Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Purchasing Card

Cardholder Manual

Second Edition

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

  • Overview of the purchasing card process

CARD HOUSEKEEPING

  • Amended cards – change of name
  • Non-receipt of cards
  • Security of the card
  • Lost/stolen cards
  • Job change/Department change
  • Leaving employment
  • Cardholders Liability/Credit status

LIMITS

  • Monthly credit limit
  • Transaction limit

TRANSACTIONS

  • Where the card can be used
  • Raising transactions/placing orders
  • Card declined
  • Returned goods/goods incorrect
  • Incorrect amount billed
  • Billed but goods not received
  • Missing transactions

SUPPLIERS

  • Which ones may be used
  • New suppliers

CARDHOLDER TRANSACTION REPORTS (statements)

  • Monthly reconciliation
  • Card Transaction Reports

CARDS ONLINE

AUTHORISED BLOCKING

CONTACT NAMES/NUMBERS

SUMMARY

Forms

Variation Request Form

Daily Log

INTRODUCTION

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust have identified that there are advantages to be gained by using Purchasing Cards as part of its procurement and purchase accounting processes. E.g purchasing low value goods/services and cutting out admin costs associated with processing invoices.

The basic objective of using the Purchasing Card is to reduce paperwork and administration time, involved in the ordering and invoice process for low value, high volume goods and services.

The Purchasing Cards are to be used with certain ‘preferred suppliers’ who have been selected for the card implementation. Their selection has been based on the criteria that they supply low value/high volume goods and services.

All goods purchased must comply with current European/British standards and relevant legislation and NHS guidance.

Each cardholder is issued with a copy of these procedures, and the limits under which they can operate (Transaction Limit - £100, Monthly card Limit £1,000). Purchases should be made in accordance with these procedures.Multiple transactions must not be made with one supplier in one day which, if made collectively would exceed the single transaction limit.

The cardholder may only use the card for business purposes and the card must only be used with the authorised supplier’s, unless given specific permission by the Card Administrator. If the cardholder requires any further clarification or information, they should contact the Card Administrator Finance Department, Curie Court, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust QMC Campus, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, Extn. 77 74866176 or 0115 8416176) in the first instance.

  • Overview of the Purchasing Card Process

Within the parameters set out above and using authorised suppliers the cardholder conducts the Purchasing Card transaction via the telephone for deliverables that are available for despatch within 24 hours or on a face-to-face basis when items are required immediately.

The cardholder must maintain a daily log of all transactions, which they will reconcile with their monthly Card Transaction Reports (CTR). Which, will be obtained from cards online. Please ensure you register with cards online as soon as you receive your purchasing card.

The Bank (RBS - Nat West) pays the supplier within 4 working days of the transaction, and the Trust receives monthly CTR from the Bank, detailing the transactions for each cardholder, which enables the Finance Department to record the transactions and allocate costs accordingly, without the need for invoices. The Trust makes one payment per month to the Bank to cover all card transactions.

CARD HOUSEKEEPING

  • Amended cards - change of name

If you need to amend your name on the card (e.g. because of marriage etc.) contact your Card Administrator for a variation request form. For verification reasons a copy of the official documentation must be attached. (i.e marriage certificate) The obsolete card should be cut in half across the magnetic strip and then returned to the Card Administrator following receipt of the new one.

  • Non Receipt of Cards

Your replacement card should be received approximately 14 days before the renewal date. Non-receipt should be advised immediately to your Card Administrator.

  • Security of the Card

The card provided to you is to be used by you only and should not be lent to anyone else. It is in the name of the Trust and it is your responsibility to ensure that it is retained in a secure location. In conjunction with the most advanced banking security available all cardholders will be issued with a PIN. Cardholders may be asked to key in their PIN, instead of signing a receipt. PIN’s will be sent directly to all new cardholders at the address as stated on the original card request form (work address). The security of the card and the pin is the responsibility of the card holder and any negligence will be dealt with accordingly.

  • Lost/Stolen cards

If you lose your card or it is stolen, advise Royal Bank of Scotland immediately (they operate a 24-hour customer service) by telephone.

Telephone 0870 6000459

Lost and Stolen Cards

Royal Bank of Scotland

Harrogate Card Centre

Central House

Otley Road

Harrogate

HG3 1XH

  • Job Change/Department Change

Upon notice of a job change and/or departmental change, advise your Card Administrator as soon as possible. A decision will then be made on the need for your continued use of the card.

  • Leaving employment

Upon leaving the employment of the Trust you must cut your card in half and return it to the Card Administrator.

