There are several roles associated with a Purchasing Card, each with its own responsibilities, as described below. One person may fulfill more than one role, provided proper controls are adhered to. For more on how the roles may be appropriately fulfilled, see Separation of Duties.

Department Head

The sole direct role played by the Department Head (Director/Chair) in the FlexCard Program is approving and signing the Application to set up the Department Administrator.

Department Controls
In broader terms, the Department Head is responsible for ensuring that appropriate administrative, financial and management controls are in effect within his/her department, including low value and FlexCard purchasing activities.

Separation of Duties
The Department Head CANNOT be a Cardholder.

Department Administrator

The Department Administrator is responsible for the approval, assignment (and re-assignment) of the Reviewer, Allocator and Cardholder roles within his/her department’s FlexCard program.

FlexCard Program Monitoring
In broader terms, the Department Administrator is responsible for ensuring that all FlexCard program controls and requirements are in effect in his/her department, including, but not limited to, adequate separation of duties, monitoring of purchases to ensure that restricted commodities are not purchased, maintenance of all required purchase documentation, usetax and non-taxable payment compliance and fraudulent transaction monitoring.

Department Audits
The Department Administrator is responsible for ensuring that the department conducts periodic audits of FlexCard purchases, to ensure compliance with the requirements outlined in the preceding paragraph.

Separation of Duties
The Department Administrator may also fill the role of Reviewer or Allocator; he or she CANNOT be a Cardholder.

Reviewer

The Reviewer is responsible for approving (and thereby transferring to the General Ledger) all transactions within the 14-day window before payments are automatically allocated to the default location-account-fund-sub-object code (LAFSO) established for each FlexCard. If, for some reason, the approval does not occur in a timely fashion, the Reviewer is responsible for ensuring that it is corrected via the use of the Transfer of Expense (TOE) system.

Payment Monitoring
The Reviewer is responsible for reviewing all back-up documentation before processing payment allocations, to ensure that department controls have been maintained and that purchases comply with FlexCard and low value purchasing policies. The Reviewer should monitor all transactions for any purchase of restricted commodities or fraudulent activity, to verify that the correct amount was paid, that payment was not duplicated and that sales and use tax have been charged and paid appropriately.

Cardholder Monitoring
The Reviewer is responsible for ensuring that the FlexCard is used appropriately by all Cardholders and, if misuse is detected, that all necessary corrective and disciplinary actions are taken.

Re-Testing
The Reviewer is responsible for maintaining his/her FlexCard program eligibility by re-taking the Reviewer/Allocator Exam before the expiration of the annual certification period.

Separation of Duties
The Reviewer may also fill the role of Department Administrator; he or she CANNOT be a Cardholder. All Reviewers are automatically granted Allocator privileges, although some departments may choose to set up separate Allocators in order to reduce the amount of work performed by the Reviewer.

Allocator

The Allocator is responsible for assigning all purchase transactions to the appropriate location-account-fund-sub-object code (LAFSO), including splitting payments between different LAFSOs and, in the case of payments to out-of-state merchants where use tax is calculated, entering any non-taxable amounts (with reason codes) and freight charges, so use tax payments made by the University are accurately calculated. Allocators (if they fill only that role) cannot approve (that is, transfer to the General Ledger) any transactions. (As noted above, all Reviewers are automatically granted Allocator privileges.)

Re-Testing
The Allocator is responsible for maintaining his/her FlexCard program eligibility by re-taking the Reviewer/Allocator Exam before the expiration of the annual certification period.

Separation of Duties
An Allocator who is NOT a Reviewer may also fill the role of a Cardholder.

Cardholder

The Cardholder is responsible for all purchases made using the FlexCard(s) that have been issued in his/her name, in a conscientious and ethical manner consistent with UC Santa Barbara policy and in compliance with all FlexCard regulations and commodities restrictions.

