Finance Director Responsibilities

The expense reporting process is the link between what was charged on the P-Card and where that charge appears on your Budget Performance Report (BPR).

On a monthly basis, the Finance Director will review expense reports for all assigned Cardholders who made purchases, and should take any appropriate actions for violations.

Any GW employee or student (provided that they are working on behalf of the University) is eligible to apply for a P-Card. In determining need, do the following situations apply:

• Is this person regularly required to transact business or complete transactions on behalf of the University?
• Will this person be responsible for adhering to policies and procedures?
• Are there already other Cardholders within the department that could make purchases for this person?

Should changes in single transaction thresholds or monthly spend be required, only the Finance Director* or authorized Backup* named in the P-Card Enrollment Request shall be allowed to make changes.  Changes should be requested via an email from the Finance Director to the P-Card Office at [email protected]. Please review the rules below.

Remember: P-Cards are not departmental P-Cards and may not be shared among coworkers. The only person authorized to use a P-Card is the person whose name is embossed on the P-Card. Departments may have as many Cardholders as they require.

Please note:  An administrative cardholder may place their card information within the iBuy+ Travel profile of faculty and staff within their Division/School. The cardholder then is responsible for all charges made on that card for individuals booking tickets through iBuy+ Travel. The Cardholder must remain in possession of the card at all time.

NOTE: No deviation beyond the stated P-Card responsibilities will be considered.

To ensure that your Cardholders are making authorized purchases and charging to the correct Oracle alias and account, you must be familiar with the GW Travel and Entertainment Policy. Please also review the Travel, Entertainment and Business Expense Reimbursement Manual. Remember the importance of having every transaction supported by appropriate documentation. If you find that a Cardholder has made an unauthorized purchase, notify the P-Card department immediately.

It is the at Financial Director/Manager's discretion as to how closely a cardholder needs to be monitored. It is your responsibility to both safeguard the budget and to ensure that card usage is following GW policy. It is recommended that BPR's be routinely reviewed to ensure that all P-Card transactions are being posted to the proper Oracle account and alias.

A Departmental Correction Form is used to correct an error in the P-Card/Oracle Allocation process. The Office of Research Services must approve Departmental Correction forms for charges to sponsored projects. Excessive use of the Departmental Correction Form to correct budget allocations may lead to the closure of that P-Card.

The protocol has multiple purposes:

• Obtain immediate action from employees and PCard holders to submit an expense report to address the aging charges.
• Define the escalation path when timely action by the PCard holder does not occur. At 40 days, escalation to the employee’s manager will occur.
• Define appropriate time frame for additional corrective activity such as declining reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses, suspension of PCard privileges and including the amount on the employee’s W-2.

More details regarding delinquent reporting can be found here.

If a GW P-Card holder transfers to another department:

The Finance Director of the new department must send a request into [email protected]:

• Requesting that the individual be moved.
• Needs to provide the new Backup 1 and 2(optional) approvers
• Needs to provide the new alias for the employee. 

The employee needs to:

• Make sure all charges from their previous department are reconciled in Concur.
• Provide their new business address and phone number to [email protected]. At this time it’s good to also confirm your home address and cell phone.
• That any auto billed accounts are adjusted as needed.
• Update to their new default approver.

Please do not have the employee apply for a new card.  If a new card number is needed to assist with the transition that can be done with the current account.

If a GW P-Card holder is leaving GW, the Cardholder must:

• Email [email protected] with a cc to their Finance Director stating the GW P-Card (include the last 4 digits only) was destroyed.
  • The P-Card Department will cancel the P-Card.
• Assign at least one individual to be your delegate in Concur for any outstanding charges or credits.
• Submit a report clearing out any current P-Card charges.
• Provide full back-up on any outstanding charges to their delegate and Finance Director. This information should include, itemized receipts, business reason, attendee’s names (if needed), itemizations (if needed), Oracle Alias (if charges should be assigned to another) and any other information needed for these transactions. Items without backup will be considered personal use costs and put on the employee’s year end W2.