Federal Acquisition Service U.S. General Services Administration Bradley Forrestel Elizabeth Skolnik Contract Specialists General Services Administration April 2008 Managing Your GSA SmartPay® Purchase Card Program

Federal Acquisition Service 2 Value to the Customer  Gain Knowledge and Resources  Share Best Practices  Learn about the future of GSA SmartPay®

Federal Acquisition Service 3 Agenda  Overview of the GSA SmartPay ® Program  Purchase Card Program Facts and Statistics  Management and Oversight Best Practices  Considerations for the Future  Questions and Answers

Federal Acquisition Service 4 GSA SmartPay ® Program  Provides Purchase, Travel, Fleet, and Integrated charge cards to over 350 government agencies and organizations  5 Bank Contractors: Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Mellon Bank, and US Bank  Contract Period of Performance: 5 year base period with 5 one- year options (1998 through 2008)  Each agency negotiates separate task orders tailored to their needs or pools with other agencies

Federal Acquisition Service 5 Purchase Card Program Overview FY06 - $18.7 billion in spend; 25 million transactions; 283,861 cardholders

Federal Acquisition Service 6 Management and Oversight OMB Circular A-123, Appendix B  OMB Circular A-123, Appendix B, Improving the Management of Government Charge Card Programs:  Consolidates and updates government-wide charge card program requirements and guidance issued by various government agencies (i.e., OMB, GSA, Treasury, and other federal agencies)  Outlines requirements affecting three business lines of the government charge card program (purchase, travel, and fleet)  Establishes standard minimum requirements and suggested best practices for government charge card programs that may be supplemented by individual agency policy and procedures

Federal Acquisition Service 7 Management and Oversight  Necessity at any size program  Best practices: Strong commitment and leadership by senior management Commit the necessary resources Maintain lines of communication at all levels

Federal Acquisition Service 8 Management and Oversight Agency Policies  Recommended agency policy should address the following areas to ensure that clear guidance is provided to Agency/Organization Program Coordinators (A/OPCs), Approving Officials (AOs), and cardholders:  Delegation of contracting authority  Training requirements  Account limits  Uses of the card  Receipt and acceptance of supplies and services  Reconciling accounts  Span of control for A/OPCs and AOs  Criteria for establishing accounts  Criteria for deactivating or canceling accounts with minimal activity  Merchant Category Code (MCC) blocks

Federal Acquisition Service 9 Management and Oversight Delegation of Contract Authority  FAR (b) Agency heads are encouraged to delegate micro-purchase authority… Individuals delegated this authority…shall be appointed in writing in accordance with agency procedures  Are your Approving Officials (AOs) appointed in writing?  What procedures are in place when these appointments are terminated?

Federal Acquisition Service 10 Management and Oversight Preventative Measures  What is your criteria for establishing a purchase cardholder account?  How are reasonable single and monthly purchase limits determined?  Is there criteria in place for deactivating or closing an account?

Federal Acquisition Service 11 Management and Oversight Preventative Measures  Establish periodic audit reviews of cardholders and AOs  Define responsibilities of cardholders, AOs, A/OPCs, and agency auditors  Verify compliance with policy  OMB recommendation: Conduct reviews as needed, but not less than annually

Federal Acquisition Service 12 Management and Oversight Training  Has training been received prior to appointment—for AOs and/or A/OPCs or prior to issuance of a purchase card—for cardholders?  Are copies of training certificates kept on file in a centralized location?  How often is refresher training provided?  How do you track training completion?  Are learning objectives properly defined and tested?

Federal Acquisition Service 13 Management and Oversight Span of Control  Recommended range: 1:5 or 1:10 (one AO for every 5-10 cardholders)  Consider volume  Familiar with operations  Able to act independently

Federal Acquisition Service 14 Management and Oversight Merchant Category Codes (MCCs)  What MCCs are necessary for agency mission?  Block certain MCCs to prevent unauthorized use  MCC blocks are NOT 100% foolproof—work with the bank to assist you in determining which MCCs should be restricted and/or blocked

Federal Acquisition Service 15 Management and Oversight Electronic Access Systems (EAS)  Does your agency make use of the bank’s electronic access system to manage cardholder accounts?  Reports assist with cardholder oversight –General account information –Transaction, payments, and disputes –Statistical or summary reports

Federal Acquisition Service 16 Management and Oversight Refund Management  Does your agency policy maximize the opportunity for refunds?  Productivity refunds: based on the timeliness and/or frequency of payments to the bank (faster payments = higher refunds)  Sales refunds: based on the dollar or *spend* volume during a specified time period  Corrective refunds: payments made to the agency to correct improper or erroneous payments on an invoice adjustment

Federal Acquisition Service 17 GSA SmartPay ® Program Considerations for the Future  Piloting new technologies (data mining, pre-authorization, electronic commerce)  Leveraging the government’s buying power  Balancing risk and reward  Legislative compliance  Learn more about all these topics at the GSA SmartPay ® conference, July 22-24, 2008 (Denver, CO)

Federal Acquisition Service 18 GSA SmartPay ® Questions and Answers Bradley Forrestel   (703)  Liz Skolnik (703)  You will find a wealth of contract and program information, training, publications, and points of contact at our website:  Treasury Financial Management Manual provides guidance to management of a purchase card program. A copy can be obtained from the following website: