.100 General

Small Purchase Charge Card (SPCC) offers departments an alternate payment method when making small purchases. This method gives departments the opportunity to purchase goods and services, costing $10,000 or less. Bank of America is the charge card vendor for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

This reduces paperwork and processing for the department and the university. Bank of America makes payments directly to the vendors. The Small Purchase Charge Card is the preferred method of payment for any purchases $10,000 and under. If the vendor accepts VISA, this method must be utilized. Information reports are available to help cardholders and departments maintain control over purchases and payments. Departments must retain all SPCC records for one (1) year plus the current fiscal year for auditing by the Cash & Investments Office beginning with the January 2022 Bank of America SPCC statement. SPCC records for cycles prior to January 2022 are still required to be retained for the three (3) previous years plus the current year.

Currently, standard use of the SPCC is limited to amounts up to $10,000 per purchase transaction without prior approval by Cash & Investments and Procurement. Departments are liable for authorized charges made using the SPCC, cardholders are obligated to use the SPCC for allowable purchases only. The University does not permit use of the card for personal items; cash advances, and travel expenses (with the exception of mass transit and conference registration fees). To maximize the reduction in administrative costs, cardholders should make purchases from vendors who accept the card.

Effective FY2021, a separate International SPCC program has been approved and implemented. The Cash and Investments SPCC Program Administrators will coordinate issuing, funding, and managing these cards in coordination with International Accounting. Accommodations have been made within this SPCC platform for approved program related travel and cash advances. Training and procedures regarding unique nuances of this program will be provided separately to these cardholders. Departments must retain all IAPCC records for three (3) years plus the current fiscal year for auditing. The IAPCC will not be reconciled online at this time.

Cardholders may contact the Small Purchase Charge Card (SPCC) Program Administrator, x87396, x88061 or x86771 if they have questions concerning appropriate use of the card or email the departmental mailbox: appa@jmu.edu.

.200 Request, Change or Cancel a Card

Department Heads may request cards for employees who have authority to purchase items for the department. To request cards, the Department shall complete the Small Purchase Charge Card Application found on the Cash and Investments webpage James Madison University - Finance Office: Small Purchase Charge Card Program (jmu.edu) or in the JMU Workflow SPCC Center in PeopleSoft Finance. The SPCC Program Administrator will notify the department when they receive the card. Employees shall come to the Cash & Investments Office to pick up the card and to sign the Application acknowledging that they have received the card.

WORKS access is permitted only for State Employees. Contract Employees are not allowed access per the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Accounts revisions to Cardinal Topic No#20355.

Cardholders needing changes to the data associated with their card within the Finance System (PeopleSoft) must complete the Manage Department ID or Manage Reconcilers electronic form(s) in the JMU Workflow SPCC Center in Peoplesoft Finance.

Cardholders shall return cards to the Cash & Investments Office immediately upon request of their Department Head or the Cash & Investments Office. The cardholder or supervisor shall notify the Cash & Investments Office by completing the Cancel SPCC form in the JMU Workflow SPCC Center in PeopleSoft when a cardholder has terminated employment or transferring from one University Department to another.

.300 Small Purchase Charge Card Security

Authorized use of the card is limited to the person whose name appears on the face of the card. Individual cardholders shall not lend the card to another person. The cardholder may request a card for another department employee, with procurement authority, when the cardholder will be absent from work for an extended period.  Cardholders are required to notify the Program Administrators in writing at appa@jmu.edu when they will be out on extended leave of more than 2 weeks, for any reason.  Their card will be temporarily suspended as a security measure.

Cards should be kept in an accessible but secure location. The cardholder should not post the card account number or leave the card in a conspicuous place.

If the card is lost or stolen, the cardholder shall immediately notify the SPCC Program Administrators, x87396, x88061 or x86771 or appa@jmu.edu .

James Madison University is liable for purchases, made by authorized users, with the SPCC, if the purchase is within the single per transaction dollar limit and does not exceed $10,000. James Madison University does not accept liability for the following:

.400 Returns, Credits, and Disputed Items

Usually, the cardholder and the vendor that provided the goods and services can resolve disputes. The cardholder shall use the following guidelines when returning an item:

.500 Reconciliation of the Small Charge Card Statement

The cardholder and the University are responsible for retaining documentation of purchases and returns. Departments shall reconcile transactions in the PeopleSoft Finance System, using documentation and information on the Department Purchasing Record, to the monthly VISA Charge Card Statement.

