Posted:
I don't know if you're being too picky or not because, to be honest with you, I'm not quite sure I understand what your saying.
Let's say that the fence around our lake has some boards that have broken off or been vandalized and we need to replace them.
Board member 1 would go to Lowes and with his Pcard, purchase lumber materials, probably about $75 total, and then go fix the fence.
The board would have probably already been aware of the purchase via email and when the receipt is forwarded to the treasurer, with the project name and the board member's signature on it and then expense it to whatever account we determine it would have gone to, say "capital repairs" or something like that.
Or a tree falls over and the Board member 2, whose general responsibility is the landscaping and lawn care oversight, contacts our tree removal guy and gives him the PCard number over the phone if it's under $300. In past situations like that, it's been around $250. When the receipt arrives, Board member 2 initials it and the treasurer expenses it to the appropriate account.
Board member 3 is preparing a mailing (let's say the annual assessments mailing) and over the internet sends the documents electronically to Staples, Staples prints the letters/invoices. The transaction is an electronic transaction paid for by Board Member 3's PCard. She prints out the receipt from her computer, signs it and forwards it to the treasurer to expense to the appropriate account.
When she goes to Staples to pick up the printed letters, she then buys envelopes and labels with the Pcard and stops by the post office to pick up stamps. The stamps cost $180. The envelopes and labels maybe $50 or so? She then initials the receipts and notes on them what they are for (assessment mailing) and the treasurer expenses to the appropriate account.
Our budget process would have allowed XXX amount in the contingency accounts for the fence and trees and very definitely would have accommodated the amount for the mailing.
At the end of the month, when the bank forwards the Pcard statement, the treasurer compares it to the receipts received to date and reconciles the statement.
The entire board then reviews the statements and the financial report at the meeting. If there are any discrepancies, then we would know within a month and the board member would turn over the Pcard until the situation were resolved.
The truth is though, that we can access the Pcard statement online 24/7, and our treasurer generally reviews it on a weekly basis to be sure that no transactions have occurred that he has not received any receipts for.
In the case of the fence, an email would have gone to all of the board prior to the purchase, just to let everyone know ahead of time, as would the tree removal. If the tree removal would have been over $300, we would have called a special meeting to approve the higher amount and at that point a check would have been cut instead of the Pcard being used.
In the case of the envelopes and mailing, there would not generally have been an advance notice since it is a usual and customary expense at that time of year. But, in fact, in most cases, she lets us know ahead of time any time she's going to use the Pcard.
You don't just hand it over and say, oh well. You establish clear guidelines on when and how the cards are to be used. In our case we have special manila envelopes printed up that each Pcard user fills out on a monthly basis. He puts the card number on it, the period of time (usually something like May 1-30, 2007), and each transaction is listed on the front like an expense account tracking document: date, amount, vendor, budget account to expense, etc).
Hope that helps.