DAS/SmART Purchasing Card P-Card Cardholder Procedures


Read time: 6 minutes

PURPOSE

The DAS/SmART Purchasing Card (P-Card) Policy establishes standardized procedures and internal controls governing the proper use of the P-Card for authorized State business purchases. These guidelines ensure compliance with State statutes, uphold fiscal accountability, and support consistent purchasing practices across DAS/SmART agencies. This policy applies to all DAS/SmART employees issued a P-Card, as well as all personnel responsible for authorizing, processing, reconciling, or overseeing P-Card transactions. All P-Card activity must adhere to applicable State laws, agency policies, and procurement requirements. Misuse of the P-Card may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination and reimbursement of any unauthorized expenditures.

COORDINATOR PROGRAM GOVERNANCE

The DAS/SmART Purchasing Card (P-Card) Coordinator is responsible for card requests and maintenance, Core-CT proxy assignments, training and training record retention, monthly statement distribution, documentation upload to Core-CT, violation enforcement, monthly/annual OSC reporting (forms CO-510, CO-509), and program audit responsiveness.

AUTHORIZATION AND ELIGIBILITY

  • P-Cards shall be issued only to employees with designated purchasing authority. Under no circumstances can the P-Card be loaned to another person; doing so will result in card termination
  • Prior to issuance, cardholders must be active State employees and must sign the State of Connecticut Purchasing Card Use Policy and any other applicable forms; signed copies are retained by the Coordinator.
  • All transactions require prior authorization, specific to each purchase.
  • Authorization must comply with agency policy and applicable statutes, including CGS 4-98.
  • Requisitions/ePros are required prior to purchase
    • Travel receives advance approval through the Travel Authorization process
    • At the beginning of each fiscal year, Purchasing will establish annual blanket purchase orders for each individual cardholder with Manager/Director approval via ePro or electronic requisition. This ensures funding is committed for estimated monthly transactions.

P-CARD SECURITY

  • Individual and Department P-Cards should be kept accessible in a secure location.
  • P-Card information may not be saved or stored, except in systems or services expressly approved by DAS BITS Security. Outside of these approved environments, card information must be provided at each transaction.

CARD CONTROLS AND SPENDING LIMITS

  • Each cardholder is assigned predefined limits that are individually customized based on the department's needs. Limits are determined based on prior year use and reassessed annually based on the prior 12-month spend.
  • Monthly limits above $250,000 require written justification and are subject to approval by the OSC P-Card Program Administrator.
  • Temporary spending limit modifications can be requested through your supervisor by emailing das.pcardcoordinator@ct.gov with a justification for the business need as well as the specific timeframe for the increase.
  • Transactions exceeding limits must follow standard procurement policies and procedures.
  • Under no circumstances shall payments be split in order to adhere to the spending limit. This will result in card termination.
  • Please reach out to your supervisor and das.pcardcoordinator@ct.gov with questions.

ALLOWABLE USE

P-Cards may be used to purchase approved goods:

  • At point of sale (including brick and mortar locations and online checkout)
  • Via telephone
  • Through ePro

UNACCEPTABLE PURCHASES

The following purchases are prohibited:

  • Personal purchases
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Fuel for state-owned or leased vehicles, or in-state rental vehicles
  • Cash advances
  • Gifts – other than for individuals in custodial card of the state funds approved for this purpose
  • Donations
  • Gift cards
  • Any items prohibited by agency policy
  • Travel‑Related Charges should only be placed on the department's respective travel card. Please refer to the DAS/SmART Travel & Related Expense Guide or email DAS.Travel@ct.gov for further information.

PROHIBITED PURCHASE METHODS

  • Splitting purchases to circumvent transaction limits is strictly prohibited. If an order exceeds your limit, you must use standard purchasing procedures or contact the P-Card Coordinator for alternatives.
  • The P-Card may not be used for purchases where a supplier charges a service fee to use the card; cardholders must select a compliant payment path or supplier.