Listed below are required procedures for reconciliation:

1. Effective January 3, 2022 transactions will be reconciled in the Bank of America WORKS system. The reconciliation process will be electronic, allowing cardholders to allocate charges, upload receipts and approvers to approve transactions within the WORKS system. Bank of America’s WORKS system is located at https://payment2.works.com/works/home. The WORKS Login is assigned to cardholders when they receive the SPCC; Reconcilers have this assigned during implementation or when a cardholder submits a Manage Reconciler form in Peoplesoft Finance to add a reconciler that has never had this responsibility. Approvers receive their login during implementation or when new approver duties are assigned. The system can be accessed anywhere you have internet.

   Charges can be reconciled anytime during a billing cycle as soon as they post to the card. Any charges available to be reconciled will show under pending in the Bank of America WORKS application. Billing cycles will end around the 15^th monthly and all charges need to be reconciled and approved by the 25^th of the same month. Charges will be posted within 1-2 business days once reconciled and approved.

2. All supporting documentation should be kept with SPCC records for one previous fiscal year plus the current fiscal year. The cardholder/reconciler and supervisor must complete the review and approval process no later than the 25^th of same month as the billing cycle. Failure to comply will result in an infraction.
3. Each cardholder is responsible to have all original receipts, original food and beverage certification for any food purchased, and a copy of the PA for international travel. Effective 7/1/2024, travel outside of the continental United States to Alaska and Hawaii is considered international travel. Travel Documents (airline receipts, conference registration forms, approval for trip from supervisor) on file for 1 previous fiscal year plus the current fiscal year for audit purposes. Failure to maintain proper records can lead to the suspension or revocation of the small purchase charge card. Spending authority for the new cycle will be temporarily reduced until all charges are reconciled and approved.
4. If for some reason a charge is left in the conveniences account codes (120900, 130900, 140900, 150900, 220900) after the open reconciliation period, an ATV MUST be completed to move charges out of the convenience account code, currently the default convenience account code is 130900.  It is required that all convenience account codes be cleared out and have a zero balance.  Failure to move charges out of the convenience account codes will result in suspension or cancellation of your small purchase charge card.

.510 Auditing

The Small Purchase Charge Card will be audited by the Cash and Investments Office. The Cash and Investments Office runs audit reports to monitor the program and can conduct random full audits of cardholder monthly statements. Transactions will be audited based on these reports. When the required transactional documentation has been uploaded to the Bank of America WORKS system, Cash & Investments staff will review the information available online and will then follow up with the Cardholder if additional information is required. Cardholders are to respond to any audit requests from Cash and Investments, with a valid and complete response, in a timely manner. Card accounts may be suspended or closed due to non-response to audit requests. An audit checklist template is available for use by cardholders as a guideline for ensuring SPCC reconciliations/documentation are compliant with university and state requirements.

.600 Purchases/Expenditures

.610 Restricted Purchases

Cardholders may not charge the following purchases to the SPCC:

Industry Restrictions:
The following types of business are restricted on your small purchase charge card. If you try to make a purchase on one of these vendors, the charge will be rejected by VISA. Effective February 1, 2024 the restaurant block no longer applies and exceptions to have the restaurant block lifted is no longer required. Food and beverage purchases must still fall under one of the appropriate food and beverage functions as outlined in the JMU FPM 4205.314.

Besides the listed restricted items, cardholders should not charge purchases that are recurring in nature, such as, rentals and towing charges to the card.

.620 E-Commerce Purchases

Departments may purchase goods or services up to $10,000 using their SPCC through the Internet. Since the card number is transmitted when making purchases, users must be certain the vendor has a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Version 2.0 or greater. To ensure the vendor has a SSL, the Address Window must start with https://. This may not occur until the payment information is requested. For information about the vendor’s security certification, check under "Help" on the browser tool bar. If you place an internet purchase, a confirming order must be submitted into eVA.

Mobile payments of digital wallet services allow users to make payments in person, via mobile applications and on the web. The use of mobile wallets is not approved for use with the SPCC card program. Cardholders are prohibited from adding any SPCC card information to any payment applications such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung pay, etc. This also includes storing card information in applications such as Lyft, Uber, Uber Eats, GrubHub, Chick-fil-A, etc.

The use of third-party processors (PayPal, Square, etc.) is not prohibited, however, cardholders are not allowed to store their full 16-digit account number with these processors.

Amazon Pay is an online payment service that allows the option of paying a supplier utilizing an existing Amazon account. Amazon Pay does not identify the original supplier or provide a detailed description of the transactions in WORKS or the card statement. Amazon Pay and other similar payment options are not allowed.

The SPCC may be used to purchase airline and rail tickets over the Internet. The SPCC may be used as a "method of payment" for conference registrations. All compliance issues still apply as this registration is subject to a maximum prepayment period of 180 days.  As with all purchases, departmental funds must be available before making any expenditure commitments.

