Purchase/Credit Cards Policy. August 13, Repeals By-Law Number

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1 Section Date By-Law Corporate Services Subsection Purchasing Cards August 13, Repeals By-Law Purpose The goal the City purchase / credit card policy shall be to ensure both compliance with the City s Purchasing By-law / and employee responsibility and accountability. Employee Eligibility Cardholders must be permanent full time employees the City Kenora, unless otherwise approved by the Budget / Auditor General. It shall be at the discretion the Manager responsible for the department to approve which full time employees are eligible cardholders, and the type cards / transactions they are eligible to use the card for. Purchase/Credit Card Limits It shall be at the discretion the Manager responsible for the department to approve the cardholder monthly limits, provided that these limits do not exceed the authority as granted to that Manager within the City s Purchasing By-law /. The Budget / Auditor General may, at their discretion, approve a monthly limit equal to not greater than twice that individuals signing authority. For clarification purposes, nothing in this section shall authorize the cardholder to make any purchase which would exceed their approved authority limit. Random Audits Cardholders are subject to random audits expenses and record keeping by the Budget / Auditor General. Any purchases made in contravention either this or the Purchasing By-law / shall be reported to the Department Manager, the Human Resources Manager and the CAO. Discovery violation(s) this policy may result in loss card privileges or other disciplinary steps, up to and including termination.

2 2 Transactions Not Permitted The following transactions are not permitted, and shall be considered to have been made in contravention this policy: a) Splitting total purchase cost, singly or between Cardholders to avoid transaction limits. b) Personal purchases. c) Non-City Kenora use. d) Cash advances, money orders, bank drafts etc. e) Temporary help. f) Maintenance contracts, long term agreements, rentals or leasing equipment (with the exception short term vehicle rentals required for travel purposes for conference, training or meetings). Cardholder Responsibilities Each cardholder shall recognize and accept the following responsibilities upon receipt a City Kenora purchase / credit card: a) Use the Corporate purchase / credit card in accordance with this and the City s Purchasing By-law /. b) Ensure purchases are made in accordance with their signing authority, area responsibility and departmental budget. c) Ensure proper coding expenditures. d) Notify the Budget / Auditor General and their Manager if there are problems with the credit card, the card is lost or stolen or any other situation that would require notification to the Budget / Auditor General and Manager. e) Notify the Financial Institution immediately if their card is lost or stolen. f) Log any item in dispute with the Financial Institution as, how and when required. g) Retain accurate records including receipts at their workplace, and have available for audit at any time. After the Cardholder reconciles the statement, the Cardholder will attach the receipts, sign the statement and bring it forward to have their immediate Supervisor review and sign the statement for approval expenses. Item purchases on the credit card/visa reconciliation that do not include an original receipt, will be the responsibility the cardholder, not the City. For all out town travel, attach a copy the completed Travel report for crossreference to the credit card monthly statement.

3 3 Of h) Cardholders are NOT to make direct payment on their account for personal purchases made in error, payment is to be provided to Accounts Payable. Department Manager Responsibility Each Manager shall recognize and accept the following responsibilities upon approving issuance a City Kenora purchase / credit card within their department: a) Provide a written or electronic request, authorizing the Budget / Auditor General to obtain a charge card, within the prescribed limits, for an employee, indicating the type card to be issued, and the per transaction and monthly limits as appropriate. b) In consultation with the Human Resources Manager, exercise discipline in cases where a Cardholder violates the provisions this. c) Immediately advise the Budget / Auditor General in those cases where abuse or irregularities are known or suspected. d) Report a lost or stolen credit card to the Budget / Auditor General, and document the incident. Initiate a request for a replacement card. e) Review and reconcile the amounts expensed under the purchase / credit card to the appropriate account and identify any unusual transactions. f) Be responsible for, or appoint staff member(s) to act as the Card Coordinator to monitor and control the use all Corporate credit cards for their Department. g) Advise the Budget / Auditor General when an employee is terminated or no longer requires a purchase / credit card. h) Ensure all purchases are made in accordance with available departmental budget and individuals are operating within authority. i) Follow up with the appropriate employee and respond to the Budget / Auditor General as required on any items chosen for random audit testing.

4 4 Budget/Auditor General Responsibility The Budget / Auditor General shall: a) Act immediately upon receipt advice that abuse or irregularities are known or suspected. b) Review and determine if supply agreements with specific vendors should be established. c) Publish a list agreements that the City has with preferred vendors. d) Maintain records all Cardholders. e) Ensure the download from the Financial Institution is accurate, complete and properly aligned with each Cardholder s prile. f) Where required, notify the Financial Institution transaction errors/disputed charges and follow up on outstanding items on a periodic basis. g) Ensure all card statements are reconciled by the appropriate employee, signed f and submitted on a regular basis. h) Perform monthly audits to detect possible violations. The audit selection criteria would include, but not be limited to, meals over the total per diem allowance, air fare, splitting purchases, miscellaneous / unusual / unique transactions, and random samples. i) Provide the CAO with the summary report findings, and follow up with Managers as appropriate to investigate unusual transactions. j) Provide a final summary report to the CAO the results any investigations. k) Hold new cards for pick up by Cardholder at City Hall. l) Cancel a card when the Cardholder is terminated from employment. m) Follow up with the Financial Institution on lost / stolen cards to confirm the card is cancelled. Documentation Required All records shall be maintained at the Cardholders work location until such time as they are reconciled and attached to the monthly card statement, and submitted to the Budget / Auditor General for review.

5 Disputed Charges, Returns and Assistance In the event disputed charges or a Cardholder has any questions, the Cardholder should contact the appropriate financial institution directly. In the event there are returns, the Cardholder must check to ensure credit notices are issued by the vendor, and attach the credit slip to the statement when reconciled. If a credit slip was not obtained, attach other documentation explaining the return. If credit does not appear by the second subsequent statement, the Cardholder must contact the financial institution directly. The Cardholder must also advise the Budget / Auditor General if there is a dispute. The Cardholder must ensure that all required steps to register a dispute are followed. Failure to do so can and will result in the charges being applied to the appropriate budget.