Thursday, October 8, 1998
UCLA looks to make purchasing easier
ADMINISTRATION: Using ProCard should cut costs by decreasing
paperwork
By Lawrence Ferchaw
Daily Bruin Staff
Like credit card representatives on Bruin Walk, the department
of business and finance is offering charge cards to campus
departments.
The Procurement Card (ProCard), a MasterCard linked to the
accounting unit of a specific department, will be available to a
small number of campus organizations.
The card is an attempt to reduce paperwork and make it easier
for campus units to buy low-value items.
"The idea around ProCard is to give departments as much
flexibility in getting their jobs done," said Sam Morabito,
associate vice chancellor of business and finance.
The card will allow departments to order items from small or
specialized merchants, many of which are not on the university’s
list of approved vendors. Before ProCard, departments would have to
go through extensive paperwork to buy from non-approved
vendors.
One financial officer in the College of Letters and Sciences
said she is eager to get the card for her department.
"I want it," said Cheryl Flenoy, director of financial
operations for honors and undergraduate programs. "I think it would
be an advantage."
Flenoy said the card would be useful for departments that often
buy items from non-approved vendors. These departments often get
discounts or find lower prices with non-approved vendors, but
currently employees must pay for the items and be reimbursed later
after much paperwork. The ProCard will eliminate these extra
steps.
Another department will not utilize the ProCard at this time,
and representatives said they do not feel it will be useful right
now.
"The School of Theater, Film and Television decided not to use
ProCard," said Lauren Savadove, manager of the business office.
After using the card, employees enter their purchase into the
computer system that keeps track of the records. Cardholders hold
onto receipts and other documentation to compare them with the
billing statement.
Unlike paying a monthly bill, the university’s corporate finance
division will pay for all charges biweekly.
The introduction of the ProCard comes nearly two months after
the announcement that the UCLA Storehouse would close by February,
1999.
Currently, the Storehouse is the major supplier of office
supplies to campus departments but is being phased out and replaced
by the office supply chain Office Depot. Morabito said there was no
connection between the closure of the Storehouse and the
introduction of the ProCard.
Office Depot began delivering to one segment of the campus this
week.
Of the 38 current employees of the Storehouse, 21 received
layoff notices. So far, three employees have found jobs in other
departments in the university and four others have found jobs
outside the university, according to Morabito.
Just like an individual credit card, the ProCard comes with
limits both on what items can be purchased and how much can be
charged to the card.
Each transaction is limited to $2,500 and there is a daily cap
of $5,000 in charges. Individual departments can place additional
limits on spending.
Cards cannot be used to buy goods for personal use, cash
advances, or for meals and travel.
Morabito added that the ProCard still has many of the same
controls in place as the old way to buy items.
"There are sufficient and comprehensive controls in place,"
Morabito said.
Cardholders will still have to get approval for their purchases
and reconcile the billing statements with what was purchased.
ProCard does not give dishonest employees any more opportunity
to abuse the system, according to Morabito.
"If there’s to be any abuse they can do it now," Morabito
said.
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