Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

1. How is the Procurement Card obtained?

The Provost or Administrator for your Particular campus shall determine which departments/individuals will be assigned Procurement cards. Purchasing cards will be issued to individual employees who regularly purchase the goods and materials for their cost center. To obtain a card: call the program administrator, Bob Persiano at 201-7485 and request an application form(or download from web site). Complete the form, submit it to your department head for approval signature. Your department head will send it to the Campus administrator (Provost) for review/approval. If approved, application will be sent to the program administrator. Control limits will be set and the application will be sent to the Bank. Bank will mail card to the Program Administrator. Program Administrator will notify cardholder, the card holder will go through a training session, receive a Policies and Procedures guide, and must sign a BCC Procurement Card User Agreement. Once training is complete and agreement is signed, the card will be issued.

Each card will bear the name of the individual issued the card along with the name of the College. The card must be used solely by the cardholder.

2. What types of limits and controls are set on the card?

Each Procurement card will be coded with certain controls and limits including:

Authorized Commodities: The cardholder will be informed of allowable and disallowable purchases during the card training session.

Dollar Limit Per Transaction: Cardholder shall not exceed the predetermined dollar amount for any single transaction of $749.99.

Dollar limit per month: Cardholder shall not spend over the amount predetermined by the Department Head in any given month.

Number of transactions per day: Cardholder shall not conduct more than the number of daily transactions assigned to the card by the Department Head.

3. Where can the card be used?

The cardholder may make Broward Community College related purchases for their designated cost center. Card may only be used for authorized commodities. The cardholder will be supplied with a list of authorized commodities along with a list of suggested vendors that the College is currently doing business with and in some cases have arranged special pricing for College related purchases. There is a $749.99 per transaction limit along with other limitations that will be explained during your training session. Orders can be made over the counter, Via Telephone, Mail order or Internet.

Personal use and sharing of cards are prohibited and may result in the revocation of your card and serious disciplinary actions.

4. How are charges paid?

Charges will be paid monthly against the billing received from Bank of America and the Disbursement Requests forwarded from the cardholder for their purchases.

All transactions processed will be reflected on a monthly statement of account sent to each cardholder by the bank. The Program Administrator will also receive a copy of all transactions on a periodic basis(See Payment Procedures, Page 5.)

5. What if I didn't receive, or lost a receipt?

If a receipt is not obtained or lost, the card holder shall submit a written report describing the transaction ( what, when, where and dollar amount) and use this in place of receipt.

6. What if the supplier does not accept the Procurement Card?

Any vendor that accepts Visa should accept the Procurement Card.

If the Visa card is not accepted by a vendor that you would like to use in the future, inform the program administrator as to who this vendor is and how to contact them. We may then attempt to add that vendor to the system. Remember that your Procurement Card is a bona fide credit card issued by Visa and should be accepted in the same manner as any standard credit card.

7. What are the guidelines for sales tax?

The State, any county, municipality or political subdivision( we are considered a political subdivision) of this State is exempt from the Florida sales and use tax. Normally, purchases of goods and services by the College, for the College are tax exempt. All Vendors listed on the approved list should have a copy of our Sales tax certificate on file, however the tax exempt number is also printed on the face of the card and should be sufficient information for the merchant to honor our tax exempt status. If dealing with a vendor which does not accept our number you may either pay the tax out of pocket, contact you program administrator, or go to another vendor.

8. What about telephone orders?

When placing orders via telephone, ask the merchant to be sure that he includes an itemized receipt with your delivery. If you receive an order without an itemized receipt, call the vendor and ask them to fax or mail(if you don’t have a fax) you an itemized receipt for your records.

9. What about phone order deliveries?

When ordering by phone, remember items must be received in the warehouse during the hours of 7:00a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Be sure to give the vendor the address of Central Receiving, Bldg. #23 Central Campus 3501 SW Davie Rd., Davie Fl. 33314 , along with your name, address and the statement "credit card order" or "Visa". All this information must be appear on all shipping documents.

