Pcard

Harvard Purchasing Cards (PCards) are University-liability credit cards issued to authorized, trained individuals to purchase eligible goods and services in support of work done at Harvard. The card is strictly meant for University business expenses; personal purchases are prohibited.

To request a PCard, complete Part 1 of the application form, and submit to Young-ok Shoemake, yshomake@fas.harvard.edu. You may want to discuss with your supervisor/PI what your Spending Limits needs are, and convey that information to the Young, which will be taken into consideration. You will be contacted when the PCard is available for pick up.

Reach out to Young-ok Shoemake (yshoemake@fas.harvard.edu, Tel: x 5-9485) to receive further Departmental training on PCard review and processing.

Important

  • Remember your single purchase limit
  • Do not have single purchases above the limit charged to the PCard in multiple transactions below the limit to get around the single purchase limit
  • Pcard transactions are added to concur as they are incurred, but you can only submit a report once each month on the 14th for the billing cycle

Links:

Purchasing Card Policy

Purchasing Card Training (via Portal) - after you log in, type PCard in the search field to locate the PCard training presentation.

Business Description Format: Lab or Course # / Researcher(s) using the item/service or Instructor / What (item purchased) / Lab project / Invoice date (where applicable)

Type of expense Example of business description

Lab supply/other service for a specifc user(s)

Howard/R. James/mercury beads/R01
General lab supply/other goods or services Howard/Gen. supply/mercury beads/R01/Simons

Course supply

MCB33/Conell/book purchase - Mircobacterial organisms

Paying vendor issued invoices (Airgas, FedEx, Genewiz, Ready refresh, etc.)

Howard/R. James/ship samples to U.Chicago/R01/1/23/23
Amazon purchases Howard/R. James/external hard drive/R01
Food purchases Howard/Food for lab mtg. (no alc.) on 1/25/23 ~10 ppl./Startup
Business meals Howard/lunch interview w/postdoc A. Chow 2/22/23 4 ppl./Startup

Please note: You can use the comments section to add any additional information that cannot fit in the business description such as conference registration dates, names of attendees where applicable, account number for Airgas/FedEx, etc.

Attaching receipts: Each transaction must have a receipt attached to it. Multiple receipts should not be attached as one file to the header level.

PCard Back Up Documentation: MCB requires all purchases made with PCard, no matter how nominal the transaction amount, to have the proper backup even if the transaction will be credited in the future.

Receipts/Invoices should include: Vendor name, Vendor address, Transaction date, Itemized list of goods purchased, Amount paid, and indication on the invoice it was paid by credit card.

Credits should include: A receipt, email, credit memo, or any documentation indicating a credit was issued.

MRAs: Use of an MRA (Missing Receipt Affidavit) may be used only in exceptional circumstances where all efforts to obtain the receipt have been exhausted or when it is impossible to obtain one. The submitted MRA must be signed by the cardholder.