Prohibited & Restricted PCard Uses

Prohibited Uses of the P-card:

The following transactions are prohibited by State or CSU regulations:

• Cash Advances
• Splitting of purchases to circumvent regulations.
• Gifts or items of a personal nature. Gifts or items of a personal nature purchased for University personnel are prohibited. The only department authorized to purchase gifts or items of a personal nature for University personnel is Human Resources (ie, employee service awards and Employee of the Year awards). University personnel are defined as student assistants, staff, faculty or administrators. Gifts or items of a personal nature are defined but not limited to: greeting cards, awards or plaques, flowers or plants, food or drink, party supplies, holiday decorations, microwaves, refrigerators, coffee makers, etc. For further detail, see Pathways to Purchasing, Prohibited Practices at http://www-admn.csun.edu/purch/pathways/pathways.htm.
• Purchase of any goods or services for personal use.

The following transactions are prohibited, CSU regulations require specific controls for the purchase of such items and these must be submitted to the Purchasing Office via the requisition/purchase order process. The exception is Travel. Accounts Payable is responsible for the travel process.

• Public works, construction, repair or remodeling of state buildings.
• Purchase of alcoholic beverages, narcotics and other controlled substances.
• Purchase of equipment exceeding $5,000 or more in value. The requisition/purchase order process must be used.
• Travel (which includes registration fees, off-campus training costs, conference seminar fees). The Campus Travel procedures should be used.
• Electronic communication devices including, but not limited to, cell phones, smartphones, PDA's and pagers (new purchases, related services or replacement of existing devices/service). The requisition/purchase order process must be used.
• Consulting Services whether provided by an individual or a consulting firm. The requisition/purchase order process must be used.

Restricted Use of the P-card:

The following items require additional action.  This may be in the form of requesting approval from Purchasing & Contract Administration prior to the purchase or providing supporting documentation/justification for the purchase.

Approval required prior to the purchase:  The following transactions require approval from Purchasing & Contract Administration in order to make a purchase.  To request approval, email pcardhelp-l@csun.edu.  For urgent requests you can contact the PCard Coordinator at extension 5916.  Submission of a request is not an automatic approval.  You must receive an email confirmation your request is approved before making the purchase.

• Equipment with a value of more than $2,000 and less than $4,999. Include vendor name, chartfields and cost information in your waiver request. For questions on what constitutes equipment, contact the Asset Management Department at extension 2311.
• Services of any nature whether performed on or off campus. Insurance requirements apply for services.
  • Services may include, but are not limited to dry cleaners, repairs, printing, and catering. For questions on what constitutes a service, contact the P-Card Coordinator at extension 5916.
  • To identify vendors who already have insurance on file with the Purchasing, go to the Purchasing & Contract Administration website, click on CSUN Community Information and click on A to Z Vendor Listing. The URL is: http://www-admn.csun.edu/purch/vndrlist/vendor_listing.htm. You can also contact the Insurance Coordinator, Cyndi Paull at extension 6830.
• Agreements. Purchases that require an agreement to be signed must be reviewed and signed by Purchasing prior to purchase.  These may include but are not limited to equipment rentals, music score rentals, banquet agreements, and hotel agreements for conferences. Send a copy of the agreement with your email request.
• Software Licenses. Other than purchase of off-the shelf software, software licenses and subscriptions must be reviewed and approved by Purchasing prior to the purchase.

Supporting Documentation: The following transactions require the cardholder to document their transactions.

• Portable heaters, fans and air purifiers. Approval for these items must be obtained from Physical Plant Management. Provide a copy of the memo or email received from PPM that allows you to purchase a portable heater, fan or air purifier.
• Meals and light refreshments. Purchases of this nature must be for programmatic purposes. Use the Hospitality/Programmatic matrix to identify the programmatic event and document the programmatic event in the comments section of SAM. The Hospitality/Programmatic matrix can be found at: http://www-admn.csun.edu/vp/public/policies/hospitalityprogrammatrix.pdf. The PCard cannot be used for Hospitality events. If the purchase involves catering services reference #2, Services, above for additional action needed.

Gratuities:

Gratuities are permitted for programmatic events (served on or off campus or delivered to campus). Gratuities are allowed in an amount up to 20% of the cost of the meal. This means the gratuity shall be calculated on the dollar amount of the meal (do not include costs for tax, handling fee, and/or delivery fee when calculating the gratuity). As with all PCard transactions, an itemized receipt must be obtained. Cardholders will be required to reimburse the University for any amount of gratuity that exceeds the permitted amount.

Office Products Orders:

The CSU's exclusive office products vendor is OfficeMax (OM). Orders for office supplies should be placed via the OfficeMax online system. Do not place purchases for office supplies for OfficeMax and especially not for any other office supply vendor using the P-Card. There are exceptions:

1. If you need to make a purchase that cannot wait for the OM next day delivery. You may use your P-Card in conjunction with an OfficeMax Retail Card to make the purchase (this will ensure you receive contract pricing or special pricing; whichever is lower).
2. You may purchase from another office supply retail location using the P-Card if exception #1 above does not meet your needs. Contact the Purchasing Office if you need any assistance or guidance with this process at extension 2301.