Purchasing Card Policies and Procedures

Introduction

Welcome to the Hampshire College ProCard (P-card) Program. This user guide provides you, the cardholder, with the information that you will need in order to use the card and outlines some of your basic financial responsibilities to the College as a cardholding employee. The purchasing card concept is designed to delegate authority and responsibility, and to enable you to quickly and conveniently make small purchases of approved commodities directly from those vendors that accept MasterCard. The program was created with the help of many staff members, and is designed to meet both your needs and those of the College. All purchases made with a p-card must follow Hampshire's Purchasing Guidelines, including Allowed and Non-Allowed Expenses.

How It Works

A purchasing card simplifies the process for the purchase and payment of goods. (Please avoid using the card to purchase services without prior authorization, due to income tax reporting complications.) Purchasing authority is delegated to the authorized cardholder, thus enabling the cardholder to order materials directly from the supplier. The cardholder then saves the original, itemized receipt when the transaction is completed. Once a month, the cardholder will receive a statement from JPMorgan Chase that lists all the cardholder's transactions. The cardholder is expected to reconcile the documentation to the monthly statement, as well as online through the JPMorgan website. They then upload it to their designated p-card folder for approval by their supervisor no later than the 15th of each month. This card can be used for all College purchase transactions within the guidelines listed below.

The Authorization Process

All p-cards contain designated spending limits, as pre-determined by the cardholder's supervisor and the business office. Purchases that exceed these limits are declined instantaneously at the point of sale. There are two types of limits:

Single purchase limit of $XX (example: $500)
Total expenditures per month limit of $YY (example: $1,500)

With permission from the cardholder's supervisor, the cardholder may request a temporary limit increase or decrease based on a one-time need. (For example, a temporary limit increase in order to buy a single expensive item like a plane ticket or conference registration.) If the transaction limits established for the card are exceeded, the card will be declined. Splitting a transaction to avoid one's single transaction limit is prohibited.

General Ledger Numbers

Only one GL number will be applied to each purchasing card as a default. However, the account code for each transaction can and should be edited on the JP Morgan website in order to correctly reflect the exact nature of each expense. The current fiscal year's schedule for importing purchases made in JP Morgan into their designated budget lines (meaning "when the purchases will hit your budget") can be found in the link section, below. Please note the delay of approximately 10 days from time the transaction is posted in JP Morgan until it shows up in your budget, and plan accordingly to prevent accidentally overspending in the meantime.

Restricted Commodities

The following items are not Hampshire College-authorized purchases on a p-card. Please also review Allowed and Non-Allowed Expenses for a more extensive and general list of non-allowed expenses. Please note that the cardholder will be responsible for reimbursing the college for any personal or other non-authorized expenses. When in doubt, ask first!

Non-authorized expenses include, but are not limited to:

Purchases that are made outside of Hampshire's Purchasing Policies and Standards
Anything listed on the Allowed and Non-Allowed Expenses page
Personal items or expenses
Cash advances
Contracts or other services (including payment to anyone for work or labor of any sort)—the cardholder must use the purchase order system unless prior approval from Purchasing is granted, in which case a certificate of insurance from the vendor must also be provided.
Gasoline purchased for personal vehicle (see the travel policy)
Gifts
Gift cards or gift certificates
Hazardous materials or related costs of disposal
Lease or lease-to-purchase agreements
On-campus dining or retail purchases (The Bridge, Dining Commons, Kern Kafe, and HampStore require a budget transfer)
Over-the-counter (OTC) medications, pharmaceuticals, or health and beauty aids
Reimbursements of any type
Cell phones and related expenses
Any expenses that are not a prudent, necessary, legitimate, and/or legal use of the College's funds

Contract Compliance

While the purchasing card is a convenient method for purchasing goods, it does not signal a change in policy regarding compliance with Hampshire College's contract suppliers. If the desired item is available on an established MHEC, or E&I contract, it must be purchased from the contract vendor. Discounts are also available on the ESM punchout website, which includes frequently-used vendors such as Amazon, Staples, Home Depot, NewEgg, Fisher Scientific, and many others. More information can be found below.

