Credit Card Policy [Effective 1/1/2025]

The purpose of this policy is to provide departments, supervisors, employees and non-employees with specific policies and procedures regarding RISD Credit Cards (Purchasing Cards or Travel & Entertainment Cards) in order to ensure the appropriate use of college funds and compliance with IRS regulations related to business expenses.

Anyone who holds a RISD Credit Card (Purchasing Card, Small Purchase Card or Travel & Entertainment Card), acts as a delegate or approves transactions for a RISD credit card or authorizes an individual to obtain or use a RISD credit card.

A credit card may be issued to full-time college employees to facilitate the purchase of supplies and goods and to provide a payment mechanism for college employees traveling on college business. Procuring goods or services that exceed an individual’s card spending limit must be ordered according to the college Procurement Policy (purchase order or contract). RISD credit cards are financial tools used by authorized individuals to enable certain types of payments while performing business on behalf of RISD. All RISD credit card transactions must adhere to RISD purchasing policies.

The RISD credit card program currently supports THREE types of credit cards.

1. Departmental & Individual Purchasing Cards (P-Card) simplify the purchase of low-dollar goods and services that cannot be readily purchased through the punchout portal or through other contract suppliers.
2. Travel and Expense Cards (T&E) are the primary way to pay for travel, entertainment, food-related, and individual business expenses (issued to individuals only).
3. Departmental Small Purchase Cards allow for nominal, low amount purchasing needs.

All credit card transactions must adhere to RISD purchasing policies. Each transaction must be substantiated, include supporting documentation and be submitted for departmental approval and then to Procurement Services in a timely manner (30 days).

All credit card activity substantiation, report and receipt retention, and approval workflow must be conducted within Workday.

New cardholders must complete an acknowledgment of this policy and all other Controller policies.

Approver: An individual responsible for confirming that transactions are appropriate, compliant with policies and approved in a timely manner.

Cardholder: The individual who is authorized to hold and use a RISD credit card as a purchasing agent for the department and, ultimately, for the school. Faculty and staff may be cardholders.

Dean or Department Head or Office Head: An individual who is a department chair, department head, or oversees a RISD office.

Delegate (Procurement & Expense Specialist roles in Workday): An individual who is designated by the cardholder to assist in the substantiation of credit card activity and preparation of reports on behalf of the cardholder. The cardholder retains ultimate responsibility for the appropriate and allowable use and substantiation of all transactions associated with their RISD credit card.

Departmental Purchases: Expenses associated with the purchase of goods or services to support a RISD department, center, program, workgroup or organization.

Departmental Purchasing Card: One of the cards available through the RISD credit card program, which is used for departmental purchases and may be used by those individuals who have the responsibility to purchase on behalf of their department. The Departmental Purchasing Cardholder is typically aligned with a departmental coordinator who has been trained on departmental purchasing policies and procedures. The Departmental Purchasing Card should be used for low-dollar departmental goods and services (typically less than $2,500) that cannot be purchased through the punchout portal or from contract suppliers.

Departmental Purchasing Card Statement Cycle: One calendar month, beginning on the first day of the month and ending on the last day of the month.

Egencia: The school’s authorized system for online travel booking (air travel, hotel, train and, & car reservations). Please reach out to Procurement for login credentials.

Individual Business Expenses: Expenses associated with an individual’s work that is being performed as part of their RISD responsibilities. May include expenses such as travel, business meals (T&E Card) and books to support an individual’s job duties, teaching or research (P Card).

Low-dollar Purchase: Goods or services with a total transaction value less than $2,500 ($2,500 with T&E Card).

RISD Credit Card Program: The overall program that supports the use of Departmental Purchasing Cards and Travel and Expense Cards.

T&E (Travel & Entertainment) Card: One of the cards available through the RISD credit card program, which is used for individual business expenses, including travel. The Travel and Expense card should be used for an individual’s business expenses while traveling or other reimbursable business expenses. This card may also be used to pay for individual guest travel.

Workday: The school’s authorized system for online expense management, including all credit card activity substantiation, report preparation, receipt retention, and approval workflow.

