expense Report from a Spend Authorization, the Business Purpose from the Spend Authorization will automatically default into the Expense Report. The “Gift Cards (Spend Auth Only)” Business Purpose can only be submitted on a Spend Authorization and, therefore, will have to be updated on the related Expense Report.
      3. Enter a Driver Worktag (optional).
      4. Select related Credit Card Transaction(s).
      5. Click OK.
      6. Complete the remaining reconciliation as outlined in Procedure 3013.2 – Purchasing Card Use and Account Management.
  4. Expense Report Approval: During the approval process, the Expense Partner will confirm each gift card purchase is accompanied by an approved Spend Authorization and other supporting documentation as required by UW-3027 – Gift Cards.

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IV. Contact roles and responsibilities

  • Cardholder: responsible for submitting a Spend Authorization and awaiting approval prior to purchasing gift cards and subsequently reconciling the Spend Authorization with an accompanying expense report and required supporting documentation.
  • Central Grant Accountant: responsible for reviewing and approving the Spend Authorization for appropriate use of grant funding.
  • Driver Worktag Manager: responsible for reviewing and approving the Spend Authorization and subsequent Expense Report for funding appropriateness and budget availability.
  • Expense Operations Lead: responsible for reviewing and approving the Spend Authorization for policy compliance.
  • Expense Partner: A member of the central audit team in the Division of Business Services responsible for reviewing expense reports for policy compliance.

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V. Definitions

  • Expense Report: Electronic submission to request reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses and/or to submit card-product expenses for approval.
  • Spend Authorization: A request submitted in Workday Expenses that must be used to obtain pre-approval for gift card purchases.
  • Workday: the cloud-based software used by the Universities of Wisconsin to manage finance and human resources.

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VI. Related references

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VII. Revisions

Procedure Number 3027.1
Date Approved July 1, 2026
Revision Dates N/A

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UW–Madison Travel & Card Team launches new Expenses Q&A series

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The UW–Madison Travel & Card Team kicks off a new virtual Expenses Q&A series on May 28 where UW employees can learn Workday Expenses tips and tricks, best practices, and frequent audit findings. There will also be time for attendees to ask their own questions of the team.

Attendance is optional and open to all UW employees who work with Workday Expenses. Each Q&A session is an hour long and sessions will be recorded.

Scheduled summer sessions:

  • May 28, 10 – 11 a.m.; session full but waitlist available
  • June 23, 1 – 2 p.m.
  • July 29, 10 – 11 a.m.

Register for a Expenses Q&A Session (Workday Training)

When future sessions are scheduled, they will be available at the same Q&A registration link above. Learn more about Purchasing Cards and related trainings on the Purchasing Card page and find reimbursement information on the Reimbursement page.

Workday Expenses Central Audit – Data Enhancements

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The Workday Expenses Centralized Audit web page has been updated with new processing statistics. Previously, the Travel and Card team had been able to share only the estimated turnaround time for newly submitted reports in business days. This figure represented a projected maximum turnaround time in an effort to convey transparently the anticipated delays to our campus community. We are happy to share we now have enhanced data and reporting capabilities that allow us to publish the actual daily average and median Expense Partner processing times for approved reports, along with the potential maximum processing time. For clarity and simplicity, we have standardized the reporting to calendar days rather than business days.

As of October 22, the Expense Partner team has an average processing time of 21 calendar days, a median processing time of 23 calendar days, and a maximum estimated processing time of 30 calendar days. The calculated average and median have been trending downward, and we anticipate further improvements in the coming weeks as our new Madison central audit staff members are now fully trained and assisting with the queue.

Since September 16, team members have approved a total of 9,990 reports and the queue has had a net decrease of just over 2,300 reports from the peak queue volume. The difference between total approved and net decrease is attributable mainly to the significant daily incoming volume of reports in a season of peak expenses activity.

The Travel and Card Team would like to sincerely thank all of our campus stakeholders for their patience, understanding, and support as we have navigated the challenges of the last few months. We are committed to continuous improvement of our service delivery area, as well as increased customer satisfaction over the coming months.