PURCHASE PROCEDURES

At Time of Purchase

Cardholders shall:

  • Inform vendors of tax-exempt status – the tax-exempt number is printed on the card beneath the cardholder’s name
    • This information is not automatically transmitted through the card’s magnetic strip
  • Provide card number and expiration date
  • Ensure proper shipping information is included on the address label and packing slip:
    • Cardholder name
    • Agency name
    • Full delivery address – building and room number, street address, and city

Vendor Requirements

  • Vendors must not include the P-Card number on packaging or labels.
  • Vendors must not send invoices to the agency to prevent duplicate payment.

RECEIPT SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Supporting documentation must be uploaded and attached to the corresponding transaction in Core-CT. Please see P-Card Attachments for receipt upload instructions.
The following file naming conventions should be followed:

Receipt_date of trans_vendor_amount
Packing slip_vendor_amount

** If a purchase receipt is lost, and a duplicate cannot be provided by the supplier, the cardholder must complete a CO-505 Missing Receipt Affidavit and email to das.pcardcoordinator@ct.gov. **

Documentation Upload Responsibilities

Individual P-Cards – cardholders are responsible for uploading the following in Core-CT:

  • Receipts issued by the merchant that provides proof of purchase
  • Signed and dated packing slips that provide proof of receipt (if applicable)

Department P-Cards – cardholders are responsible for uploading the following in Core-CT:

  • Receipts issued by the merchant that provides proof of purchase
  • Signed and dated packing slips that provide proof of receipt (if applicable)
  • Internal requisitions

Travel P Cards – Travel Coordinator is responsible for uploading the following in Core-CT:

  • Receipts
  • Travel authorizations
  • Supporting documents

All other required documentation will be uploaded to the first transaction in Core-CT for that cardholder in the billing cycle by the P-Card Coordinator:

  • Signed P-Card transaction logs
  • P-Card monthly cardholder statements
  • Lost Receipt Affidavit (if applicable)
  • Internal requisition/ documentation of increased obligation

RECONCILIATION PROCESS

Cardholder Responsibilities

  • Ensure that a valid Purchase Order is in place prior to the purchase being made.
  • Maintain accurate records.
  • Upload document(s) into Core-CT: Transaction information is available in Core-CT within three days; therefore, cardholders are required to attach the receipt and packing slip (if applicable) within 5 days from the date of the transaction.
  • Maintain a monthly P-Card Purchase Log (CO-501/CO-503D - OSC Forms) that is filled out daily as purchases occur.
  • A new P-Card Purchase Log must be established at the beginning of each new billing cycle.
  • At the end of each billing cycle the cardholder will receive a Cardholder Statement listing all P-Card transactions from the P-Card Coordinator. The billing cycle cutoff date is the 10th of each month, and the statement will be sent out within 1 business day.
  • Both the P-Card Purchase Log and the Cardholder Statement must be reconciled with the receipts, signed by the cardholder and supervisor (or other approver), and emailed to das.pcardcoordinator@ct.gov within 5 business days of receipt of the statement.

Business Office Reconciler Responsibilities

  • Review transactions for compliance – amount, sales tax, service fees, purchasing authority, account codes
  • If sales tax is charged, the Reconciler shall reach out to the P-Card holder. It is the P-Card holder’s responsibility to request a refund as soon as possible to avoid delays in the credit back to the card.
  • Reconcile transactions in Core-CT, selecting contract if applicable and update status from “staged” to “verified”.
  • For transactions on the Travel P-Card, the additional responsibilities are:
    • Retrieve the TA# from the travel log
    • Obtain the TA copy from the shared TA file
    • Upload TA and receipts to the corresponding transaction in Core-CT
  • For transactions on the Department P-Card, the additional responsibilities are:
    • Maintain monthly P-Card Purchase Log CO-503D (OSC Forms)
    • Review ePro or electronic requisition for a specific vendor to determine if a department card can be used
    • After the PO Approver approves the quote, coding, purchasing authority, and the requisition is sourced into a PO:
      • Requestor signs, dates, approves payment, and sends the invoice to PCardTransDas@ct.gov
      • Purchasing Buyer uploads the invoice approval to the appropriate PO Line comment in Core-CT
      • Purchasing Buyer creates a receipt against the PO, pays via P-Card, receives payment receipt, and uploads it to the appropriate PO Line comment in Core-CT

Business Office Approver Responsibilities

  • Review receipts for accuracy and compliance.
  • Change the status from “verified” to “approved” in Core-CT.