RISD credit cards are financial tools used by authorized individuals to enable certain types of payments while performing RISD business.

The RISD credit card program currently supports three types of credit cards. Departmental Purchasing Cards simplify the purchase of low-dollar goods and services that cannot be readily purchased through the Marketplace or through other contract suppliers. Travel and Expense Cards are the primary way to pay for travel and individual business expenses.

All credit card transactions must adhere to RISD expense policies. Each transaction must be substantiated with supporting documentation, and submitted via Workday for departmental approval and then to the Procurement Office in a timely manner

New cardholders must acknowledge that they have reviewed and will comply with the RISD Credit Card Policy.

SUMMARY OF RISD CREDIT CARD PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITIES

The responsibilities of each person involved in the RISD credit card program are explained below.

Approvers

Any RISD credit card approver is responsible for examining the card transactions to confirm the charges are appropriate and comply with RISD policies.

Expense reports, which contain Travel and Expense card transactions, are first routed to a supervisor of the cardholder for Managerial Approval. This Managerial Approval occurs prior to submission of the expense report to a secondary individual for Cost Center Approval depending on the dollar amount of the transaction/expense report. The Procurement Department will then review all Expenses and Expense Reports for appropriateness and allowability under RISD Policy.

Cardholder

A RISD cardholder is authorized by Management and the Director of Procurement as the authorized user of the card. Cardholders are responsible for the security of the RISD credit card and are not authorized to share the card or card number with other parties. RISD employees on leave, such as medical leave or sabbatical, cannot have an active RISD T&E or P-Card.

Employees who have an individual RISD T&E Card assigned to them must utilize it to purchase travel-related and entertaining expenses (not a Department, Admin or Assistant Card).

When multiple employees attend a function together, the most senior staff or faculty member in attendance from the sponsoring department must utilize their RISD T&E Card to settle any payment.

Delegate (Procurement & Expense Specialist roles in Workday)

An expense delegate may be assigned by the cardholder and is responsible for reviewing each credit card transaction in Workday on a regular basis. This includes verifying the accuracy of the transactions, documenting the business purpose, recording the appropriate cost center and notifying the cardholder that the report is ready for submission.

Procurement Services

Procurement Services reviews RISD credit card transactions and expense reports on an audit basis. This policy does not replace the need for Approvers to review all transactions, as noted above. Procurement Services will direct the cardholder to correct any errors. If necessary, Procurement Services may correct the department’s error and will provide the department with a copy of the accounting entry. If excessive or repeated errors occur, additional training may be required.

TIMELINESS OF SUBSTANTIATION

RISD travel and expense credit card transactions must be substantiated in an expense report and approved by the department within 30 days of the expense being incurred.

RISD departmental purchasing card transactions must be submitted and approved by the department within 30 days of the expense being incurred.

CARD SPENDING AND TRANSACTION LIMITS

The default spending and transaction limits on departmental purchasing cards are:

Procurement Card (Purchasing – General Supplies) Departmental & Individual

• Single amount limit: $2,500
• Daily amount limit: $5,000
• Monthly limit: $20,000

Travel and Entertainment Card Limits (food, travel, entertainment) Individual only

• Single amount limit: $2,500
• Daily amount limit: $5,000
• Monthly limit: $10,000

Small Purchase Card (Incidental expenses, petty cash) Departmental only

• Single amount limit: $50
• Daily amount limit: $100
• Monthly limit: $1000

Higher transaction and/or monthly limit increase requests (travel-related only) may be submitted to Procurement Services via a credit line increase request in etrieve. Procurement Services will confirm or deny the request within 48 hours of when the completed form is submitted with the required departmental approvals. All other transactions (not travel-related) that are over $2500 must be processed as a requisition in Workday in order to obtain the required pre-approvals.

ALLOWABLE USES OF RISD CREDIT CARDS

The Travel and Expense Card and Purchasing Cards are designed to facilitate and support different types of financial transactions.

The Purchasing Card facilitates the purchase of goods or services to support a RISD department, center, program, workgroup or organization. This card should be used for low-dollar departmental goods and services (typically less than $2,500) that cannot be purchased through the Workday Punchout suppliers or from contract suppliers.

