GENERAL USE OF THE CARD: The Purchasing Card can be used for all travel expenses except the purchase of fuel for a personal vehicle/aircraft. This expense can only be reimbursed to the traveler through submission of a Travel Expense Report form. It MUST be used for the purchase of airline tickets for University employees, and for any expenses at the Ohio University Inn.

PERSONAL MEALS: You must be on overnight travel status to qualify for meals. You may use your PCard to obtain allowable meals, rather than submit the expense for reimbursement using per-diem amounts, or the actual expense of the meal (on at Travel Expense Report form).

BUSINESS MEETING MEALS/ENTERTAINMENT: The highest level of authority in attendance should make the charge on his or her card.

AIRLINE TICKETS: Airline tickets for University employees MUST be purchased on a PCard. Only coach class tickets or their equivalent may be purchased for domestic travel.

RENTAL CARS: Rental cars for business purpose are allowable using the Purchasing Card. Do not purchase rental car company insurance for domestic travel. Rental car agreement and receipt must be attached to the PCard statement (copy of originals to be sent with Travel Expense Report). Gasoline may be purchased for use in rental cars.

UNIVERSITY/STATE VEHICLES: PCard may be used to purchase gasoline for use in state vehicles.

HOTEL: A cardholder is expected to pay the single room rate unless rooming with another Ohio University employee. This would need to be documented in the Notes section. A copy of hotel folio (itemized receipt) is required. If two OU employees room together in the same hotel room, the senior person should place the charge on their card. All things being equal, it does not matter which cardholder places it on the card. If rooming together in one room and one employee does not have a card, the other can still charge the room. There is no need to split the charge. NOTE: Use of the PCard is required at the Ohio University Inn.

TRAVEL FOR NON-EMPLOYEES ON THE PURCHASING CARD: Departments may use the purchasing card to pay travel expenses for non-employees (i.e., airfare, hotel, etc. for guest speakers or student field trips).

PERSONAL CHARGES: Personal charges should not be placed on the P-Card. The traveler, prior to charging the PCard, should pay for all personal charges (charges for hotel movies, personal phone calls, non-business meeting meals, etc.). Should any personal charges be unintentionally charged on the PCard, the user should prepare a personal check made payable to “Ohio University” or “The Ohio University Foundation” (wherever the personal charges were posted) for the amount of the personal charges. The check should be attached to the subsequent Travel Expense Report form with documentation that clearly indicates what is being paid.

WHOSE CARD? Cards are not transferable. The traveler must use his or her own Purchasing Card when incurring travel expenditures. If someone else makes some of the travel arrangements, like obtaining the airline tickets, the card number of the traveler must be given. EXCEPTIONS: The department head or department secretary’s card may be charged for airline tickets, conference registrations, and it may be used for making preliminary hotel reservations. NOTE: If required by hotel policy, in order to hold the reservation, the dept. head or dept. secretary’s card may be charged for the first night’s stay.

USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH A TRAVEL EXPENSE REPORT FORM (TER). Purchasing Card transactions should not be listed on travel expense report forms for reimbursement, nor should any Purchasing Card original receipts accompany any travel expense report forms. Only copies of the hotel folio and rental car agreement should accompany a traveler’s travel expense report form. If a PCard is used for all travel expenses, submission of a TER is not required.

SALES TAX: Vendors should be reminded that Ohio University is exempt from the payment of Ohio sales tax. Keep a copy of the blanket exemption certificate with your card in case the merchant requests proof.

IF YOUR CARD IS DECLINED: Have the merchant contact GE using the toll free number listed on the back of your Purchasing Card. The decline may be a simple problem with the merchant’s equipment.

UPDATING AND EDITING TRANSACTIONS IN PARIS

WHEN UPDATING TRAVEL IN PURCHASES REVIEW ON PARIS, THE FOLLOWING IS ALWAYS REQUIRED UNDER NOTES:

• Who: (who was traveling)
• Where: (place of travel)
• When: (dates of travel)
• Why: (Reason for travel)
• If applicable, reason for spousal attendance

USING THE CORRECT EXPENSE NATURAL ACCOUNT CODES: Use the following Expense Natural Account Codes to update transactions.

191000 - Travel expenses for individuals providing personal services to OU.
400000 - Travel and Living Expenses - Domestic
400900 - Development & Fund Raising Travel and Living Expenses – Domestic 410000 - Conference Registrations
421000 - Travel Expenses incurred due to interviews for open faculty/staff positions.
461000 - Business Meetings (does not include conference registrations)
461900 - Entertainment, Public Relations and Social Expenses
471000 - Student field trips
493000 - Travel and Living Expenses - Foreign
493900 - Development & Fund Raising Travel and Living Expenses – Foreign

See "Expense Natural Account Code" list for further information.

BUSINESS MEETING MEALS/ENTERTAINMENT:

• When: (date)
• Where: (place)
• Type: (i.e., meal, theater, football game, etc.)
• Business purpose: (or, the business benefit gained or expected)
• Persons in attendance: (If group readily identifiable, such as faculty of Dept A, the group may be noted instead of naming each & every faculty member).
• Reason for spousal attendance if applicable

HOTEL CHARGES:

• Traveler’s name and business purpose for the trip.
• List each business meeting meal/entertainment event separately with the substantiation information mentioned in the above section.
• Include a copy of the hotel folio when submitting the traveler’s travel expense report form. No itemization of the charge should be made on the face of the form. The hotel folio, in this instance, is merely an information attachment and should be marked, “PCard” or some such notation to indicate that it has already been paid. This procedure is being implemented to minimize a great deal of information that would otherwise be required to be placed in the “Notes” section of the transaction in PARIS. Keep your original hotel folio with your other Purchasing Card receipts.

RENTAL CARS:

• Traveler’s name and business purpose for the trip.
• Include a copy of the rental car agreement when submitting the traveler’s travel expense report form. No itemization of the charge should be made on the face of the form. The rental car agreement, in this instance, is merely an information attachment and should be marked, “PCard” or some such notation to indicate that it has already been paid. Keep your original rental car agreement with your other Purchasing Card receipts.

Reminder – no rental car insurance is to be paid by Ohio University during domestic travel.

ALL OTHER TRAVEL-RELATED EXPENDITURES

• Traveler’s name and business purpose for the trip.
• Business purpose for the expenditure if not readily identifiable.