If you have any questions about centralized audit of Workday Expenses at UW-Madison, please feel free to reach out to Allie Watters (allie.watters@wisc.edu) at any time.

Travel and Card Policy Updates – October 2024

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As of October 1, 2024, several changes were made affecting travel policy and expense reimbursement/payment approval guidance. The information is summarized below.

Travel Policy Updates

Effective October 1, 2024, the following travel policy updates have been made as a result of the August 1, 2024 update to UW-5087 – Remote Work:

  • UW-3016 – Air Travel: This policy was updated to reduce the number of situations in which a cost comparison is required for air travel. Specifically, “travel prior to or after the required business travel dates” (e.g., adding personal time to business travel) no longer requires a cost comparison. In addition, travelers may now depart from or return to any airport within the state of Wisconsin or within 100 miles from the Wisconsin border without a cost comparison. The policy was further updated to clarify that when a cost comparison is required, the cost comparison flight will generally depart from or return to the Dane County Regional Airport (MSN).  The “no exceptions” clause has been removed from the 80% reimbursement statement when a valid cost comparison is not provided with a payment/reimbursement request.
  • UW-3026 – Non-Payable/Non-Reimbursable Expenses: This policy was updated to include a prohibition of payment/reimbursement of travel expenses to an employee’s assigned headquarters location.
  • UW-3015 – University Travel: This policy was updated to provide allowable departure and return times for UW business travel. Arrival on the day prior to a business event and departure on the day after business concludes is allowable. For international travel, arrival up to two days prior to the business event is allowable.
  • UW-3019 – Vehicle Use/Rental: This policy was updated to clarify the situations when mileage is a reimbursable expense. To summarize – commute mileage is never reimbursable and must be accounted for when reconciling business travel expenses.

Remote Work Audit Timeline

Travel and expense payment approvers should use the following timeline when auditing expenses:

  • For travel occurring on or before October 1, 2024: Expense reimbursement claims or payments will be processed under the remote work policy in place prior to August 2, 2024.
  • For travel occurring between October 1 and December 31, 2024: Exceptions may be granted via the Exception Request for Business Travel Form to allow for travel to headquarters location or additional mileage due to change in headquarters location if the travel was planned or scheduled prior to August 1, 2024.
  • All travel on or after January 1, 2025 for remote employees must conform to UW-Madison travel policies and application of UW-5087 – Remote Work.

Audit Resources

Information will be forthcoming for all e-Reimbursement approvers/auditors and purchasing card site managers who will need access to HR Remote Work Agreement data to audit travel expenses for remote employees.

Remote Work Agreements

All UW–Madison employees working remotely were required to complete a FY25 Remote Work Agreement (RWA) by October 1, 2024.  If employees completed their FY25 RWA prior to July 31, 2024, they did so with the previous version of the RWA. It is recommended a new RWA be submitted – especially for those employees who are assigned fully remote (as a condition of their employment) – to streamline the expense reimbursement process going forward.

Questions

If you have questions about any of the above, please feel free to reach out to one of the Travel & Card Team’s shared inboxes: expensereimbursement@bussvc.wisc.edu, uwtravel@bussvc.wisc.edu, or pcard@bussvc.wisc.edu.

Travel and Card Policy Updates – July 2024

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The Travel and Card team is pleased to announce several modifications to existing policies. See below for a summary of changes and impacts.

