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University Credit Cards

Policy 

General Information:
University-issued credit cards are to be used primarily for travel and entertainment expenses. University-issued credit cards are NOT to be used as purchasing cards (P-cards).  There are specific restrictions on entertainment expenses as detailed below.

Credit cards may also be used to pay for membership dues to professional associations, conference registrations, and webinar fees. All other purchases should be processed through the Accounts Payable office or through the Purchasing Department.

Please note that personal purchases, regardless of dollar amount, are not allowable on university-issued credit cards.

Credit card statements should be sent to the Financial Affairs office in a timely manner to ensure prompt payment. Depending on the circumstances in which they are incurred, the cardholder may be responsible for late payment fees. Please note that all credit card balances must be paid in full at the time they are received. The Loyola University Financial Affairs office reserves the right to charge departmental accounts for any and all outstanding card balances. Once charges are made to university credit cards the department and/or cardholder is responsible for the timely and complete payment of those charges.

In the event that the credit card policies and procedures are violated, the card holder may be notified by the Financial Affairs department of the violation. The Office of Financial Affairs reserves the right to revoke card holder privileges depending upon the severity of misuse.

The following is a list of allowed charges for the University credit card. This list is not meant to be comprehensive but should provide the user with guidance on the appropriateness of charges.

Allowable University Credit Card Purchases:

  1. Membership Dues to Professional Organizations (For example: NACUBO, IIA, NASPA, UPCEA.  Please note that only membership dues are allowable.  Subscription services are specifically disallowed in item #4 of the Disallowed Charge list.)
  2. Conference Registration (Resources purchased while attending a conference, such as books or instructional materials, are also allowable.)
  3. Webinars
  4. Airfare/Rail
  5. Checked baggage fees
  6. Hotel Expenditures
  7. Car Rental
  8. Car Service
  9. Taxi Cabs
  10. Gasoline
  11. Parking
  12. Tolls
  13. Shuttles
  14. Restaurants and Food Marts
  15. Business Meals *** see below for information on the purchase of Alcohol in the University Alcohol Policy
  16. Recurring Social Media Subscription Charges 

When traveling internationally on behalf of the University, employees may utilize the University credit card to purchase books, supplies, tours, and other items that are generally disallowed.  This exception does not apply to any items that could be considered personal purchases (such as airline club fees or personal tours that are unrelated to the business purpose of the visit) or to any spousal expenses.  Please note that this exception applies only to expenses occurring while an employee is engaged in international travel.  These purchase exceptions do not apply to employees traveling in the United States.

University Alcohol Policy

The purchase and or reimbursement of alcohol is allowable within the context of entertainment of donors, during the process of employee recruitment, during University-related events attended by the President, or other events for advancement purposes.

Alcohol shall not be purchased using grant money and cannot be served to minors.

Any questions regarding this policy should be directed to the Director of Risk Management.

The following list of disallowed charges is not meant to be comprehensive but should provide the user with guidance on the appropriateness of charges.  Please keep in mind that the university credit card is a travel and entertainment card and should not be used as a Purchasing card.

  1. Supplies (This includes party supplies and office supplies.  Internal Audit will be notified of supply purchases that exceed $200.)
  2. Subscription Services (For example: magazine or publication subscriptions.  Recurring social media subscription service charges are allowable.)
  3. Equipment
  4. Movies
  5. Gift cards (These should be processed through a check request as an advance.)
  6. Gifts
  7. Flowers (Please utilize university vendors that accept purchase orders. A list can be obtained from the Purchasing department.)
  8. Postage/Common Carrier (Process through check request.)
  9. Parking or Traffic Violations
  10. Airline Clubs
  11. Personal Entertainment
  12. Childcare Expenses and Pet Boarding
  13. Guest Related Costs
  14. Conference Tours
  15. Fees involved by extending the trip for personal vacation
  16. Lost or stolen property
  17. Facility Rentals
  18. Contractual Services
  19. Personal expenses
  20. Any expenses associated with an employee’s spouse or other family members, even if the expenses are potentially reimbursable.
  21. On-line Job Advertisements (For staff positions please contact Human Resources Department to place job advertisements with vendors that accept only credit cards. Please contact the Provost’s Office to place faculty job advertisements with vendors that accept only credit cards.)

Procedure

Payments for University issued credit cards must be made on a check request. The credit card statement, transaction receipts, and a completed university credit card expense statement must be attached.

Documentation:
Payment requests should be assembled in the following order:

Items listed on the credit card expense statement should be in the order of items listed on the credit card statement. Additionally, receipts must be attached to 8 X 10 sheet paper and presented in the same order as on the statements. Employees are not required to submit receipts for individual expenses that are less than $75, but a description of the expense must still be included on the expense statement. This is necessary to ensure compliance with IRS accountable plan regulations which require that the business purpose of the expense be clearly defined. This is especially important for business meals occurring locally which are closely scrutinized for the business purpose of the event during audits.

The business purpose of the transaction must be clearly identified on the expense statement. For example, an explanation of “food purchased for staff meeting” would be insufficient. The description should include the names of each individual present (if less than 10 people are present) and an explanation must be provided that clearly identifies the need for the event and the benefit to the university. An example of an appropriate description is, “On-campus lunch meeting with XXXXX faculty members to discuss upcoming changes in the curriculum to XXXXX program.” If there is insufficient space for a comprehensive description on a form line, please continue the description on the lines below as needed. Multiple expense statements may be utilized as needed.

While individual departments may choose to keep documentation of all receipts regardless of the dollar amount for their records, please submit only receipts that are $50 or more to the Financial Affairs office for processing. This will help expedite payment processing.

Please note that the $50 receipt threshold applies only to charges made using the university-issued credit card.

Receipts totaling $25 and over must still be submitted with individual requests for reimbursements and other types of payment processing. In addition, detailed documentation must be provided for travel purchases made with sponsored project funding (federal, state, and private sources). Information regarding this requirement is included in our Travel Under Sponsored Projects site.

Object Codes:
Because allowable credit card purchases are limited, the object codes that are allowable for use are located in drop-down boxes on the expense statement. Please choose the object code that best corresponds to the type of transaction. If an object code is not listed on the expense statement, it is indicative that the type of charge is disallowed on the credit card.

The object codes and the corresponding descriptions that are allowable for credit card use are:

3065 / 4065 Bank Card Fees
3079 / 4079 Membership Dues
3090 / 4090 Registration (conferences/webinars)
3091 / 4091 Mileage
3092 / 4092 Airfare/Rail Fees
3093 / 4093 Domestic Travel Expenses (lodging/meals/internet/rental cars/baggage fees/parking/taxis/tolls/tips)
3094 / 4094 Faculty/Staff Recruitment
3095 / 4095 International Travel
3096 / 4096 Catering
3097 / 4097 Non-Travel Business Meals/Entertainment

 

Procedure for Credit Card Only Purchases

In the event that a vendor accepts only credit cards and the purchase is the most cost-effective for the institution, please contact the Purchasing Department.