  • Cardholders Liability/Credit Status

Whilst the Purchasing Card is embossed with your name, the account and therefore the liability are in the name of the trust. Consequently there is no impact on your personal credit status.

LIMITS

All requests for any amendments to the set limits will need to be made via your account administrator. On no account should a request be made direct to the card issuer. Please contact you account administrator for a variation request form.

  • Monthly Credit Limit

An initial monthly credit limit has been set for your card (£1,000). If you find that this is insufficient for your needs contact your Card Administrator to discuss a revision.

  • Transaction Limit
  • The trust has an agreed maximum transaction limit for you. Your current limit is (£100). The card should not be used for purchases in excess of this limit. Attempts to do this will be met with a decline when authorisation is sought for the transaction. This limit is inclusive of any VAT, carriage charges etc.
  • Multiple transactions must not be made with one supplier in one day which, if made singularly would exceed the single transaction limit.

TRANSACTIONS

  • Where the card can be used

Your Purchasing card can potentially be used at any Visa supplier outlet, provided your card has been set with the appropriate authorities.

Suppliers that accept your Purchasing Card fall into two categories:

a)Suppliers who are Visa Purchasing Card capable (special electronic equipment must be installed by the suppliers to have this facility).

b)Suppliers that accept Visa

For suppliers in category ‘a’ it is not necessary to obtain an invoice as Customs and Excise have approved Visa CTR as evidence of payment of VAT.

For suppliers in category ‘b’ it is necessary to obtain an invoice as Customs and Excise have not approved Visa CTR as evidence of payment of VAT.

  • Raising Transactions/Placing Orders

The cardholder personally needs to place the order. This can be in one of five ways: -

  1. Ordering in person
  2. Ordering by telephone.
  3. Ordering by mail.
  4. Ordering by fax.
  5. Ordering via the Internet. (Only using a secure site)

N.B. where documentation is used for ordering the cardholder should not leave paperwork around displaying the card number. All documentation must be secured away. Care must be given when sending card details via insecure means i.e mail, fax, insecure website. To ensure a web site is secure they would normally have https// at the beginning of their web address and payment sites would normally display a padlock sign. If you are in any doubt please refer to your account administrator who will ensure your supplier is bonefide.

In all instances the cardholder must inform the supplier of: -

  • Card number (16 digits)
  • Date of expiry
  • Cardholder name (as shown on the card).
  • Security code (last three digits of the number printed within the signature slip on the reverse of your card (CVV number).
  • The Trust full billing address, which is Cardholder’s Name and Location/Department, Nottingham University Hospital’s NHS Trust, QMC Campus, Derby Road, Nottingham NG7 2UH.
  • The full delivery address.
  • A clear description of the goods required.
  • The goods, delivery note and invoice where appropriate should be marked prior to shipment with: -

“Visa Purchasing Card”

Cardholder’s Name and Location/Department

  • Please indicate to suppliers that they should not be sending invoices to the Accounts Payable Department. Receipts and invoices should be sent directly to you.

Details of the transaction must be recorded on your Daily Log and updated when the goods/service are received. Please ensure you complete the order code for each item on the daily log.

With all authorised suppliers there should (on most occasions) be no need to obtain a VAT invoice - you will be made aware from the monthly individual CTR whether an invoice is required or not. Where the supplier needs to send an invoice it must be sent directly to you. Failure to do this may result in the invoice being paid twice. It is imperative that these invoices are retained and submitted at the end of the month with the daily log. Failure to comply will result in the Trust not having the evidence to enable the reclaim of VAT on the transaction, where applicable.

  • Card Declined

If a transaction is declined refer to your Card Administrator. Some potential causes are exceeding monthly card limit, exceeding individual transaction limit or using a supplier that is within a Merchant Category not allowed by the Trust. The card administrator will investigate as to why your card was declined and resolve the issue where applicable.

  • Returned Goods/Goods Incorrect

If you return any goods, ensure that you tell the supplier directly, as it is they who will arrange a credit to your Purchasing Card account. The credit must be entered on your daily log on the date the credit with the supplier is agreed. The credit will appear on your monthly cardholder transaction report. There is no need to await receipt of the Purchasing Card transaction report before raising the problem with the supplier. If you cannot come to mutual agreement with the supplier, contact your Card Administrator.

  • Incorrect Amount Billed

When checking your monthly CTR against your daily log you may identify a transaction that you are not happy with. In these circumstances contact the relevant supplier to seek explanation/adjustment. In the event that the discrepancy remains unresolved contact your Card Administrator for further instructions.

