Regulations on the usage of Departmental Credit Cards
This document describes the procedures which apply to the issue and usage of Departmental credit cards. These regulations apply with effect from 1st January 2009. General regulations: 1. Departmental credit cards (hereafter referred to as ‘cards’) must be used solely for business purposes. Use for personal expenditure is expressly prohibited and may result in disciplinary action. Cards must only be used for the purchase or goods or services which cannot be obtained through usual channels by the raising of a purchase order on the University’s finance system. Cards must not be used for personal expenses, disallowed expenditure on nonbusiness entertaining, or for making cash withdrawals. For further guidance on allowable business entertaining, please see the section on Entertainment in the University Expenses and Benefits Manual.
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Eligibility and application process: 3. All departments are eligible to join the scheme. All applications must be made on the correct forms and must demonstrate a clear need for the use of such a card over and above the usual purchasing procedures already available. Application forms and guidance notes are available for download on the Finance Department web-site at: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/finance/forms/expenses/ 5. Completed application forms should be returned to the Payments section at the Finance Division Offices, 23-38 Hythe Bridge Street. A recommendation will be made, based upon the details provided, to the Director of Finance on whether an application should proceed or not. If the recommendation is to proceed then applicants will be asked to complete a Barclaycard card application form, provide a specimen signature for the card-holder and return the application to the Finance Department for authorization and onward transmission. Cards will be sent from Barclaycard in the first instance via secure post to the Finance Department. Applicants will then be invited to collect the card in person and sign for its receipt. The process between completion of Barclaycard application and receipt of card is usually no longer than 3 weeks.
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Security and custody of cards: 7. 8. Each card is issued to a named cardholder who will have responsibility for the custody of that card and will ensure that it is used only for the purposes described in these regulations. Cardholders must ensure that cards are signed immediately upon receipt. When a cardholder leaves the department, or a card is no longer required, then the Head of Accounting Services must be notified immediately so that the account may be cancelled and the card surrendered. The cardholder must take all reasonable steps to ensure the proper security of the card. As with cash holdings, it is recommended that the card be kept in a safe or locked cash box, with access strictly limited and controlled. Each card is covered by Barclaycard’s own insurance. Lost or stolen cards must be notified to Barclaycard as soon as the loss is identified (to the telephone number given on the statement). Notification should also be made to the Head of Accounting Services at the Finance Division Offices (Extension (6)16125).
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Record keeping: 12. 13. University financial procedures, as governed by Financial Regulations, apply to the usage of cards for purchasing. Purchase requisitions will not be required on Oracle for purchases made by card. Departments must adhere to the following process, however, to ensure that all card transactions are correctly transferred to Oracle in a timely and accurate fashion. (i) When a purchase is made using the card, the purchaser must ensure that a proper VAT invoice or receipt is requested to support each transaction. This document will usually be delivered with the goods. Regular statements will be sent from Barclaycard to departments after the 8th of each month, detailing transactions for the period since the last statement. Cardholders should review each statement and confirm that every transaction is accurate and conforms to these regulations. Any inaccuracies should be reported to Barclaycard immediately on the telephone number which appears on the statement. A copy of the statement should be taken and retained for departmental records. Against each line of the original statement a General Ledger or Project code must be specified in the standard Oracle format (i.e. Cost centre – Account – Activity – Source of Funds – Organization for GL; Project – Task – Award – Expenditure Type – Organization for Projects). It is only possible to specify one code per line and split coding of individual lines is not permitted. The VAT code should also be specified. Where invoices and receipts exist these should also be attached to the statement. Each statement page must then be signed by an authorized signatory who is not the named cardholder and then the completed statement forwarded to the Payments Team for input to Oracle no later than 20 days from the date of the statement. Barclaycard transactions must not be input to Oracle within departments. All cardholders will be assigned a default Oracle cost code for card purchases. Departments which fail to complete the steps above within the required deadlines will have all charges for the month posted against the default code.
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Documents will be input to Oracle against the following generic supplier account: Supplier: Barclaycard Supplier number: 2019685 The supplier with whom the purchase was actually made will be identified on the ‘description’ line of the invoice.
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Statements are also received centrally within the Accounting Services unit of the Finance Department. This unit will also review each transaction listed to verify independently that only bona fide purchases are being made. Departments may be asked from time to time for further details on specific transactions. This will be for the purposes of spot checking against statements and such requests must be complied with. All card expenditure is paid centrally via direct debit on or around the 15th of each month. Payments Team staff will reconcile payments made to Barclaycard against statements processed from departments.
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Default: 17. Usage of cards will be monitored by the Accounting Services unit of the Finance Department. Cardholders who do not comply with these regulations will initially receive a reminder, followed by a warning, which, if ignored, will result in the card being cancelled and may result also in disciplinary action depending upon the nature of the default. The decision of the Director of Finance in these instances will be final.
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Application for a Departmental Credit Card
Please read the attached guidance notes and regulations on the usage of credit cards before completing this form.
Section A: General Details (to be completed by the requestee)
Department name Card requested by
(This should either be the head of department or the Administrator)
Named Cardholder Mail Address
……………….………………….…………………… ……………………………….……….……………… ………………………………….……….……………
Tel no: E-mail:
Section B: Reasons for Application
Please set out below the reasons why the department requires the use of a credit card. This should include the types of items to be purchased, the frequency of use and the advantages to be gained through buying these items using the card (as opposed to using the normal departmental purchasing channels).
Section C: Declaration
I have read and understood the guidelines relating to the procedures surrounding the use of the departmental credit card. I agree to follow these procedures and to use the card to purchase items only for business purposes which cannot be practicably obtained through the normal departmental purchasing process. I understand that a failure by the department to comply with the procedures may result in t he account being closed.
Signature…………………………………………………………………….…… Authorization by the Head of Department Signature………………………………………………………………….………
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Date………..……
Date………...……
Section D: Application Review
Comments and proposed action:-
Action:
ACCEPT
REJECT
Delete as appropriate
Signature…………………………………………..
Date…………………
Authorisation by Finance Director and Secretary of the Chest (or approved delegated officer)
Action:
APPROVE
REJECT
Delete as appropriate
Signature…………………………………………..
Date…………………
Guidance notes on Completion of this form: Applicants for a Departmental credit card must read the attached regulations on the usage of credit cards and then complete the form as follows: A. Complete section ‘A’ of this document giving the department name, name of who is requesting the card and name which will appear on the card. The mail address should be the postal address of the department to which copy statements will be sent by Barclaycard. Telephone number and email details should be the work contacts for the named card-holder. B. Provide in section ‘B’ as comprehensive a description as possible on the type and frequency of purchases which it is expected to be made with the card. Consideration should be given to the other purchasing alternatives available and why they would not be suitable. C. Read carefully the declaration in section ‘C’ and then the named card holder should sign and date it before getting the Head of department to counter-sign and date. Section ‘D’ should be left blank. The completed form should be returned to the Payments Section, Finance Division Offices, 23-38 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford.
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