Category: Uncategorized

Thank You!

As we close out 2023, we would like to take a moment to reflect on the past year and say THANK YOU for everything you did! Your hard work and support have made a difference in our year. We are grateful to have you as one of our campus partners. Working with all of you is truly a pleasure, and we look forward to another great year!

New Director of Accounts Payable

Procurement Services is pleased to announce that Brittany Reynolds has accepted the Director of Accounts Payable position.  Brittany has served as the Director of P-Card Services for the last 9 years.  Please help us congratulate Brittany on her new position.

FY23 Due Date and Card Suspension Date

All P-Card transactions (travel and non-travel) with a September 30, 2023, or prior Transaction Date should be reconciled, approved, and received in Procurement Services by 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 5, 2023. To ensure that cardholders are complying with this deadline, cards with outstanding transactions from September 30 or prior will be suspended on Monday morning, October 9, 2023. If you have any issues meeting this deadline, please contact P-Card Services at pcard@ua.edu.

Sam’s Club Purchases

Just a reminder as the new Fall semester begins, the University has established a new process to enable departments to purchase items from Sam’s Club.  Departments will NO LONGER be required to pick up a Sam’s Club UA Membership Card from the Procurement Services Building.

Departments may now purchase their own Sam’s Club Membership for departmental use only.  Memberships should be set up as tax exempt, include your @ua.edu e-mail address and be established through the Sam’s Club Membership Service Desk.  All Sam’s Club purchases should be paid for with the UA Purchasing Card.  UA Tax Exempt information can be found on the Tax Office website. Personal purchases are not allowable on the membership card.

The P-Card PolicyPurchasing Policy, & Spending Policies should be reviewed prior to obligating University funds for purchases to ensure appropriate policies and procedures are followed.

Travel Expense Reports – Pre-Trip and Post-Trip

When traveling on UA business, travelers often incur several expenses prior to the trip such as airfare reservations, conference registration, and hotel deposits.  These expenses should be reconciled and submitted according to the p-card deadlines even if this occurs prior to the trip.  When doing so, the traveler should use either the transaction date or the date that they are submitting the report as the Report/Trip Start Date and Report/Trip End Date in the report header.  When the traveler returns from the trip, they should then use the actual travel dates as the Report/Trip Start Date and Report/Trip End Date in the report header.  This will allow the traveler to correctly add the GSA per diems to the report using the correct dates of travel.

Fiscal Year-End 2023 Reminder

With FY2023 ending in a few short weeks, it is important to note the below dates to ensure that Procurement Services can process all orders and post all transactions to Banner within the Financial Accounting deadlines:

  • New bids should have been requested by Friday, September 1, 2023, at 5:00 p.m.
  • buyBama Purchase Orders must be created and approved by Friday, September 22, 2023, at 5:00 p.m.
  • Concur PO Invoices that have been assigned to users need to be submitted and approved as soon as possible for purchase orders where the product has been delivered.  For questions regarding Concur PO Invoices, contact Accounts Payable.
  • Concur Invoices must be submitted, approved by all approvers, and to Accounts Payable for processing by Thursday, October 5, 2023, at 5:00 p.m.
  • Concur Expense Reports must be submitted, approved by all approvers, and to Accounts Payable and P-Card for processing by Thursday, October 5, 2023, at 5:00 p.m.

Banner Encumbrances will roll forward on Monday, October 16, 2023

New Director of Purchasing

Procurement Services is pleased to announce that Mary Katherine Weaver has accepted the Director of Purchasing position.  Mary Katherine has served as the Director of Accounts Payable for the last 8 years.  Please help us congratulate Mary Katherine on her new position.

New Senior Associate Director

Procurement Services is pleased to announce that Jason Jeffreys has been promoted to the Sr. Associate Director for Procurement Services.  Jason has served as the Director of Purchasing for the last seven years.  Please help us congratulate Jason on his new position!

In-State Travel

As a result of a change in the statute, effective August 1, UA will be making changes to the in-state travel policy.  UA employees traveling within the State of Alabama will be reimbursed GSA per diem to cover their meals and incidental expenses.  The GSA per diem will replace the in-state per diem UA currently uses.  Lodging within the State of Alabama will be reimbursed up to $250 per night before taxes. Conference rates in excess of $250 per night are allowable. Any lodging rate greater than $250 per night before tax, that is not a conference rate, requires additional explanation from the traveler as to why the lodging rate was necessary. Going forward, in-state lodging should be paid for with the UA P-Card. The supervisor of the traveler will need to approve the in-state travel expenses before the travel takes place and a record of the approval must be retained within the department. 

UA Gift Cards

UA has partnered with Cadence Bank and Dash Solutions to provide departments with a flexible solution for purchasing and providing virtual or plastic gift cards to recipients.  These gift cards can be loaded and unloaded with any value and provided to departments for various needs.

Gift cards may be allowed in situations where it is determined that the expenditures are in the best interest of the University and promote the purposes of the University.  For example, gift cards may be provided as an incentive to encourage participation in a UA research study. The determination of whether a gift card is an allowable gift is dependent upon the selection of the recipient, the reason for the gift cards and the recipient’s affiliation to UA.

All gift card requests will be submitted through the Concur Request Module. Prior to requesting the gift cards, please review the information pertaining to the allowability of gift cards and responsibilities of custodians.

Please refer to the Gift Card Webpage for additional information and instructions.