The purchasing office is responsible for the bidding and issuing of contracts that will provide Hampshire College with the "least total cost" arrangements for consumable goods from outside vendors. When taking bids for contracts, the purchasing office considers not only the vendor's line item pricing for the product, but also the vendor's:

ability to provide the necessary quality, delivery, and service
overall pricing structure
warranty and service policies
compatibility with Hampshire's automated systems
financial stability

Supplier contract pricing and performance is based on Hampshire College's overall anticipated volume of purchases during the contract period. In order to ensure that the College community is paying the "least total cost" for quality goods, and to fulfill the College's contractual commitments to its contracted suppliers, all College departments are required to order their consumable goods from authorized vendors.

Where do I find the list of current contract vendors?

Massachusetts Higher Education Consortium (MHEC)
Educational and Institutional Cooperative Services (E & I)
ESM e-procurement - log-in with your Hampshire email and obtain discounts from many commonly-used vendors, such as Amazon, Staples, NewEgg, Home Depot, and many more!

How to Apply for a Purchasing Card

Applications for purchasing cards can be found here. Please note that the issuance and revocation of purchasing cards is at the business office's discretion based on need, compliance, feasibility of other purchasing methods, administrative workload, and other factors, and that your request may not automatically be granted.

How to Activate Your Purchasing Card

The instructions for activating your card can be found on the card itself. You can either call the number on the card or follow the directions on the website to activate it. MasterCard will verify your identity to ensure that you are the legitimate cardholder. You are responsible for all activity on the card, including reporting any unauthorized purchases, so make sure to regularly verify your purchases on the JP Morgan website.

How to Place an Order

The purchasing card may be used to purchase consumable goods in person at the supplier site, over the phone, or by mail. Prior to placing the order, check to see if the item(s) is available from a contracted vendor. Links to the College's contracted vendors can be found above.

When placing an order over the phone, please be sure to:

identify yourself to the vendor as a Hampshire College employee,
state that you wish to make a purchase for Hampshire using the College MasterCard,
state that Hampshire College is tax exempt and give the vendor the College's tax exempt number, which is listed on the front of the card (04-6130872),
provide your name,
give your purchasing card number,
furnish the expiration date of your card,
state the appropriate contract that the purchase is being made against (for example, MHEC), if applicable, to ensure that you will receive contract pricing,
state the quantities and descriptions of the consumable supplies that you require, and
verify the total cost of the purchase with the vendor prior to placing the order.

Shipping Instructions

Tell the vendor that the address label/packing list that accompanies the package(s) must contain the following information:

Cardholder's name
Name of the department to which the package belongs
Hampshire College, 893 West St., Amherst, MA 01002

Please do not ship items to your home, as they are the property of Hampshire College, not of the cardholder, and therefore generally should remain on Hampshire College's property.

Please note: By law, vendors are not permitted to bill your credit card for purchases until the items have been shipped, and the transaction will not go against your card until that time. In most instances your purchasing card account will be debited within 48 hours after the vendor ships your merchandise.

Responsibility for Receipt and/or Return of Goods

The cardholder is responsible for ensuring the proper receipt of goods and any follow-up with the vendor needed to resolve any problems regarding delivery, discrepancies, or damaged goods. Upon receipt of the goods, keep the documentation received (typically a sales receipt or print screen from an Internet purchase) from the vendor for later reconciliation with the monthly statement.

Items(s) should be returned to the vendor by whatever means the vendor requires. The cardholder is responsible for ensuring that proper credit is applied to the card account for any returned item(s) and that evidence of the return is maintained.

Resolving Errors and Disputes

In case of an error, first contact the supplier and try to reach an agreement. Most disputes can be resolved between you and the supplier directly. If you are unable to reach an agreement with the supplier, complete a Dispute Form (provided through JPMC) and send it to JP Morgan Chase, according to the instructions on their website.

Cardholder Record Management, Review, and Supervisor Approval

With the authorization to purchase specific commodities comes the responsibility to maintain adequate documentation on the source of the transaction.

It is the cardholder's responsibility to ensure that the College's purchasing policies are followed; that expenses are prudent, necessary, and for a legitimate business purpose; that all of the required documentation is accounted for and maintained; that transactions are reviewed online weekly in JPMorgan Smartdata; that the cardholder's statement is reconciled against the supporting documentation and submitted for supervisory review by the 15th of each month; that the expenditure limits assigned to the card are not exceeded; and that the expenditures on the card do not exceed the funds available in the GL account to which they are assigned. Failure to follow these rules may result in revocation of purchasing card privileges.