  • Policy UW-3016, Air Travel: Section I. Booking Methods has been updated to reflect four distinct exceptions. Previously, exceptions A. and B. were combined, which led to confusion, as the exceptions are truly separate and unrelated cases. The updated language reflects two separate exception categories: flights that can not be booked with designated travel management company and international flights purchased abroad (outside the United States).
  • Policy UW-3019, Vehicle Use/Rental: Previously, vehicle use/rental policy did not mention the allowability of parking expenses. A section has been added outlining payable and reimbursable parking expenses.
  • Policy UW-3024, Expense Reimbursement: There are two updates to expense reimbursement policy. The first update brings UW-Madison into alignment with the Universities of Wisconsin on accountable plan standards for Universities of Wisconsin students. The second update allows for expanded payment of expenses on behalf of any UW-Madison students, regardless of student type (e.g. undergraduate, graduate or doctoral students).
    • UW-Madison’s accountable plan needed to be updated to match Universities of Wisconsin policy to reflect that UW students who are not employed by the University are exempt from accountable plan requirements. Note that if a UW student is employed by UW-Madison or Universities of Wisconsin, they are considered an employee under the accountable plan and must comply with the 90-day deadlines.
    • Section IV., Claiming Own Expenses, has been updated to state employees may claim travel-related expenses for other travelers who are current UW-Madison students. Previously, this policy restricted the exception to undergraduate student travel only. Efforts should still be made to direct pay for student expenses utilizing Purchasing Cards or other direct methods of payment.
  • Policy UW-3026, Non-Payable/Non-Reimbursable Expenses: Edited to specify that parking costs at the headquarter worksite (office, etc.) are not payable/reimbursable. Previously, the term used was: assigned workplace. This change updates the language to reflect that used by Universities of Wisconsin. Added “early check-in” as a non-payable/non-reimbursable item on lodging folios; however, please be advised early check-in/late checkout may be paid or reimbursed if justified by business need/circumstances.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
UW-Madison Travel & Card Team
Travel policy/procedure-related questions – uwtravel@bussvc.wisc.edu
Expense reimbursement-related questions – expensereimbursement@bussvc.wisc.edu

April 2024 Travel, Expense, and Card Policy Updates

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The Travel and Card team is happy to announce the following policy updates and changes:

  • UW-3022, International Travel: To align with Universities of Wisconsin foreign/international travel policy, two new allowable expenses associated with international travel will be added: international calling/data plans when accompanied by a business justification and required inoculations/vaccinations.
  • UW-3024, Expense Reimbursement: Universities of Wisconsin require receipts regardless of cost for international calling/data plans as well as required inoculations/vaccinations. These have been added to the section “Receipts are always required…”
  • UW-3018, Meals and Incidentals: A note has been added to clarify that individual phone calls are included in the incidental per diem rate, but international calling/data plans are reimbursable for foreign travel if supported by a UW business purpose.
  • UW-3075, Official Functions and Expenses: Several Divisions on campus have reached out regarding whether children/dependent travel expenses may be included as part of an Official Function pre-approval for a UW-Madison job interview trip. Policy language currently limits this to “a spouse/significant other/companion.” The “a” will be removed to allow for more flexibility in arranging job interview travel, where the number of accompanying individuals is not limited to one. The policy will now read: “Travel expenses for spouse/significant other/companions to accompany an applicant on a UW-Madison job interview trip.” The approved Official Function must outline each additional traveler for the job interview trip, the approved travel expenses for additional travelers, and the business benefit for including the additional traveler(s) on the job interview trip.
  • UW-3026, Non-Payable/Non-Reimbursable Expenses: This policy needed to be updated to reflect that dependent travel expenses may be payable/reimbursable if associated with a preapproved Official Function for job applicant travel. Additionally, a provision for rental of graduation regalia was added. Purchase of regalia is neither payable nor reimbursable. Finally, we clarified a point of confusion around manuscript expenses; both article submission fees and article publication fees are payable/reimbursable when purchased using a card product (e.g., debit, credit).

All of these changes are reflected in the UW-Madison Policy Library.

Purchasing Card News – April 2022

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Spread the Word!

This communication was distributed to the UW-Madison Purchasing Card Site Manager and Purchasing Card Cardholder lists. To ensure all users stay informed, please forward this message to other staff as appropriate. We appreciate your assistance!

Fiscal Year-End

We are preparing for our first fiscal year-end since the implementation of the Purchasing Card Module in the Shared Financial System (SFS). As you may be aware, this fiscal year-end will look a little different than previous years. To finalize Fiscal Year 2022, all purchasing card transactions must be fully approved – and within a short timeframe! See below for important dates and deadlines.

