Acquisition Cards and Consequences for Misuse

Procurement Bulletin 2017-9

October 16th, 2017

According to the Public Service and Procurement Canada’s (PSPC) Receiver General Manual (RGM) Chapter 9 “Government of Canada Acquisition Card Program”, the use of acquisition cards (AC) government-wide has steadily increased since its introduction. While achieving this level of AC purchasing volume has allowed departments to achieve significant savings in the procurement process by eliminating the need to prepare contract documents or local purchase orders and issue cheques for each of these transactions, the increased number of cardholders and AC transactions also increases the risk of fraud and misuse of the AC which may occur unless controls are put in place and well communicated to users of the program. Therefore senior management and the national card coordinator must take steps to ensure that adequate controls are in place to ensure effective and appropriate use of taxpayer dollars within the department.

ESDC’s National AC Coordinator ensures that appropriate consequences are imposed for cardholders who are identified as having misused the acquisition card or who have made a personal purchase using the AC (or other actions in contradiction to the policy).

The Chief Financial Officer has approved new consequences for misuse or personal use of the AC that better address the duration of ineligibility and the level of management who is informed. Please refer to Annex A (available on iService) to better understand the consequences of not complying with departmental policies and approved procedures in relation to use of the AC. The new consequences will come into effect on November 1, 2017.

Please take this opportunity to review ESDC’s National Acquisition Card Policy, Procedures & Guidelines and let us know if you require any clarification. In the event that you are unsure of the best way to proceed with a specific purchase, please submit your questions to the NC-PURCHASING-PORTAL prior to proceeding with the purchase.

Acquisition Card Reconciliation Process

Note that following the post payment verification results, the Integrated Corporate Accounting and Accountability Directorate (ICAAD) of the Chief Financial Officer Branch (CFOB) have decided to reinforce their control around the acquisition card process as well.

Cardholders and their managers must adhere to the procedures and be aware of the consequences of non-compliance:

It is the responsibility of the cardholder to ensure that their reconciliation is completed before having the report signed by the fund centre manager under Section 34 of the Financial Administrative Act (FAA). Prior to that signature, the cardholder must review, analyze, and make corrections to any unmatched transactions and accept all matched transactions. The cardholder must then attach all supporting documentation and have the manager sign it before the hard copy is sent to National Accounting Operations.

If logs are received with one or more “unaccepted transactions” it will be considered “incomplete”. The cardholder should complete their reconciliation within 2 weeks of the upload of the monthly statement in SAP.

If transactions have not been reconciled and/or logs have not been received by the end of the calendar month, a notice will be sent to the cardholder and manager requesting action to be taken immediately.

If the cardholder does not submit the reconciled package within 2 weeks of that notice, a second email will be sent to the cardholder and manager advising them that their card will be recommended for suspension 2 weeks later.

After a total of 8 weeks from the statement’s upload in SAP, if the process is incomplete, ICAAD will request the National AC Coordinator to suspend the card in accordance with the consequences described in Annex A.

If you have any questions regarding your account reconciliation, please contact the National Accounting Operations via iService or by phone at 1-855-684-7827 (option #3).

WebEx Sessions

We will be holding WebEx sessions in October of 2017 which will provide general information and address frequently asked questions. During these sessions we will provide examples of misuse which have taken place over the past 2 years.

Again, to support you in the effective and appropriate use of the acquisition card, the NC-PURCHASING-PORTAL is available to answer your questions about procurement and the use of the Acquisition Card.

Distribution

  1. Acquisition Cardholders
  2. Individuals with Financial Authority