Responsible Official: Chief Procurement Officer
Responsible Office: Procurement
Effective Date: July 1, 1998
Revision Date: February 26, 2026
Policy Sections
3215.1 Requesting & Obtaining a Yale PCard
3215.2 Use of the Yale PCard
3215.3 Noncompliance
3215.4 Mandatory Cancellation
Scope
This policy establishes the rules and guidelines for appropriate use of the Yale Purchasing Card (“PCard”). It applies to all Yale employees and departments applying for or holding a Yale PCard.
Policy Statement
The Yale PCard facilitates the purchase of goods and services for University business. Yale PCard Cardholders must comply with all applicable requirements, including the terms and conditions of the Yale University Purchasing Card Cardholder Agreement.
Reason for the Policy
Yale recognizes the importance in providing flexibility and discretion when purchasing goods and services for University business. This policy promotes discretion in spending and establishes the rules and guidelines for appropriate use of the Yale PCard. This policy informs the Yale community of the University’s expectations regarding PCard use and emphasizes proper stewardship and judgment when utilizing Yale’s financial resources.
Definitions
Yale PCard
The Yale PCard is a corporate-liability payment card. Yale University pays the issuing bank directly the balance for all charges incurred by Cardholders. PCards must only be used for University business. Yale issues PCards to approved University employees or departments in the form of Individual PCards or Department PCards:
- Individual PCard: Individual PCards are available to University employees authorized to purchase travel-related goods and services, miscellaneous business-related goods and supplies, and limited services on behalf of the University; up to pre-approved single and monthly transaction limits. These PCards are issued in the name of the employee and the employee assumes responsibility for the PCard.
- Department PCard: Department PCards are available to departments as a mechanism to purchase travel-related goods and services, miscellaneous business-related goods and supplies, and limited services on behalf of the University department, up to pre-approved single and monthly transaction limits. These PCards are issued in the name of the Department and can be shared amongst department members, but a primary user [still] assumes full responsibility for the PCard security, location, usage, and charges.
Yale PCard Cardholder (“Cardholder”)
A Yale PCard Cardholder (“Cardholder”) is a University employee approved to hold and use either an Individual PCard or a Departmental PCard, to make official business purchases on behalf of the University, and responsible for compliance with this policy and related procedures.
Policy Sections
3215.1 Requesting & Obtaining a Yale PCard
To acquire a Yale PCard, employees or departments must first apply and obtain approval (for an Individual or Department Card, respectively). See Procedure 3215 PR.01 Yale Purchasing Card Procedure for detailed information on the application process.
All prospective PCard Cardholder are required to complete the designated eLearning training in Workday and read Form 3215 FR.01 Yale University Purchasing Card Cardholder Agreement before a PCard is approved and issued.
3215.2 Use of the Yale PCard
All PCard Cardholders must adhere to the following:
- Cardholders must not use University PCards for personal purchases;
- Cardholders are expected to exercise discretion and appropriate judgment with regard to use of University resources when making purchases and/or incurring expenses, and must only use PCards for University business;
- Purchases made with a PCard must comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and sponsor requirements;
- Purchases made with a PCard must comply with the requirements of this Policy and the requirements of all other applicable University policies and procedures, as set forth below under Related Resources;
- Cardholders must provide documentation supporting the business purpose of PCard charges and have a financial responsibility to obtain and submit receipts greater than or equal to $75 or as requested by an Approver. Approvers and the Controller’s Office have the discretion to require the submission of receipts of any amount. All Cardholders must adhere to the processes and requirements as further detailed in Procedure 3215 PR.02 Yale Expense Management (PCard and Out-of-Pocket Expenses);
- Cardholders must only make PCard purchases within their single and monthly transaction limits;
- Purchases made with a PCard must comply with the Permitted and Prohibited Commodities guidelines, as outlined in Procedure 3215 PR.01 Yale Purchasing Card Procedure. Note: Requests for purchases of any prohibited items require an approved exception to policy prior to making the purchase.
