Lax purchasing card controls cost this employer $208,540
No better time to make sure everyone carefully follows your company’s purchasing card controls. Just ask Delaware State University (DSU).
In a recent audit of the school’s 6,116 p-card transactions, 487 seem to violate the policy restrictions.
The cost of that lack of compliance? $208,540.
The audit report uncovered a whole host of weaknesses in the internal controls that led to both overspending and outright fraud.
But two specific problems with their purchasing card controls greatly increased risk:
P-card exposure 1: Gift cards
DSU employees purchased 120 Visa gift cards on p-cards during the audit window, totaling $4,180.
Gift cards are extremely suspect, as they can be used for anything, including out-of-policy purchases (and usually are).
Your best protection: It’s better to ban these types of purchases with p-cards, unless you can enforce a strict substantiation policy.
Exposure 2: Former employees
One individual spent $189.69 via p-card … two weeks after his employer fired him!
Your best protection: Make sure off-boarding checklists for terminated employees include immediate p-card deactivation.
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