PURCHASE ORDER PROCESSING

Approved P-Card purchase order types include:

  • PCARDOPTIN – The Supplier accepts Requisitions or Purchase Orders using P-Card
  • PCARDPOS – The Supplier does not accept Requisitions or Purchase Orders using P-Card but will accept a P-Card at their physical location. This is used for reconciliation purposes only so the default dispatch method will update to PRINT.
  • PUNCHOUT – The Supplier accepts ‘PUNCHOUT ORDERS’. WB Mason is currently the only supplier available for Punchout. EPro requisitions are submitted; the supplier location EDX is selected. The buyer selects the credit card to be used prior to approval.
  • PCARD (default) – used only for US Bank POs

The P-Card purchase order type identifies how the purchase is processed or reconciled in Core-CT. It does not establish the purchasing authority for the transaction.

Cardholders and buyers must still follow the applicable purchasing authority for the underlying purchase. State contracts must be used when available and required. If a statewide contract is not available, GL71 or another applicable purchasing authority may be used when appropriate.

SALES TAX EXEMPTION & RECOVERY

  • Cardholders are responsible for indicating sales tax exemption information prior to the charge.
  • If a cardholder does not have access to the sales tax exemption form, they shall request a copy from their DAS Buyer or the P-Card Coordinator.
  • It is the responsibility of the cardholder to dispute any erroneous sales tax charges and contact the vendor as soon as possible with applicable information to credit the account.
  • Multiple occasions of tax charges hitting the same P-Card can result in termination of card.

RETURNS, DISPUTES, FRAUD, AND MISUSE

The cardholder must accurately label the transaction status as Returned, Credited, or Disputed on the P Card Purchase Logs (CO 501/CO-503D- OSC Forms)

Returns

  • If an item needs to be returned for any reason, the cardholder should send the item back to the supplier in the manner agreed upon.
  • The supplier should issue a credit for items that are returned.
  • Documentation of the return (such as a credit receipt) should be issued by the supplier and kept on file for reconciliation to the monthly statement.

Disputes

  • A dispute is a merchant error in a transaction.
  • The cardholder must contact vendors directly for refunds of disputed amounts.
  • The Reconciler will reconcile credits upon receipt and check the box labeled ‘collected’ to remove the active dispute on Core-CT
  • Disputes that are not resolved must be initiated with U.S. Bank within 60 days of the statement date

Fraud

  • Fraud is an unauthorized use by someone you do not know without your consent.
  • Fraudulent transactions must be reported to US Bank within 90 days of the statement date.
  • The bank-issued fraud statement must be signed and returned within 21 days.

Misuse

  • Misuse includes unauthorized personal purchases, sharing of the P-Card, or allowing another employee to use the card.
  • The unauthorized use can be either a deliberately inappropriate purchase or an unintentional unauthorized use.

RECOVERY OF FEES OR ACCIDENTAL CHARGES

  • The cardholder is responsible for seeking immediate reimbursement from the supplier if sales tax, service fees or surcharges are charged.
  • A personal expense paid with a P-Card is a violation of the P-Card Policy. The cardholder is responsible for reporting the occurrence to the P-Card Coordinator and arranging repayment.

LOST OR STOLEN CARDS

EMPLOYMENT OR STATUS CHANGES

  • Cards must be returned to the P-Card Coordinator immediately upon:
    • Termination
    • Retirement
    • Role change
  • Upon return of the P-Card, the employee will provide the required receipts for transactions to be reconciled.
  • Cards must be suspended during extended absences.

