Annual Housekeeping for a P-Card Program
On an annual basis, whether based on a calendar or fiscal year, Commercial Card/P-Card programs can benefit from a little housekeeping. Some tasks listed below are operational and some are strategic. Together, they help ensure a program stays on the right track.
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P-Card program management – access content on policies and procedures, training, metrics, controls, and more
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Common Tasks
1. Revise dated information, such as transaction reconciliation deadlines that cardholders must follow in the upcoming year.
2. Ensure P-Card policies and procedures are accurate, and look for opportunities to improve the appearance and clarity.
3. Execute annual refresher P-Card training for all cardholders and their managers.
4. Evaluate cardholder activity for the prior year to identify inactive or under-utilized cards and address accordingly. In conjunction with this, determine whether additional employees need cards.
5. Review the appropriateness of card limits and merchant category code (MCC) restrictions. Too many temporary adjustments during the year to accommodate legitimate purchases indicate a mismatch between your controls and program goals.
6. Update your P-Card program risk assessment.
7. Publish key program metrics online, such as annualized process savings and rebate, and develop a summary specifically for management. Using graphs can be an effective way to share program status at a glance.
8. Consult with accounts payable regarding the potential need for a rebate accrual entry or adjustment.
9. Upload current accounting/budget codes to your program management system, if applicable. Some organizations pre-populate budget code drop-down menus. This allows cardholders to select (versus key in) the right codes, if different from any default codes, when reconciling transactions online.
10. Confirm that your issuer’s records of your cardholders are accurate and complete. You might find discrepancies ranging from minor (e.g., the wrong address for someone) to significant (e.g., issuer shows an open card account that you thought was closed). You might also see gaps, such as missing phone numbers. Learn more…
11. Provide updated cardholder information for the organization’s business continuity/disaster recovery plan. If your organization does not require annual training on the plan, then consider sending an overview to cardholders and their managers as a reminder.
12. Review the job description for the program administrator/manager (PA/PM) role. Does it accurately reflect the role and associated requirements?
13. Determine if there is an appropriate backup for the PA/PM.
14. Assess your organization’s relationship with the card issuer. Are there any unresolved issues? Are they meeting your needs? How can you improve the relationship? Confirm when your contract expires, so you are not caught off-guard.
15. Consider whether your organization could benefit from adding another card type, such as Virtual Cards, to round out your payment strategy and resolve a pain point.
16. Identify program goals and priorities for the year ahead. Besides adding another card type, is program buy-in lacking throughout the organization? This should be addressed prior to attempting program expansion. Could additional technology make a positive impact? These are just a couple examples.