  • Saturday, June 25: UW System Administration will load the final file from U.S. Bank into SFS.  Cardholders may begin their final verifications.
  • Wednesday, June 29: Deadline to reconcile ALL purchasing card transactions by 2:00 PM. If not fully approved (verified by cardholder AND approved by site manager), processing will run to “system-close” the transactions.
  • Tuesday, July 5: UW System Administration will begin loading files from U.S. Bank into SFS for Fiscal Year 2023 processing.

Note: Transaction files will not be loaded into SFS between 06/26/2022 and 07/04/2022.  Purchases can still be made during this time, but will not post to the cardholders’ Reconcile Statement pages until 07/05/2022 or later, and will be processed as Fiscal Year 2023 transactions.

Beginning in early June, purchasing cardholders and site managers are encouraged to reconcile transactions in a very timely manner to reduce the number of transactions needed to be reconciled at the end of the month before the final deadline on June 29. While we may offer some leniency during fiscal year-end, “System-Closed” transactions will qualify as non-compliance beginning July 1, 2022, and be subject to the program’s warning and revocation process. Please plan accordingly to get as much done as possible.

Approvals Required for Single Purchase Limit Increases Greater Than $5,000

Occasionally, a cardholder may request a single purchase limit increase that exceeds the $5,000 best-judgment purchase limit for a one-time payment. In the past, the Purchasing Card Program Office required approval from the cardholder’s Divisional Business Office and a director of Purchasing Services prior to increasing the limit. Effective immediately, all UW System campuses are required to obtain additional approvals from the UW System Administration Purchasing Card Program Manager and the State of Wisconsin Department of Administration Purchasing Card Program Manager. Please continue to route requests to the Purchasing Card Program Office and a UW-Madison Purchasing Card Program Administrator will facilitate the approvals from Purchasing Services, UWSA and DOA. Please note approvals may take 1-3 days depending on recipient availability. Please plan accordingly and limit “emergency” requests if possible.

Purchasing Card Audit Findings

Since the implementation of the Purchasing Card Module of the Shared Financial System (SFS), our program’s top audit finding has been related to a lack of required supporting documentation, most commonly, missing Events or Official Functions pre-approval forms. If policy requires supporting documentation for a purchase (e.g., Events – Meal Payment Form for a business meal as required by UW-3039 – Business Meals), then that documentation must be electronically attached to the transaction in SFS by the cardholder during the reconciliation process. Site Managers must review the attachments thoroughly and request any missing supporting documentation prior to approval. If a document is not present during a post-payment audit, but provided upon request, it will still result in an audit finding and a subsequent compliance warning. SFS is the official system of record for all purchasing card supporting documentation. Documentation retained outside SFS is not accessible to our post-payment auditors and, therefore, must be attached electronically to the appropriate transaction in SFS to be fully compliant with purchasing card policy.

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact pcard@bussvc.wisc.edu.

Purchasing Card News – September 2021

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Spread the Word!

This communication was distributed to the UW-Madison Purchasing Card Site Manager and Purchasing Card Cardholder lists.  To ensure all users stay informed, please forward this email to other staff as appropriate.  We appreciate your assistance!

Purchasing Card Module Implementation

On December 11, 2021, Business Services will implement the Purchasing Card module of the Shared Financial System (SFS).  The module will facilitate the reconciliation, verification, and approval of purchasing card transactions and become the system of record for all purchasing card supporting documentation and approvals.  The Purchasing Card module will replace the use of U.S. Bank’s Access Online for most functionality apart from program maintenance performed by Purchasing Card Program Administrators.

