3.0    Approving Official Process

Introduction:

The Approving Official roles include the following:

•   Ensures that the Cardholders immediately report missing, lost and/or stolen purchase cards to the CBC and to the Operating Unit Security Office.



•   Maintains accurate records regarding the Department of Commerce Purchase Card Program and updates account information as necessary.



•   Reviews Cardholders' "Statements of Account" for authorized purchases.



•   Ensures that accounts are properly closed, especially when Cardholders leave the Department.   This includes accounts for Cardholders, who   resign, retire or who are terminated and leave the Department before the billing cycle has ended.  In addition, Approving Officials must coordinate   finalizing these accounts with the servicing finance office.



•   Reports any Purchase Card misuse to the appropriate Finance Official and to the CBC.



•   Appoints an alternate Cardholder Approving Official to act in their absence. Notifies the Procurement Official about the alternate Approving   Official, by memo, to ensure that proper authorization is given to initiate approvals and/or disapprovals.



•   Reviews reconciled/disputed transactions in CPCS.



•   Marks transactions as either approved or disapproved.



•   Informs Initiator/Administrative Personnel of reason for rejection.

3.1    Automated Cardholder Perspective

The following page illustrates the CPCS process flow from an automated cardholder perspective:

3.2    Automated Cardholder "To-Be" Process Model

The cardholder will place orders with the vendor(s). Once the orders are placed the cardholder will record the orders on a log sheet. The log sheet should have the date of the purchase, the organization and task codes, the object class, the description of the items purchased, the vendor, and the cost of the items. All receipts will then be attached to the order log sheet and filed by the cardholder until the bank statement is received from the bank.

When the statement arrives from the charge card provider, the cardholder will review the statement for accuracy. The cardholder will then cross-check the log sheet with the bank statement and attach any and all receipts pertaining to that bank statement. Once the cardholder has reviewed the log with the bank statement, he/she will complete a separate sheet, a reconciliation sheet, to record the line item accounting data. This sheet will contain the purchase date, the vendor, the description of the item(s) charged, the amount, and the proper accounting information. The statements will then be sent to the Initiator/Administrative Personnel for review and then to the Approving Official(s) for signature. Any items that were on the original log sheet that were not on the bank statement should get transferred to a new log sheet to be reconciled against next month's statement.

If there were any disputes to the bank statement, the cardholder would note the disputes by recording the disputed item(s) on the log sheet. The cardholder would contact the vendor and explain the dispute. The vendor will usually credit the account and the credit will be reflected on the next bank statement. If the dispute is not resolved by contacting the vendor, the cardholder will need to complete a Cardholder Statement of Questioned Item form and send it to the Department of Commerce Bank Card Center, 1510 E. Bannister Road, Room PE122, Kansas City, MO 64131. Even if a purchased item(s) is in dispute, the cardholder is still responsible for providing the correct accounting information on the reconciliation sheet.

The Approving Officials would review the bank statement, log sheet, reconciliation sheet and the receipts, for accounting accuracy. Once reviewed, the Approving Officials would sign the bank statement and return the documents to the cardholder. The cardholder would copy the bank statement, log sheets, and receipts to be kept in the office. Copies will be kept at the office site for any future audits and for budgetary reasons. The original statement, logs and receipts are then mailed to the servicing ASC.

If the Approving Official has a question about a purchase, or rejects a purchase they would give the paper work back to the cardholder for justification.