  • Billed but Goods Not Received

If you are billed for something that has not been received contact the supplier to ensure that the goods have been despatched. It is a VISA regulation that the transaction is not processed until the goods are despatched. Inform your Card Administrator immediately if this regulation has been breached.

  • Missing Transactions

Any purchases made or credits agreed just prior to CTR date will show up on the following month’s CTR If any transactions do not turn up as anticipated it is possible that the supplier has forgotten to enter the purchase into the VISA system. In these circumstances contact your Card Administrator before taking any action.

P.N. All transactions are independently checked for validity and correct use of funds. Any misappropriate use of funds will be investigated and reported. This may result in disciplinary action being taken which could result in termination of employment.

SUPPLIERS

  • Which Ones May Be Used

Your Purchasing Card is only to be used with Authorised Suppliers. A list of authorised suppliers can be obtained from

  • New Suppliers

If you identify a supplier whom you would like added to our list of suppliers contact your Card Administrator.

CARDHOLDER TRANSACTION REPORTS (statement)

  • Monthly Reconciliation

The (CTR) is divided into 4 distinct sections and there are different requirements from the cardholder for each section. The sections have the title headings of:

A. The section “Transaction is Evidence for VAT - invoice will not be provided by the supplier” contains those suppliers who are:

Summary VAT Capable Suppliers - are those suppliers which show a summary description of the goods purchased on the right hand side of the CTR. Please attach the delivery note and any additional documentation to your CTR.

Line Item Detail (LID) Capable Suppliers- are those suppliers, which show a line by line description on the CTR, of exactly what has been purchased and the cost of each item.

It is not imperative to attach any documentation except the standard delivery note to your Cardholder Transaction Report.

B. The section “ Transaction is not Evidence for VAT as incomplete details have been received from supplier – please ask for an invoice” are those transactions where something has gone wrong with a Summary VAT or LID supplier’s transaction. In this instance, the cardholder must contact the supplier to obtain the relevant legal VAT invoice.

C. The section “Transaction is not Evidence for VAT because of currency/transaction size – invoice will be provided by supplier” are those transactions where the supplier in the stated countries are not yet capable of showing the VAT element of a purchasing card transaction on the purchasing card statement. Alternatively, where the supplier used is Summary VAT capable only and the transaction size is greater than £5,000. Customs and Excise have stipulated that an invoice must support any transactions greater than this amount. This invoice must be stamped “Visa purchasing card paid”. For these transactions, the cardholder must ensure that a valid legal VAT receipt is obtained.

D. “Transaction is not Evidence as supplier is not VAT capable – an invoice will be provided by supplier” are to be treated as suppliers have been dealt with in the past. Ensure that a VAT invoice is always enclosed for each transaction. Failure to enclose an invoice will mean that the Trust is unable to reclaim any VAT due to them. Always ensure also, that the supplier has annotated the invoice “VISA Purchasing Card paid”, to eliminate any chance of duplicate payment.

  • Card Transaction Reports;

The Bank will send an email when your electronic CTR is ready to be viewed

on Cards Online. This will be on or around the 28th day of each month.

You will need to log on to cards online to retrieve your monthly CTR.

  1. Check that the transactions on the CTR match with those on your daily log, i.e. supplier used and gross value.
  1. Check that you have received documentation where required, i.e. for each transaction. If not contact the supplier to obtain the missing paperwork.
  1. Once each line is checked on the daily Log, sign the log as approved.
  1. If there are any items under dispute with the supplier they should be clearly marked as such. They should also remain as an outstanding entry on the Log.
  1. If there are any transactions on the log that do not appear on the monthly CTR these should appear on the next months CTR. Delete the transaction from this months daily log and transfer to next months daily log.

Once the CTR is approved your manager should sign the daily log and the following should be sent to the Card Administrator at Finance Department, Curie Court, Nottingham University Hospital’s NHS Trust, QMC Campus, Derby Road, Nottingham, NG7 2UH for processing.

  1. The original daily log duly approved. Retain a copy for outstanding issues and personal record purposes.
  1. Any copies of a past CTR showing clearance of disputed items.

4. VAT invoices (where appropriate). Delivery notes/ Visa receipts.

The above should be submitted within 5 working days of receipt of your electronic CTR. If there is any delay advise the Card Administrator as to the reasons, before the end of the reporting period.

CARDS ONLINE

  • Enrolment

Web address

To enrol please enter your 16 digit card number in the box marked ‘Account Number’

Next stage they will ask you to provide a PIN and password. For security reasons please rememberthese for future reference.

Once enrolled, you will receive a letter from the bank containing a Mailer Authentication Code (MAC). This unique code provides you with full and secure access to your account information through Cards OnLine.

Top View