Benefits of the Purchasing Card Module

We are anticipating many benefits from use of the new Purchasing Card module, including:

  • Shorter timeframe between date of purchase and date of posting to WISER: Transactions are loaded to the Purchasing Card module daily and can be reconciled daily; there is no need to wait for the “billing cycle” to end.
  • No more edit deadlines: Since transactions are loaded daily, site managers can review and approve as cardholders complete their verifications.
  • Additional cardholder functionality: In the Purchasing Card module, cardholders can allocate transactions if they choose.
  • Access to supporting documentation: Since the Purchasing Card module will be the system of record, auditors will have access to supporting documentation, eliminating the need to request from site managers via email.
  • Electronic approvals: All verifications and approvals will be done electronically, eliminating the need for signatures on paper statements.
  • Automated reminders: The Purchasing Card module includes automated email reminders to ensure unreconciled transactions are not forgotten.

PLUS, MORE!

Training

Prior to implementation, all purchasing cardholders and site managers are required to complete training to remain eligible for the purchasing card program.  This online training will be a combination of the annual refresher training and the new module training.  Information about training will be communicated directly to cardholders and site managers via email in mid-October.

Timeline

Please note the important dates below:

  • October 15, 2021: Training available and distributed to cardholders and site managers.
  • November 2021: Online Q&A Sessions available (more information and registration links forthcoming)
  • December 11, 2021: Purchasing Card Module implementation date; cardholders and site managers begin reconciling purchasing card transactions posted 12/11/2021 or later in the Purchasing Card module.
  • December 17, 2021: Final edit deadline in Access Online for the 12/10/2021 billing period. Transactions posted after 12/10/2021 must be reconciled in the Purchasing Card module.

Note: Any changes to the above will be further communicated.

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact pcard@bussvc.wisc.edu.

Purchasing Card News – July 2021

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Spread the Word!

This communication was distributed to the UW-Madison Purchasing Card Site Manager and Purchasing Card Cardholder lists.  To ensure all users stay informed, please forward this email to other staff as appropriate.  We appreciate your assistance!

UWSA Office of Internal Audit Continuous Purchasing Card Review

The UW System Administration Office of Internal Audit completed a review of UW Madison purchasing card activity between 06/27/2020 and 12/28/2020.  This audit included a review of 186 transactions and resulted in a total of 18 audit findings.  The most common audit findings include:

  • Lack of an Adequate Business Purpose: Many transactions are reconciled merely with itemizations listed as the business purpose. A proper business purpose includes a detailed explanation of how a purchase is used to conduct UW business.
  • Personal Purchases: Accidental personal use of a purchasing card stored in an online consumer profile accounts for many of our audit findings and compliance warnings. It is recommended users create separate online profiles (e.g. Amazon) for business-use only prior to entering any card information.
  • Statement Approvals: Policy requires statements be signed within 30 days of the billing cycle close date. Many statements are missing signatures and/or dates or are signed outside of the 30-day requirement.

Greeting Cards

In the most recent UWSA Office of Internal Audit Continuous Purchasing Card Review, we received two audit findings for purchasing business-related greeting cards because, per the UWSA Purchasing Card Manual, greeting cards of any nature are seen to be personal in nature and are, therefore, not allowable expenses on the purchasing card.  UW-Madison leadership agreed there are multiple valid situations in which it would be appropriate to use University funds to purchase a greeting card for a business-related use.  As of June 2021, the “greeting card” referenced in the list of Purchasing Card Frequently Questioned Purchases has been removed.  Greeting cards are now allowable provided a UW business purpose is documented on the supporting documentation.

Note: Greeting cards for employees must continue to adhere to the requirements in UW-3075: Official Functions and Expenses.

Purchasing Card Delivery Addresses

Since the COVID-19 telecommute began, the Purchasing Card Program Manager has been requesting alternate delivery addresses from card applicants to ensure card delivery to the most appropriate location (e.g. one’s personal residence).  After campus reopens on August 1, 2021, this process will cease and cards will be delivered to the address submitted on the Purchasing Card Automated Application & Agreement.  Address information defaults based on the applicant’s Net ID; however, the fields are editable.  If an employee is working remotely, a home address may be used.  Please note the card delivery address is the same as the account’s “billing address.”  If preferred, please contact the Purchasing Card Program Manager after the card is received to update the address to a campus location, but keep in mind, any subsequent replacement cards will be delivered to the current system address.