10. What if my card is lost or stolen?

Keep your Procurement card secure at all times. This card needs to be accessible only to the card holder. If your Procurement card is lost or stolen, notify the Bank immediately at the 24 hour telephone number (1-800-538-8788) then notify the Program administrator as soon as possible. Lost or stolen cards reported by telephone are blocked immediately. If the card holder requires a replacement card immediately, a temporary replacement card can be issued within 24 hours. There is a $9 charge for overnight delivery of emergency replacement cards. If the situation is not an emergency, the cardholder will receive a replacement card by mail within five to seven business days after notifying Bank of America.

The Cardholder should be prepared to provide the following information to the Bank of America representative:

Purchasing Card 16-digit account number

Address and Telephone number as it appears on the Cardholder Profile

A brief summary of events

The cardholder shall be responsible for supplying any information necessary to minimize the liability for a lost or stolen card. Closely monitor your transaction statement to ensure no fraudulent charges appear.

11. What if there is an incorrect billing?

If you have a problem with a billing, try to reach a resolution with the merchant that provided the item. Your receipt will be your proof of purchase price. The merchant should issue credit for a billing correction. The credit should appear on your next monthly statement. If you cannot resolve the issue, contact your Program Administrator for assistance.

* Note: Do not remove or cross out the item on the statement, or delay processing the payment because of credits or disputes. *

12. How are purchases returned?

If a purchased item is to be returned, call the vendor for a Return Authorization number and follow the merchants return procedures. Under no circumstances are you to receive cash. All returned items must be sent to central receiving for shipment to the vendor. Keep a record of your return including: Date of original transaction, Item ordered, Quantity ordered, Quantity received, Date of credit/replacement transaction, Quantity to be returned, The disposition (Replacement requested, credit requested), reason for return, your name and cost center number. A copy of this form is to be sent along with the item(s) to the receiving Dept. It is your responsibility to ensure that the credit appears on your next statement. If the credit does not appear within 60-90 days, file the appropriate paperwork for disputed items.

13. Will use of the card affect my personal credit?

Procurement card use is not linked to the cardholders personal credit rating, but is issued against the College’s credit.

14. What if I have a card and circumstances arise where I know that Broward Community College, of a particular department will not longer by my employer in the very near future?

The cardholder must turn the Procurement Card into the department head or designee who will be responsible for canceling the card by notifying the Bank at 1-800-538-8788 and forwarding it to the Procurement Card Program Administrator.

15. Other Conditions:

a. All items purchased over-the-counter must be immediately available. No back ordering is allowed.

b. All items purchased during one telephone transaction must be delivered in a single delivery. If an item is not immediately available, no back ordering is allowed.

c. All telephone orders must be delivered by the vendor within the 30-day billing cycle. Orders shall not be placed without this assurance from the vendor.

16. Accountability

Department heads shall periodically review purchasing card expenditures for their cost centers to ensure that purchased goods or services were necessary, for official use, and conditions were complied with for card purchase. To assist the Departments in this review, the PA will also be reviewing purchases and will be reporting discrepancies to department heads when deemed necessary.

When purchases are in question, the Department Head bears the responsibility for resolving the issue. Suggested remedies include having the cardholder provide a credit voucher proving that the item(s) were returned for credit, or having the card holder provide the School with a certified check from their personal account for the full amount of the purchase.

Serious or repeated misuse of the card will result in the revocation of the card as well as disciplinary actions up to and including termination of employment and prosecution to the extent permitted by law.

Cardholders are expected to follow appropriate state laws and guidelines, as well as use good and reasonable judgment when making purchases. When in doubt, call purchasing for assistance.

17. Record Keeping

Cardholders are responsible for retaining all receipts, invoices, bills of lading, etc. associated with each purchase. Any back-up documentation such as quotes, descriptions, etc. should be kept as well. All of this information should be forwarded to your supervisor/approver as required.