- Cardholders must immediately notify the issuing bank if their PCard is lost or stolen. If unable to contact the issuing bank, the Cardholder must notify the PCard Transaction Team (purchasing.card@yale.edu);
- Cardholders are expected to prepare and submit expense reports for PCard transactions, with supporting documentation, within thirty (30) days from the date the expense is incurred. Transactions outstanding for more than 90 days are flagged and may result in suspension of the PCard. See Section 4 of Procedure 3215 PR.01 Yale Purchasing Card Procedure for details;
- Purchases made with a PCard are subject to the requirements of Policy 3201 General Purchasing. The Cardholder must take into account contract needs and purchase threshold requirements, (e.g. competitive or sole source justification, and any spend authorizations).
- All Amazon purchases by employees for business purposes must be conducted exclusively using one of the two Yale authorized Amazon methods: Amazon SciQuest Punchout or Amazon Business Prime Webpage. Yale does not reimburse or otherwise pay for Amazon purchases by employees outside of these two Yale authorized methods. Yale does not reimburse or otherwise pay for any purchases by employees made through personal Amazon accounts;
- Cardholders must not use a PCard to make a purchase from a Supplier if they have, or a member of their immediate family or partner has:
- a family relationship or business affiliation with the Supplier; or
- a financial or other interest in, or a tangible personal benefit from, a PCard transaction with that Supplier;
- ^ Such an action may be considered a Procurement Conflict of Interest. All PCard purchases must comply with the University’s statement on Procurement Conflicts of Interest, as fully described in Policy 3201 General Purchasing;
- Cardholders must not share their PCard account information with anyone, except in the case of designated Department PCards, which need to be managed and safeguarded according to departmental procedures.
- Cardholders must not use their PCard to make purchases from or issue payments to any individuals or companies in an embargoed country (current embargoed countries/regions are: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions of Ukraine/Russia), unless they receive prior approval from Yale’s Director [of] Export Controls. Please note, even when pre-approval is obtained from the Director [of] Export Controls, a PCard may not be accepted in embargoed countries;
- Cardholders must not claim reimbursement by another means (e.g., petty cash, check reimbursement, or treasury services) for any charges expensed to a PCard; and
- Cardholders must not split transactions to circumvent single purchase transaction limits. For allowable purchases that are appropriate for PCard or have a business need to be executed via PCard, Cardholders should obtain prior approval to raise purchase transaction limits. See Section 3 of Procedure 3215 PR.01 Yale Purchasing Card Procedure for full details.
3215.3 Noncompliance
Improper use of the Yale PCard may lead to suspension or cancellation of PCard privileges or other disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. The circumstances under which this may occur include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Cardholder violates any of the requirements of this policy;
- Cardholder leaves PCard transactions (charges and credits) unprocessed for more than ninety (90) days from the date transaction occurs.
- Cardholder shares PCard account information with other individuals (not including permissible sharing for Department PCards);
- Cardholder uses the PCard for personal expenses or for any other charges outside of Policy;
- Cardholder consistently fails to provide necessary receipts (or, when appropriate, a suitably detailed Form 3301 FR.05 Missing Receipts Form;
- Cardholder uses the PCard for purchases where the preferred purchasing method is a Purchase Order Requisition, or otherwise fails to adhere to the requirements of Policy 3201 General Purchasing;
- Cardholder uses the PCard for any prohibited commodities without receiving prior approval.
- PCard is used to setup an unauthorized Amazon account.
Yale University may terminate the privilege to use a Yale PCard at any time, for any reason. In addition, a Cardholder’s Lead Administrator or Operations Manager (or their designee) is authorized to request the cancellation of a PCard at any time. Cancellation of a PCard shall be in consultation with the Chief Procurement Officer and Controller’s Office.
For further detail on PCard suspension, cancellation, and other disciplinary processes, refer to Procedure 3215 PR.01 Yale Purchasing Card Procedure.
3215.4 Mandatory Cancellation
A Cardholder’s Lead Administrator or Operations Manager (or their designee) must request the timely cancellation of a PCard if:
- the Cardholder is leaving the University; or
- the Cardholder’s position no longer requires the use of a PCard.