.625 Prepaid Cards

The Financial Procedures Manual section 4205.390 specifically states declining balance cards (prepaid cards) are not to be purchased as incentives or non-monetary recognition awards. Exceptions may be allowed for externally funded sponsored programs when the funding agency specifically states payment cards may be used as the incentive. This exception requires advance authorization and use of the university’s prepaid card program unless the sponsored program specifically states otherwise.

The state does not allow declining balance card purchases and JMU will comply. Failure by SPCC cardholders to adhere to this requirement may result in a requirement to repay the expense from non-state funds and/or suspension or cancellation of their card.

Employees are to use the Small Purchase Charge Card (SPCC) to make authorized card purchases (The SPCC is only for use by the cardholder and cannot be shared under any circumstances.) Student employees required to make point-of-sale purchases that cannot be procured by university employees, may be eligible for a university managed prepaid card. The department fiscal contact should contact the PrepaidCards@jmu.edu mailbox to investigate this option further.

.630 U. S. Bank Business Expense Prepaid Card

Effective August 2023 the U.S. Bank Business Expense Prepaid student employee card is a restricted option available specifically for approved point of sale purchases by JMU student employees. The Cash & Investments Office administers this program.

Student employees required to make point-of-sale purchases that cannot be procured by university employees, may be eligible for this university managed prepaid card. The department fiscal contact should contact the PrepaidCards@jmu.edu mailbox to investigate this option further.

.640 Infractions on the Small Purchase Charge Card

In the event a cardholder makes an inappropriate expenditure on the small purchase charge card the following penalties will be enforced.

Permanent revocation of cards is also a possibility, depending upon the severity of the infraction(s).

Failure to retain transactional documentation or failure to complete timely, online reconciliations and approvals:

1st time:  15 day suspension

2nd time:  30 day suspension

3rd time:   permanent revocation

.700 Responsibilities

.710 Department Head/Approving Authority

• Authorize issuance and use of cards for departmental employees by approving the Delegation Agreement.
• Insure proper use of the card by reviewing charges made to the Department. Revokes a cardholder’s purchase authority, for improper use of the card.
• Approve charge and credit transactions for the department. Ensure that all returns are credited back to the small purchase charge card. If a merchant refuses to credit the SPCC charge card and issues a "store credit", immediately advise the Program Administrator with the specifics.
• Insure that the cardholder maintains records and completes timely reconciliation as required by this procedure.  Review and approve reconciliation and supporting documentation or ensure individual delegated to perform these duties does so in a timely manner.
• Ensures that all E-Commerce purchases are made through a SSL, Version 2.0 or greater, and that the address or location begins with https://.
• International travel, including travel to Alaski and Hawaii, requires completion of estimate of total cost of planned travel and approval from the VP for Administration and Finance in addition to appropriate department and division approval/PA.
• Ensure all rebates and/or coupons used in the course of procurement are used for business purposes only.
• Completes annual online training by the required deadline. Failure to do so will result in suspension/cancellation of card.

.720 Cardholder

• Maintain the card and the card account number in a secure location for the individual cardholder's use only.
• Comply with this procedure when obtaining goods and services or returning items purchased with the card.
• Inform the Vendor of the University’s TAX-EXEMPT status (JMU Commonwealth of Virginia Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption is available in the JMU FPM Forms Index).
• Obtain documentation of all transactions to include a printed copy of E-Campus purchases and maintain records as outlined in this procedure.
• Any internet purchases have been submitted as confirming orders in eVA.
• Limit purchases to items that are not restricted purchases.
• Return the card to the Cash & Investments Office when requested by the Department Head or the Cash & Investments Office. Also, return the card when terminating employment or transferring from one University department to another.
• Cardholder is responsible for all charges to their card. Misuse of the card may lead to suspension or revoking of the card.
• Completes annual online training by the required deadline. Failure to do so will result in suspension/cancellation of card.

.730 Finance Division

• Maintain policies and procedures for issuance and use of the card for James Madison University.
• Coordinate all card activity with University departments, the Division of Purchases and Supply, the Department of Accounts and VISA.
• Administer the SPCC Program for the University by:

  Insuring proper use of state funds for purchases and vendor payments. Insuring compliance with state regulations and procedures. Rescinding of cards used inappropriately. The card can be suspended or permanently revoked for continued misuse. Providing training for employees. Maintaining files, issuing cards, and confirming the list of current cardholders with departments. Reviewing purchase documents, forms and reports, processing and recording payments, reconciling transactions, and collecting payments for inappropriate expenditures and delinquent charges from the cardholder.