VIOLATIONS AND DISCIPLINARY ACTION

  • The cardholder is required to immediately report unauthorized purchases to the P-Card Coordinator at das.pcardcoordinator@ct.gov
  • The state will seek the recoupment of unallowable expenses, and cardholders must reimburse improper charges.
  • Any violations of the P-Card policy must be recorded on the CO-510 form by the P-Card Coordinator and submitted to the OSC P-Card Administrator prior to the 10th of the month following the violation. The annual CO-509 form will be submitted by August 1st each year.
  • The P-Card Coordinator will maintain a log of violations with supporting documentation.

Consequences

If there are repeated instances of violations and/or improper use of the P-Card, the DAS Business Office will consult internally, with OSC and/or with HR to determine appropriate actions including the following:

  • Revocation of card privileges
  • Disciplinary action
  • Investigation and audit review by agency personnel and/or state auditors

Immediate 30-day suspension and mandatory retraining for: misuse not self-reported by the reconciliation due date, sharing/compromising a P Card, failure to report fraud within 30 days, or split transactions. Other violations may result in a 30-day suspension and retraining. Repeated/egregious violations lead to permanent termination of card privileges.

AUDIT AND COMPLIANCE

  • All P-Cards are subject to random audits.
  • Non-compliance may result in disciplinary action.

INTERNAL CONTROLS

  • Pre-approval is required via ePro unless otherwise authorized
  • Travel requires advance authorization
  • Blanket purchase orders may be used for recurring expenses

DOCUMENT RETENTION/DIGITIZATION REQUIREMENTS

All P-Card records must be retained in accordance with State retention policies set by CSL and made available for audit upon request. CSL Schedule FISCAL-023 – Purchasing Card Records requires a minimum retention of 3 years from fiscal year end, or until audited, whichever is later.

Effective October 1, 2025 all documentation must be maintained electronically.

Supporting Documentation should include the following items:

  • Receipts issued by the merchant (proof of purchase)
  • Itemized restaurant receipts (including number of attendees)
  • Order confirmations
  • Signed and dated packing slips
  • P Card Purchase Logs (CO 501/CO-503D - OSC Forms)
  • Monthly cardholder statements
  • Requisitions

POLICY ENFORCEMENT

Failure to comply with this policy may result in:

  • Loss of P-Card privileges
  • Financial liability
  • Administrative or disciplinary action

EXCEPTIONS

Requests for exceptions must be submitted for approval prior to purchase to designated P-Card administrators at osc.PCard@ct.gov & PCardtransdas@ct.gov

Sec. 3-10. Maintenance of the Governor's residence. Foundations established re Governor's residence. Disclosure of income, expenditures, contributions, officers and state employees. (a) The land, buildings, furnishings and improvements of the Governor's official residence shall be maintained by the Commissioner of Administrative Services and food, supplies and staff for such residence shall be provided by the commissioner at the expense of the state.

STATE CONTRACT COMPLIANCE

  • State contract vendors/suppliers must be used when available.
  • Exceptions must be justified and documented.

SMALL AND MINORITY BUSINESS PURCHASES

Under Public Act 25-168, Section 200, state agencies must consider opportunities for certified Small Business Enterprise (SBE) and Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) vendors and document good faith efforts when relevant purchasing opportunities exist.

If you are using a department P-Card, the purchase has its own requisition or purchase order. You should follow the normal Core-CT documentation process and select the good faith effort comment that best matches the purchase.

If you are using an individual P-Card and purchases are captured through a blanket purchase order, you will need to enter the applicable good faith effort code on the P-Card Purchase Log (CO-501). Please review the DAS Spending Allocation Goals website for guidance on how to identify the correct good faith effort code and what supporting documentation should be retained.

BOTTLED WATER POLICY

  • As of 2010, DAS has a Bottled Water Policy where it is encouraged that State Agencies shall not purchase bottled water in any circumstances unless the tap water at the location is deemed un-potable. For these locations, drinking water dispensing equipment is encouraged and may be purchased/rented for Agency use.
  • As of February 2026, Procurement Services has confirmed that bottled water may be purchased for one-off situations.