University Purchasing Card (PCard)

Employees who are responsible for purchasing supplies for their department and/or those who will be frequently traveling on university business, with supervisor and Director/Chair/Dean approval, may apply for a University Purchasing Card. To get a Purchasing Card, you must review and complete the Purchasing Card Agreement and email to pcard@mtu.edu.

See the Purchasing Decision Process Flowchart for more information. 

Cardholder responsibilities for procuring goods include the following:

1. Michigan Tech Contracted Suppliers should be used whenever possible.
2. Order the goods from supplier by following these steps:
   1. Tell the supplier you are purchasing the item for Michigan Tech to obtain discounted educational pricing when available.
   2. Inform the supplier before placing an order that Michigan Tech is tax exempt in Michigan.
   3. Request a detailed receipt.
   4. Receive the receipt(s) and upload to SAP Concur, or provide receipts to your delegate, as soon as possible after the transaction is conducted.

These prohibited items cannot be purchased because of issues related to safety, legal, liability, budget control, or potential abuse of the card.

All purchases must be addressed to ship to the University by providing the below address. The room number to be used in the address is the one that is normally staffed during business hours. Use the Ship-to Address Search to find your department’s building address. 

Michigan Technological University 
Your Name/Department  
Room Number and Building Name  
1400 Townsend Drive  
Houghton, Michigan 49931 

Parcel damage, or shortages, should be noted upon receipt prior to signing for the delivery. 

The Cardholder is responsible for the physical security of the purchasing card to prevent its misuse and the abuse of its privileges. The Cardholder, acknowledging the rights and responsibilities that accompany the PCard program, has agreed to provide detailed receipts for all acquisitions made with the PCard, as required. All purchases must be for official University uses and must comply with University policies and procedures.

A Cardholder may allow another University employee to use their PCard, although this is discouraged. If the Cardholder does allow another person to use their PCard, the Cardholder is responsible for all the charges made by others whom the Cardholder has authorized to use the PCard. Transactions made by others will be posted to SAP Concur as belonging to the Cardholder, who will be required to allocate the charges, even though for another employee. Any misuse of the purchasing card may result in sanctions being placed against the Cardholder and/or the user.

A Cardholder may assign access to a Delegate to prepare the Cardholder’s report as well as approve reports on their behalf. A Delegate who prepares a Cardholder's report and also has access to approve that Cardholder's report is not permitted. These reports must be approved by another authorized approver.

PCard exceptions to the monthly limit or prohibited items may be requested by completing the Purchasing Card Exception Request Form and emailing to pcard@mtu.edu. Requests will be reviewed by the PCard Administrator and you will be notified if your request has been approved.

Sales Tax Exemption Form should be provided to suppliers prior to the purchase to inform them that Michigan Tech is tax exempt in Michigan.

Amazon Business offers a convenient purchasing option when products are not available through Contracted Suppliers.

SAP Concur is used to allocate purchasing card transactions – both for travel as well as for goods and services.

All purchasing card transactions will automatically feed into the cardholders Concur Available Expenses within 2-3 days after the post date. All expenses need to be processed on an expense report in Concur. Once an expense report has been submitted and approval workflow complete, the expense(s) will integrate with Banner.

All university purchasing card holders and their assigned delegate(s) will receive an email notification from EmailReminderService@concursolutions.com when there are available credit card transactions in the cardholder’s account. All transactions must be submitted on an expense report as follows:

Purchasing Card Report Requirements

Travel Expenses and/or Business Meal Expenses (cardholders with exceptions): A Concur Travel and/or Business Meal Report must be submitted within two weeks after the end date.

Supplies and Services (your non-travel expenses): A Concur Purchasing Card Report must be submitted once per month. It is recommended to submit your report around the 23rd of each month to ensure time for approvals and expenses to integrate with Banner. Do not submit a report for each card transaction.

The Substantiation for Lost or Unobtainable Receipts Form should be completed and attached in SAP Concur if you are unable to obtain a receipt from the supplier.

If you lose a receipt or, for some reason do not receive a receipt or invoice, contact the vendor to get a duplicate. In the rare situation that you cannot get a receipt from the vendor, you should complete a Substantiation for Lost or Unobtainable Receipts form.

Training Guides are available on the Michigan Tech SAP Concur webpage on how to prepare and approve expense reports.

How To Videos are available on the SAP Concur Training webpage. When logged into Concur, go to Help - Training. Training videos are located on the left side of the page. Our Training Guides are also listed.

SAP CONCUR Q and A SESSIONS

The SAP Concur Q and A Sessions will answer questions and demonstrate processes in SAP Concur based on participant requests. Please contact concur@mtu.edu to request a phone call or Zoom session.

If you need assistance on activities such as reporting lost or stolen cards or reporting fraudulent charges on your account, you must report them immediately to Bank of America’s Customer Service at 888-449-2273 (24 hours/day, 7 days/week) as soon as practicable but not later than 60 days after the transaction occurs or the Business Day after discovery of the Fraud, whichever is earlier.

• If you do have fraudulent charges, the card company will credit any that have been expensed to your card.
• The card company will terminate your current card and mail a new card directly to your department. Please select standard U.S. Mail shipping. If you need the card to be expedited, your PCard will be charged a delivery fee of $20 for 2-day shipping, or $35 for overnight.
• If the fraudulent charge flows into Concur, leave it in your Available Expense until the credit comes through. Then, add both the charge and credit to your monthly Concur Purchasing Card Report using E995-Disputed Charge. You will not need a receipt.

To sign up for PCard alerts, see Corporate Card Alerts in the Purchasing Card FAQs.

The PCard provides limited rental insurance coverage for rental vehicles. Review the benefits guide to fully understand the requirements to get coverage and what is and is not covered under the benefit to determine whether you opt in or decline the optional collision/damage waiver offered by the rental company.