.800 Procedures

.810 Department/Department Head/Approving Authority

• Provides the cardholder access to University Policies and Procedures.
• Completes a Delegation Agreement for each employee authorized to obtain goods and services using the card. Maintains current copies of all approved Delegation Agreement forms in departmental files.
• Provides an original copy of the authorized Delegation Agreement to the Cash & Investments Office to request issuance of cards.
• Retain documentation of purchases to include a printed copy of E-Commerce purchases and returns.
• Approves charges to DeptIDs, the Budget Department Number(s) assigned to the charge card online via the Bank of America WORKS application.
• Revokes cardholders purchase authority for misuse of the card, obtains and returns cards to the Cash & Investments Office.
• Responds to vendor disputes.

.820 Cardholder

• Receives the card issued in their name at the Cash & Investments Office.
• Maintains the card and the card account number in a secure location. Never gives the card account number to another person or posts it in a conspicuous place.

  To use the card, the cardholder: Identifies vendors that accept the card and can provide the goods and services needed. Calls or goes to the vendor's place of business, accesses the vendor’s Web site, and places the order. Gives specific departmental points of sale reference information to the vendor. Does not mail/fax/email/scan a full account number, card expiration date or CVV. For E-Commerce purchases, enters the Charge Card Number as required by Vendors that have a SSL. Informs the Vendor of the University’s TAX-EXEMPT status. Retains all documentation concerning the purchase. (All vendors shall provide documentation of the purchase, such as a sales receipt or packing slip, with delivery of the items purchased.) Requests a receipt when picking up a purchase and retains a printed copy of items purchased through E-Commerce procurements. Reconciles the documentation to the Small Purchase Charge Card Statement monthly, within the required timeframe.

• Follows guidelines in subsection .400 for returns, credits and disputed items.
• Contacts the Cash & Investments Office for necessary changes to existing cards.
• Immediately notifies the Program Administrator, x87396, x88061 or x86771, if the card is lost or stolen.  Calls Bank Of America (888-449-2273) if occurs during non-business hours as well as notifying the JMU Program Administrator by phone or at appa@jmu.edu. 
• Returns the card to the Cash & Investments Office immediately upon request of the Department Head or the Cash & Investments Office. Also, returns the card before terminating employment or transferring from one University department to another.  Remits SPCC records to supervisor or Cash & Investments upon request or before terminating or transferring.
• Promptly reimburses James Madison University for inappropriate expenditures charged to the card.

.830 Cash & Investments

• Receives approved Delegation Agreement forms from departments, reviews the forms and forwards information to Bank Of America to issue cards.
• Receives cards from the Bank of America and notifies cardholders that they may get their card at the Cash & Investments Office.
• Maintains a list of cardholders' names.
• Processes payment for the full amount of the charge card invoice, by the due date, to Bank of America.
• Records payments in University and State ERP.
• Reviews monthly charge card statements and monthly reports to ensure expenditures support appropriate state expenditures.
• Notifies individual cardholders of inappropriate expenditures charged to the card and initiates reimbursement for the purchase and any delinquent charges from the individual.
• Audit cardholders, randomly, throughout the fiscal year. Program Administrators may require cardholders to submit all documentation for monthly reconciliations, as deemed appropriate.

.900 Forms Preparation and Submission

.910 Small Purchase Charge Card Application

.911 Required

Departments shall complete this form to request a card for a departmental employee.

.912 Where to Obtain Blank Forms

The Small Purchase Charge Card Application (Delegation Agreement) is available ONLINE or through the JMU SPCC Workflow Center in PeopleSoft Finance.

.913 Number of Forms to Complete

Complete one form.

.914 Where to Send Completed Forms

Forms will be electronically routed to supervisors and then the Cash and Investments Office for processing.

.915 Form Preparation Instructions

This subsection provides detailed instructions for preparation of the Application form.

.930 Statement Cover Sheet For Payment of monthly SPCC Transactions

.931 Required

The University requires each department that has purchased items with the International IAPCC to complete this form, and retain in departmental file. (SPCC Cover Sheets are not required; reconciliation is completed online within Bank of America’s WORKS system.)

.940 JMU SPCC Workflow Center in PeopleSoft

All SPCC forms should be initiated through JMU SPCC Workflow Center within PeopleSoft Finance. Forms initiated in PeopleSoft will be electronically routed to your supervisor for approval and then to the Finance Office for processing. You will receive an email once the form is approved for your records.

The following forms are available in the workflow center for cardholders to initiate:

• SPCC Application
• Manage Reconcilers (formally SPCC Information Form)
• Cancel SPCC
• Monthly Credit Limit Increases
• Single Transaction Increases
• Exception Request