Weekly: Transactions should be reviewed online weekly (or daily) using JP Morgan Smartdata. The cardholder shall:

check each transaction listed against their receipts to verify that the transactions listed on Smartdata are correct;
complete the expense description field for each transaction;
ensure that the correct GL has been selected; and
check the "reviewed" box.

Monthly: You (the cardholder) will receive a cardholder statement from the bank listing all your purchases. Check the statement against your sales receipts to ensure that all goods for which you have been charged have been received. Receipts should then be attached to the statement and uploaded to your designated p-card folder for supervisory review before the 15th of the month.

The following are examples of supporting documentation:

Itemized sales receipts
Itemized vendor order forms or applications
Itemized cash register receipts

Please note that, as an anti-fraud measure and as required by the IRS, your documentation must provide proof of exactly what you purchased, not just that you made a purchase of $X from any given vendor. If your receipt merely shows proof of payment, but not what it was for, please provide additional documentation (e.g. an invoice or communication with the vendor) that clarifies what you purchased.

The careful matching of complete support documents and online review is vital to the success of this program. This data is critical to enable proper account reconciliation and audit review. If the cardholder does not have documentation of a transaction listed on the statement, the card holder must contact the vendor to obtain a copy of the original receipt. If unable to obtain a receipt, the cardholder may attach a signed missing receipt affidavit.

Note: When a purchase is made over the counter, the cardholder will retain the invoice and "customer copy" of the charge receipt. Before signing the charge slip, the cardholder is responsible for ensuring that the vendor lists the correct quantity and fully describes the item(s) on the charge slip. When making a purchase by telephone, the cardholder should request that an invoice and receipt be emailed to the cardholder. The cardholder should always obtain the name of the individual taking the order. When the goods are received, all shipping documentation should be retained. The procurement card may also be used to make purchases online. All relevant purchase-related information, including emails (or screenshots, if necessary), should be retained.

Need a reminder/summary of this process? See Quick Tips for Reconciliation!

Purchasing Card Security

It is the cardholder's responsibility to safeguard the ProCard and account number to the same degree that a cardholder safeguards his or her personal credit card. The cardholder may not allow any unauthorized individuals to use the ProCard or the card number. A violation of this trust may result in the cardholder having his/her card withdrawn, and/or disciplinary action for the cardholder and/or the unauthorized individual may be taken.

If the ProCard is lost or stolen, the cardholder must immediately notify the bank by calling 1.800.848.2813. Representatives are available 24 hours a day. The cardholder must inform the representative that the call is in regard to a MasterCard ProCard. The Hampshire College purchasing department must be notified as well. A new ProCard will be promptly issued to the cardholder after the reported loss or theft. A ProCard that is found by the cardholder after being reported lost must be cut in half and sent to the purchasing office.

JP Morgan Chase has the infrastructure in place to detect attempted fraudulent activity on the ProCards that it issues. If attempted fraud is detected, a representative from JP Morgan Chase will contact the cardholder directly. The compromised card is then deactivated and a new card is sent to the purchasing office. The cardholder must contact the purchasing office at x5404 if this occurs.

Cardholders who will be on an extended leave of absence should notify the purchasing office prior to taking leave. A hold will be put on the card to prevent unauthorized activity while the cardholder is away. In the case where a cardholder is unable to notify the purchasing office, the supervisor should contact purchasing instead.

Cardholder Separation from College

Should a cardholder terminate employment with Hampshire College or transfer between departments, the user's department has the specific obligation to reclaim the ProCard, notify the purchasing department of the termination, and return the ProCard to the purchasing office. The ProCard must be cut in two before it is sent to the purchasing office. Please remember that any items purchased with the ProCard belong to the College, not the cardholder, and should remain with the department as part of the termination process.

Purchasing Card Audits

To ensure the continued success of the ProCard Program and to meet audit requirements of Hampshire and various government agencies, periodic audits will be made of the cardholder's ProCard account to determine that items purchased have been received, that proper records are being maintained, and that policies and procedures are being followed. The business office staff, as well as Hampshire's external auditors, will perform these reviews.

Links

Updated 8/12/25