Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about specific items purchased with the card
What types of items are considered equipment?
What items are available on the State contract?
Can I buy food or drink on the procurement card?
Can I use my procurement card to buy stamps or to mail a letter from the United States Post Office?
Can I use the procurement card to purchase software?
Can I pay for film processing with my procurement card?
Can I purchase jump drives or key drives?
Can I buy subscriptions to scholarly journals? How about single, back issues?
Can I use the card to make copies and obtain binding services?
Can I pay to place a job advertisement in a scholarly journal?
Can I use the card to pay for memberships in professional organizations?

Procard Procedures
Who do I contact with questions about my monthly journal voucher?
Who should I contact if the card is stolen or lost?
How can my department obtain a Visa Procurement Card?
What do I do if a vendor charges sales tax?
Can I complete my Procurement Card Journal Voucher during the last few working days of the month?
How should back-up documentation be filed after the journal voucher has been completed?
What do I do if I was charged more than once for the same order?
What are the step-by-step instructions for when and how to dispute charges?
If a charge and a credit for the same amount from the vendor appear on my credit card statement, do I need to obtain documentation from the vendor?
Will my account remain open if I do not use the card?

Account Code Questions
What account code(s) should I use?
How can I change the default accounting sequence associated with my procurement card?
How are the account codes that appear in the journal voucher determined?
If I purchase software or get film developed, can I change the account code so the charges will be expensed against my contractual budget instead of my commodity budget?

Other Questions
What causes a vendor to be considered a .denied vendor. for ProCard purposes?
Where can I print tax exemption information?
How will the Office of Receiving & Property Control know where to deliver my items if there is no purchase order associated with the delivery?
Can I purchase from international vendors?

What types of items are considered equipment?
We recommend that you contact the Office of Receiving and Property for a concise answer to this question.
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What items are available on the State contract?
A link to the State Contracts web site is provided on the Other Links page of the Procurement and Contracts site.
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Can I buy food or drink on the procurement card?
Yes, however, a Food Purchase Form must be completed and submitted with the itemized receipt. Also, food can only be purchased for official university purposes. Food can only be purchased at grocery stores or places such as Wal-Mart. The procurement card cannot be used at restaurants.
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Can I use my procurement card to buy stamps or to mail a letter from the United States Post Office?
The procurement card can be used at any Federal Post Office to purchase stamps, mail packages or purchase box rentals. The Postmaster will not allow a Visa card to be used as a method of payment for postage that is to be applied to a postage meter.
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Can I use the procurement card to purchase software?
Yes, software can be purchased using the procurement card. However, software license agreements cannot be purchased on the card.
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Can I pay for film processing with my procurement card?
An exception has been made by the Office of Procurement & Contracts to allow cardholders to use the procurement card to pay for film processing. Only the following vendors may be used (unless you obtain written authorization from Procurement and Contracts):    Return to Top of Page

Can I purchase jump drives or key drives?
Yes. These items are not considered equipment by the Office of Receiving and Property Control.
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Can I buy subscriptions to scholarly journals? How about single, back issues?
Yes, you can buy a subscription if it is being used for offical University business. You can also purchase single back issues of any journal.
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Can I use the card to make copies and obtain binding services?
An excellent choice to consider for this type of work would be the Mississippi State University Printing Department (they can quickly and easily bill your accounting line directly in Banner). You may also use the procurement card for small jobs of less than 100 copies at The Lodge (Starkville). For larger copy and binding services use Ditto's in Starkville or Main Street Reprographics in Columbus. Other vendors in the area are not incorporated which means the purchase would be a 1099 reportable contractual service (which is not allowed on the card). Purchases from these vendors must be done using a purchase order.
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Can I pay to place a job advertisement in a scholarly journal?
Yes, but only if the vendor does not accept purchase orders. Be sure your HR Generalist reviews the ad and notifies our office when they approve the information. Email the ProCard Manager for prior approval before the ad is placed.
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Can I use the card to pay for memberships in professional organizations?
Yes, but only if the membership promotes advancement of University's mission.
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Who do I contact with questions about my monthly journal voucher?
Vicky McCarthy in Accounts Payable will be able to assist you. You may reach her at (662)325-1934 or by email at vicky@payables.msstate.edu
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Who should I contact if the card is stolen or lost?
To report a lost or stolen card, immediately call (800) 335-8427. As soon as possible, you should also contact the Procurement Card Manager in the Office of Procurement and Contracts.
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How can my department obtain a Visa Procurement Card?
You must follow the steps described in the Getting Started section of this site.
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What do I do if a vendor charges sales tax?
The department is responsible for obtaining a credit from the vendor for the amount of the tax. The tax exemption letter is located on the Forms page of this web site. If there is a problem obtaining a credit for the tax charged, please contact the Procurement Card Manager for assistance.
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Can I complete my Procurement Card Journal Voucher during the last few working days of the month?
Yes, we would like for the journal vouchers to be completed as soon as possible after the statements are received.
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How should back-up documentation be filed after the journal voucher has been completed?
Itemized invoices should be attached to the procurement card billing statement in the order in which they appear on the statement. Individual statements should be filed by month.
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What do I do if I was charged more than once for the same order?
First, notify the vendor and have them issue a credit for the duplicate order. Second, delete the duplicate charge from the journal voucher and complete a Disputed Item Report. Send the disputed item report to the Assistant Accounts Payable Manager at mail stop 9719.
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If a charge and a credit for the same amount from the vendor appear on my credit card statement, do I need to obtain documentation from the vendor?
If the charge and the credit are for the exact same amount, and appear on the same billing statement, then no documentation is necessary. If the charge and credit were not processed during the same billing period, then an invoice and credit memo must be obtained for the charges.
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Will my account remain open if I do not use the card?
If you have 12 months of inactivity the card is automatically cancelled on the 13th month.
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What account code(s) should I use?
A complete listing of available account codes has been provided on the Accounts Payable web site.
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How can I change the default accounting sequence associated with my procurement card?
Email a request to the Procurement Card Manager and include the following information:    Return to Top of Page

How are the account codes that appear in the journal voucher determined?
All purchases are initially coded as commodities. These expense account codes always begin with 4066. The last 2 digits are assigned according to the vendor associated with the purchase.
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If I purchase software or get film developed, can I change the account code so the charges will be expensed against my contractual budget instead of my commodity budget?
Contractual services are prohibited on the Procurement Card unless there has been an exception granted for your department by the Office of Procurement & Contracts. If this exception has been granted, then you should use account code 405705 (contractual services charged to the procurement card).
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What causes a vendor to be considered a "denied vendor" for Procurement Card purposes?
In most circumstances, vendors are denied because their Merchant Category Code (MCC) falls outside of the range of values allowed on the procurement card. For example, a vendor that provides computer parts and services may have a service related MCC code. In this case, the vendor would be considered a denied vendor because its MCC value is not allowed.
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Where can I print tax exemption information?
A link to the Tax Exemption Certificate is provided on the Quick Links Forms page of the Procurement and Contracts web site.
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How will the Office of Receiving & Property Control know where to deliver my items if there is no purchase order associated with the delivery?
Make sure the vendor includes the following information to ensure the Office of Receiving & Property Control can properly deliver the goods:    Return to Top of Page

Can I purchase from international vendors?
Yes
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