Travel and Expense Cards are the primary way to pay for travel and individual business expenses. These types of expenses should support an individual’s work that is being performed as part of RISD responsibilities. These may include expenses such as travel, business meals and other miscellaneous expenses to support an individual’s job duties, teaching or research.

Small Purchase Cards are available to departments for low amounts to cover incidental expenses.

Entertainment expenses charged to RISD must be in RISD’s interests. Federal law requires that anyone entertaining a guest on behalf of the college identify the people being entertained and submit a detailed business purpose justifying the expense. Entertainment includes, but is not limited to, expenses incurred for meals. Cardholders must list all participants for events of five people or fewer and for events that include more than five people list event attendee types (example: five students, five faculty members and two alumni), provide an itemized receipt and the business purpose on the expense report. It should be noted that policy dictates that travel and entertainment expenses must be prudent in nature. For example, first class airfare is restricted.

Gift Cards

Gift cards are not an allowable expense on RISD credit cards. Gift cards can be a legitimate expense under certain conditions. Requests for gift cards should be sent to epro@risd.edu.

UNALLOWABLE USES OF RISD CREDIT CARDS

RISD credit cards may not be used to purchase these goods and services:

• hazardous materials
• chemicals
• capital equipment
• computers
• independent contractors
• entertainers
• temporary employment
• personal purchases
• gift cards
• purchases from suppliers participating in the marketplace or from contract suppliers
• split payments

Guidelines

In general, purchases that require advanced documentation such as insurance, service level agreements and pricing quotes should be paid via requisition or contract. RISD enables credit cards using standard merchant category codes to restrict the purchase of other prohibited categories of goods and services.

Physical Credit Card and Credit Card Number Security

RISD credit cards must only be used by the cardholder in whose name the card is issued. Sharing of cards or card numbers is prohibited.

Cardholder Responsibilities

Those requesting a RISD credit card must submit and initial the electronic etrieve application affirming that they have reviewed and agree to comply with RISD policy and any applicable sponsor restrictions, and understand that card issuance and continued use requires the successful completion of training as well as policy compliance.

The cardholder also agrees to secure the physical credit card as well as the credit card number and not share the card or card number details, to use the credit card for business use only and promptly reimburse RISD for any non-business transactions. If the cardholder fails to reimburse RISD within 30 days, the funds may be deducted from the cardholder’s pay. Any unapproved or otherwise unallowable expenses transacted with the credit card, with the exception of charges deemed fraudulent and made without the cardholder’s consent or knowledge, must be reimbursed to RISD in a timely manner.

RECORD KEEPING

Images of receipts for RISD credit card transactions must be attached to the appropriate transactions in Workday. If the original receipt is unavailable, a missing receipt affidavit must be completed by the cardholder and attached to any transactions. Responsibility for these affidavits may not be delegated.

ACCOUNT TRANSACTION RECONCILIATION

P-CARD and T&E CARD TRANSACTIONS: Cardholders must review their purchases in the settlement system (Workday) as soon as possible. Transaction reconciliation must be completed weekly. It is the cardholder’s responsibility to review, obtain and include/upload appropriate backup documentation (sales receipts, invoices, packing slips, or other proofs of purchase to ensure receipt of all goods charged) as part of the account reconciliation process. The goods should be easily identifiable on the proof of purchase. All receipts should be to the credit card transaction for the purchase listed on the receipt, or transaction on the settlement system. Failure to do so may result in card cancellation. Upon reconciliation, all supporting documentation will be saved in the settlement system. If, for some reason, the cardholder cannot provide an appropriate receipt for a transaction, they must provide a missing receipt affidavit. All cards are subject to audit by Procurement Services.

AUDITING

Procurement Services reviews various reports provided by our credit card provider on a monthly and quarterly basis. Random audits of credit card activity and cardholder missing receipt logs are conducted by Procurement Services and RISD’s outside auditor. The primary purpose of an audit is to ensure the proper expenditure of funds under this program.