Purchasing Card Module Update

The implementation of the Purchasing Card Module of PeopleSoft is now scheduled for Fall of 2021.  Further communication and training will be forthcoming.

Purchasing Card Counts and Credit Limits

In the spring of 2021, all UW-Madison schools, colleges, and auxiliaries participated in a UW System Administration-directed effort to reduce the number of purchasing cards and overall credit limit for each campus purchasing card program.  Between 06/01/2020 and 06/01/2021, the overall number of purchasing cards on the UW-Madison campus decreased from 2,656 cards to 2,492 cards (6% decrease) and the overall credit limit decreased from approximately $32 million to approximately $25 million (20% decrease).  We appreciate your assistance in this effort and are pleased with the progress we have made thus far; however, acknowledge we still have work to do.  We will continue to monitor idle accounts and unused credit as well as analyze purchasing card spend to identify purchases more appropriately procured through ShopUW+.

UW Travel Webinars

UW System Administration and the UW’s contracted travel agencies, Travel Incorporated and Fox World Travel, have scheduled a few “Open Houses” to reintroduce travel for individual travelers and those arranging group travel.  For more information and registration, click here.

New Travel & Card Student Intern

We are excited to welcome Chloe Thorpe to the Travel & Card Team as our first student employee since March 2020.  Chloe is a sophomore at UW-Madison studying Accounting and Finance.  She will be assisting with purchasing card maintenance and other daily tasks.  While you may receive communication directly from Chloe, please continue sending your requests/questions to meghann.grove@wisc.edu for review and approval.

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact pcard@bussvc.wisc.edu.

Purchasing Card News – September 2020

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Spread the Word!

This communication was distributed to the UW-Madison Purchasing Card Site Manager and Purchasing Card Cardholder lists.  To ensure all users stay informed, please forward this email to other staff as appropriate.  We appreciate your assistance!

UWSA Office of Internal Audit Continuous Purchasing Card Review

The UW System Administration Office of Internal Audit completed a review of UW-Madison purchasing card activity between 12/28/2019 and 06/26/2020.  This audit included a review of 190 transactions and resulted in a total of nine audit findings:

It should be noted this audit period is unique in that it includes the time period in which the COVID-19 telecommute began and the subsequent months that followed.  Given these unprecedented circumstances, purchasing card program staff, site managers, cardholders and campus leadership did their best to continue conducting business-as-usual while working from home and, in some cases, with limited tools, technology and resources.  We acknowledge that some policy leniencies and procedure modifications were required.  We commend our program users for their efforts to comply with the directions given in the early stages of our telecommuting time period.

Purchasing Card Statement Review and Approvals

In light of our recent audit findings and considering the indefinite time-frame for our continued telecommute, new guidance is available for cardholders and site managers when reviewing and approving Cardholder Statements:

Every effort should be made to ensure purchasing card transactions are reviewed and approved within 30 days from the billing cycle end date as per policy. If physical signatures are unable to be obtained due to remote work, e-mail approval or a verifiable electronic approval is adequate for audit purposes. These approvals must be obtained within the 30-day requirement. If due to furlough or termination, the 30-day deadline is not able to be met, this should be thoroughly documented with the purchasing card supporting documentation.

It is most important these approvals are included with the supporting documentation if a transaction is selected for audit.  Please review all supporting documentation before submission to the auditor to avoid unnecessary audit findings.

Purchasing Card Module Update

The implementation of the Purchasing Card Module of PeopleSoft has been delayed until Spring 2021 due to technical conflicts with another module.  UW-Madison is the only campus impacted by this issue, so other campuses will be able to implement the module sooner and (hopefully!) work out any remaining issues not identified by testing.  We will continue to test the system, modify training documentation, and draft communication plans in coming months.  Thank you for your patience.

2021 Cardholder and Site Manager Calendars

The 2021 Cardholder Calendar and 2021 Site Manager Editing Calendar are now available on the Business Services website.

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact pcard@bussvc.wisc.edu.