Safeguarding the FlexCard
The Cardholder is responsible for safeguarding the FlexCard; he or she must never give the account number to anyone else and must not allow anyone else to use the card. No personal purchases can be made on the FlexCard.

Reporting Fraud
If any fraudulent activity is detected during a review of transactions in the Allocation Module, the Cardholder must notify the Fraud Division at US Bank IMMEDIATELY by calling 1-800-523-9078.

Only after having alerted the bank should the Cardholder inform his or her Department Administrator of the fraud. The Department Administrator, in turn, will alert the Program Administrator by logging onto the FlexCard Management Module and filing a report.

Reporting Lost or Stolen Cards
If the FlexCard is lost or stolen, the Cardholder must notify US Bank immediately by calling 1-800-344-5696 and requesting that the account be closed; in addition, the Cardholder must notify his/her Department Administrator and the FlexCard Administrator, so a new card can be issued.

Pre-Purchase Approvals
Before making a purchase, the Cardholder must ensure that all departmental purchasing requirements have been met and that all approvals for making expenditures on the fund source have been obtained.

Reviewing New Transactions
The Cardholder is also responsible for reviewing all new transactions when they appear in the FlexCard Allocation Module to verify that none are fraudulent and that all are accurate (no double charges, no over-billings, etc.). Once the legitimacy of the transaction has been verified, the Cardholder should forward all source documentation to the Allocator or Reviewer responsible for allocating and approving payment of the purchase and for maintaining the department FlexCard files.

Re-Testing
The Cardholder is responsible for maintaining his/her FlexCard program eligibility by re-taking the Cardholder Exam before the expiration of the annual certification period.

Separation of Duties
A Cardholder may also fill the role of an Allocator; he or she CANNOT be a Reviewer or a Department Administrator.

Back-Up Roles

In order to ensure the smooth running of its FlexCard program, your department should designate Back-Ups for the Cardholder and the Reviewer. Having Back-Ups is important when the Cardholder or the Reviewer is absent for an extended period of time, due to vacation or illness or because he or she leaves your department (transfer, separation, retirement, etc.).

Consequences of Not Having Back-Ups

If you do not have a Back-Up Cardholder, new purchases cannot be made until a new Cardholder is set up and a new FlexCard is received (the process will take at least 5 working days).

If you do not have a Back-Up Reviewer, and none is set-up within 14 days, no one will be able to review and allocate your new transactions and all payments will default to the location-account-fund-sub-object code (LAFSO) associated with your FlexCard(s): you will need to allocate them to the general ledger using the specific LAFSO appropriate for the purchases via the Transfer of Expense system. If your department goes without a Reviewer for an extended period of time, it risks losing its FlexCard purchasing privileges, since all transactions must be reviewed within 60 days or the FlexCard will be suspended.

Therefore, as with most other (electronic) systems at UCSB, your department should set up Back-Up Cardholders and Reviewers as appropriate to its needs.

Limits on Designating Back-Ups

FlexCard policy prohibits a Reviewer from being in a subordinate position to a Cardholder, since no Reviewer should be put in a position where he or she can be pressured by the Cardholder/Supervisor to approve transactions.

If you are a small department with insufficient personnel to designate back-ups while avoiding employee-supervisor conflicts, you may need to go outside of your department to designate Back-Up Reviewers and Cardholders. The FlexCard Management Module allows you to set up Reviewers and Cardholders in other departments.

If your department is able to avoid employee-supervisor conflicts, it can designate internal Back-Up Reviewers or Cardholders who back each other up (that is, a Cardholder who also fills the role of Back-Up Reviewer and/or a Reviewer who fills the role of Back-Up Cardholder); however, Separation of Duties must be maintained (see the following section).

One individual CANNOT review and approve a purchase that was made on a FlexCard issued in his or her name. The FlexCard system is designed to prevent this: a Back-Up Reviewer can never approve purchases made with his or her own FlexCard, only purchases made by other Cardholders (Back-Up or otherwise).

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