History of the P-Card The Purchasing Card Program began operating in Arkansas in September 2002 with the U of A and UCA being the first to have a managing account with US Bank. State Agencies began using the P-Card in March The Game and Fish Commission was the first State Agency with the P-Card beginning with 5 cards. The following charts illustrate the programs growth.

Statewide P-Card Spending per Contract Period of May – April

Rebates Per Contract Period * Rebates were not earned during first 2 contract periods.

What Are the Benefits of a Purchasing Card?

Time Savings Receive goods faster Less time needed to pay bills Fewer checks written

Increased Vendor Selection P-Card is a VISA card, not store branded NO P.O. required Vendors get their money within 36 hours

Paper Savings No P.O. required Only one invoice per month Only one check per month Online reporting capability

Built in purchasing control Per month spending limit Per transaction spending limit Block vendors based on MCC numbers Access to cardholder account via the internet

Money Savings All costs associated with the procurement process are reduced. The breakdown on the next page illustrates this.

Cost Breakdown of PO vs. Purchasing Card* The total cost associated with payment for goods and services (including receipt and matching of invoices, purchase orders, receiving documents; approval workflow for payment, disbursement of funds; mailing/transmitting payment; post-purchase accounting for transactions; and reconciliation of disbursement with bank records) The total cost of the purchasing process (including activities to requisition a good, approve a purchase, and generate and deliver a purchase order to supplier) The total cost of sourcing (including specification of requirements, supplier pre-selection, transmittal of requirements to suppliers, receipt and evaluation of supplier quotations, supplier selection, and contracting) Purchasing Card Traditional Purchase Order $31.30 $31.75 $26.16 $89.21 $21.83 $7.60 $5.71 $8.52 * 2005 Purchasing Card Benchmark Survey Results – RPMG Research Corporation

Okay…. How does my organization get into the State Purchasing Card Program?

Steps to Getting the State Purchasing Card if Not a State Agency Contact DFA/OSP Complete Participating Agency Addendum and send in to OSP Send 3 years of audited financial information to OSP Establish a Purchasing Card Policy/Procedure manual (may use state version or hybrid version)

Dept of Finance and Administration - Office of State Procurement Purchasing Card Contacts Jeff Spears (501) Norma Little (501) Address: 1509 West 7 th Street, 3 rd Floor Little Rock, AR 72201