Purpose
To ensure that cardholders are in compliance with University policy and to mitigate the risk of cardholder privileges being suspended or cancelled.
Scope
This document applies to all NYU Steinhardt P-Card and CTA Cardholders.
Policy
P-Card: Purchasing
The NYU Purchasing Card, commonly referred to as a “P-Card,” is a tool offered to New York University employees who are responsible for procuring goods and services for their department. The P-Card is a University liability Master Card used for purchasing low-dollar items not available on i-Buy.
Below is a list of approved & prohibited uses. Use of the P-Card for a prohibited use will result in card suspension.
Approved Use
- Admission Fees (e.g., museums, theaters, sporting events)
- Books and publications
- Conference registrations
- Deposit for room rental for an event
- Food-Delivery/Catering
- Mail, copy and small print services
- Marketing, advertising and promotion items
- Memberships and subscriptions
- Non-network related PC and Telecom accessories not available on i-BUY
- Purchase of Software (Must consult Steinhardt Technology prior to purchase)
- Shipping Services (e.g. UPS & FEDEX)
- Stationery and Office supplies not available on i-BUY
- Taxis (when CTA Card is not available)
- Visa/Consular fees
Prohibited Use
- Purchase of any form of Gift Cards and/or Gifts (unless pre-authorized for research by Steinhardt Finance & Central NYU Finance)
- Cash Advances: Payment Cards must not be used for cash advance (unless pre-approved by University CFO)
- Contracting & Financial Services
- Controlled Substances
- Consulting (i.e. Architectural, computer, online technical support etc.)
- Purchase of Cell Phones, Computers(desktop and laptop), Printers, Tablets & other IT related Devices (please contact Steinhardt Technology )
- Purchase of Laboratory animals
- Items for non-University purposes
- Purchase of items already existing in i-BUY
CTA Card: Travel
The CTA card is used for business travel expenses for NYU employees and University guests/visitors such as job applicants and speakers.
Approved Use
- Flights (i.e., Airfare & Baggage fees)
- Visa Application Fees
- Bus Tickets/ Rentals (i.e., Bolt, Mega,)
- Car Rentals (Avis, Budget & Enterprise/National Only)
- Car Services/ Taxis
- Deposit for events and venues
- Hotels
- Rail - Amtrak, including Acela
- Travel Agencies (Egencia)
Prohibited Use
- Any purchases that are not categorized as travel and entertainment purchases for either an individual or groups within the University
- Cash advances
- Purchase of any form of Gift Cards and/or Gifts
Reconciliation
Cardholders are required to review and reconcile all purchase transactions on a monthly basis via the GRAM system. A walk-through on how to do so, can be found via NYU iLearn.
During reconciliation, Cardholders are required to:
-
Verify monthly charges for accuracy against purchase receipts and dispute with the Bank any unauthorized charges.
- Upload the receipts or other supporting documentation to GRAM via pdf or JPEG
Acceptable forms of documentation are as follows:
For P-Card- Receipt
- Invoice
- Quote
- Missing Receipt Form
- Receipt
- Booking Confirmation
- Missing Receipt Form
-
Provide a Description of the Expense
-
Update chartfields as necessary
The default chartfield (including account code) should only be used for purchases that correspond to that chartfield. -
If applicable, breakout the tax amount for each transaction
-
Receipts must have a description of what is purchased. If the receipt does not describe what is purchased, please write a brief description on the receipt.
- For receipts relating to meals with more than 1 participant, the names of all participants must be included on the receipt.
- The allowable maximum tipping percentage as per the NYU P-Card policy and NYU Business policy is 20%.
- Any expense relating to the purchase of alcohol should be posted to account 65183 (Alcohol cannot be posted to Funds 24,25)
- Fund 24 and 25 cannot be used as default chartfields when filling out the P-Card or CTA Card applications, however, transactions can be charged to these funds when the reviews are done.
Managing Disputes
Cardholders are directly responsible for resolving any statement discrepancies with the supplier and/or the Bank to ensure corrections and/or credits are made on a timely basis. Any disputes should be identified and explained during the monthly reconciliation process. After calling the Bank’s help desk phone number, Cardholders are required to complete the Bank’s hardcopy dispute form within 60 days of the dispute and work with the Bank until the matter is resolved. The Cardholders must comply with the Bank’s terms for the dispute process. The disputed transaction amounts are credited to the Cardholder’s account while the dispute is resolved. If the dispute is valid, the credit remains in place, if the dispute is rejected; the debit is re-entered to the account.
If a dispute involves the return of a purchased item, Cardholders are responsible for arranging all returns directly with the supplier. If a dispute remains unresolved after two billing cycles, Cardholders should report the dispute to the Global Payment Card Program team. They will work with the Cardholder and the Bank to resolve these disputes.
All disputed transactions have to include comments in the Expense Description tab. If there is a comment about the dispute, it is not required to be reviewed or approved. If the comment is missing, the transaction will be flagged by the Internal Audit team and we will have to revisit the issue. As soon as credit is posted to the account, the same comment should be added to the transaction that the credit is due to the disputed charge. Again, if the comment is added to the Expense Description tab and saved, no review and approval are required.
Failure to comply with the above guidelines will result in immediate card suspension or revocation.
Please consult Steinhardt Finance at steinhardt.finance@nyu.edu, if you have any additional questions or concerns.