RENEWAL AND CANCELLATION OF CARDS

Procurement cards are renewed automatically and are sent to RISD’s Procurement Services department about 30 days before the expiration date of the card. Any changes to policy or procedures that may have occurred since the initial agreement was entered into would be reviewed at that time and may require the cardholder to sign a revised cardholder agreement form. To cancel a procurement card, please call JP Morgan customer service immediately at 1-800-270-7760 to inform them that the card is to be shut off. Please email epro@risd.edu to confirm that the card has been deactivated.

LOST OR STOLEN CARDS

It is the responsibility of the cardholder to immediately report a lost or stolen card to J.P. Morgan by calling 1-800-270-7760. The next step is to report this information to Procurement Services via email (epro@risd.edu) for follow-up.

Unallowable Expenses

RISD will not reimburse or pay for expenses that are inherently personal in nature. The following list of personal expenses serves as a guide and is not to be considered all-inclusive:

• Transportation (air, train and rental cars) booked outside of the college’s official travel booking site or authorized travel agency
• Excessive tips (over 20%)
• Personal grooming services, such as barbers, hairdressers, toiletries, massages, manicures/pedicures and saunas
• Childcare costs, babysitting and house sitting costs
• Pet care, including fees for boarding pets and other animal care
• Any personal clothing, accessories or hygiene items
• Prescriptions, over-the-counter medication and other medical expenses
• Personal reading material, such as non-scholarly magazines, books and newspapers
• Personal recreation or entertainment such as greens fees, sightseeing fares, theater tickets, entry fees, lift tickets, etc.
• Credit card delinquency fees and finance charges
• Personal costs such as life, medical, personal automobile loss of personal effects and baggage insurance
• Business travel accident insurance beyond the college’s policies
• Lost luggage
• Loss or theft of travel advance money, airline tickets, personal funds and/or other personal property
• Excessive meal costs that are not substantiated by a complete and explanatory business purpose
• Individual meal expenses for one-day travel
• Expenses not properly documented (non-itemized)
• Membership fees for priority boarding, expedited screening or customs processing (Global Entry, PreCheck, Nexus, Sentri)
• Lost/damaged baggage or personal items
• Carbon offset credits
• Donations
• Room-upgrade fees or late check-out fees
• No-show fees
• Alcoholic beverages not aligned with RISD alcohol policy
• Alcoholic shots
• Fees for personal expenses, such as: golf, exercise room/health club
• Rooms or tickets paid with frequent guest program credit
• Expenses related to an employee’s spouse or other family members
• Gift card/certificates
• Home office furniture
• Sales tax for items purchased in/shipped to MA, RI and NY
• Amenities such as movies, in-room bars and room service
• Parking tickets, local parking fees, traffic violations, auto repairs, or the cost of vehicle towing
• Gas purchases for personal vehicles
• Meal delivery services such as Uber Eats or DoorDash
• Ride-sharing services (Uber, Lyft, Zipcar) for local travel in greater Providence area (excluding airport)

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A LIVING DOCUMENT. This document discusses policies/procedures meant to establish an operational reference point. As data is gathered and risks assessed, the policies/processes in this document will be revised as needed and any and all updates will be communicated to the RISD community. No policy can account for every single scenario that may be encountered; therefore, if a situation arises where an exception to the policies/procedures outlined in this manual is required, a letter of authorization from the Senior Vice President of Finance & Administration or their delegate will be required.

Please visit the Procurement Services website for a full description of all procurement procedures, guides and resources.

Policy Sanctions

Failure to comply with this and related policies may be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with applicable (faculty, staff, student) disciplinary procedures.

Actions that may be taken include, but are not limited to:

• Reduction of RISD card limits
• Temporary or permanent termination of RISD card privileges
• Temporary or permanent removal of travel privileges
• Pay deduction (deduction from paycheck) for charges deemed personal in nature or against RISD policy
• Further disciplinary action up to and including suspension without pay or termination of employment, in accordance with applicable disciplinary procedures.

This policy was created on: 5/9/2023

This policy was last reviewed/modified on: 8/21/2024

This policy was approved as of: 8/21/2024

Next scheduled review: 8/21/2025

Issuing Office

Controller’s Office

Responsible Officer

Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration

Individuals/offices required for review and changes

Controller

Director of Procurement Services