- the misuse of the PCard is detected.
For further detail on PCard cancellation, refer to Procedure 3215 PR.01 Yale Purchasing Card Procedure.
Special Situations/ Exceptions
Any PCard purchasing activity that has a business need to occur outside the scope of this policy must be submitted as a formal exception request. All such requests should be emailed to the Controller’s Office for review and approval prior to executing the transaction.
Exception requests must be approved by the Controller’s Office, in consultation with the Chief Procurement Officer, Provost’s Office, or Office of the General Counsel, as appropriate.
Roles & Responsibilities
Cardholders
- Responsible for exercising sound judgment and discretion when making purchases with their PCard.
- Expected to take appropriate steps to safeguard their PCard information and are encouraged to enroll in the Fraud Protection Program.
- Responsible for all PCard transactions regardless of who completes or submits the expense report.
- Must obtain, retain, and submit receipts when required.
- Expected to comply with this and all other University policies and procedures.
Lead Administrators or Operations Managers (or Designees) and Department Business Offices
- Department Business Offices, at the direction of Lead Administrators or Operations Managers (or their designees), are responsible for maintaining a sound and adequate system of internal controls and processes for the use of PCard, including department PCard and the processing and approval of PCard transactions.
- Lead Administrator or Operations Manager (or their designee) are responsible for requesting suspensions, cancellations, and reactivations of PCards belonging to Cardholders in their units, when appropriate.
- Must expedite and obtain receipts when required for approval or reconciliation purposes.
- Lead Administrators may, through designations, authorize other appropriate individuals (e.g., Operations Managers or other designees) to perform duties for which the Lead Administrator is responsible.
Chief Procurement Officer
- Responsible for determining and enforcing the content and oversight of this policy.
- Reviews and consults on exception requests referred from the Controller’s Office, as needed.
- May delegate authority to perform any PCard function.
- Oversees the Procurement Department as the central process owner for the Yale PCard program.
- Oversees the PCard Office to monitor the issuance, use, suspension, and cancellation of PCards.
- Oversees the Procurement Department responsibility for training all faculty and staff on the proper use of PCards.
- Oversees the Procurement Department responsibility for reviewing and approving temporary exceptions up to $10,000 for a single purchase limit.
Procurement Operations (PCard Transaction Team)
- Processes submitted PCard applications and issues PCards, in accordance with the limits established by this policy.
- Processes requests for temporary and/or permanent changes in limits along with any reversals.
- Sends out notifications and executes the cancellation and suspension of PCards.
- Reviews and consults on exception requests referred from the Controller’s Office, where appropriate, in consultation with the Chief Procurement Officer.
- Annually analyzes and reviews PCard limit and policy exceptions.
- Manages, tracks, and reports out on the operational health of the PCard program.
Controller’s Office
- Responsible for reviewing all suspensions and/or cancellations due to a violation(s) of this policy and other related policies of the University.
- Grants temporary exceptions above a single purchase limit of $10,000.
- Reviews and approves exceptions, where appropriate, in consultation with the Chief Procurement Officer, Provost’s Office, and/or Office of the General Counsel, as appropriate.
Related Resources
Procedure 3215 PR.01 Yale Purchasing Card Procedure
Procedure 3215 PR.02 Yale Expense Management (PCard and Out-of-Pocket Expenses)
Form 3215 FR.01 Yale University Purchasing Card Cardholder Agreement
Form 3215 FR.03 Purchasing Card Application for Reactivation of Individual Card
Form 3215 FR.06 Purchasing Card Request Form
Form 3215 FR.07 Request to Delegate Authority to Prepare Expense Reports and Spend Authorizations
Form 3215 FR.09 120-366 Day Taxable Expense Reimbursement
Form 3215 FR.10 Individual and Department PCard Exceptions
Procedure 1305 PR.04 Unallowable Costs
Policy 3201 General Purchasing
Policy 3220 Purchase of Restricted Items
Policy 3301 Travel on University Business
Policy 3302 Business Meals
Policy 3303 Gifts from University Funds
Policy 3401 General Payment