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 2004. The Game and Fish
Commission was the first State Agency with
the P-Card beginning with 5 cards.
 The following charts illustrate the program’s
growth.

Statewide P-Card Spending per
Contract Period of May – April
$17,823,000.00
$18,000,000
$16,000,000
$14,000,000
$12,000,000
$10,000,000
$8,000,000
$6,000,000
$4,000,000
$2,000,000
$0
$10,084,666.00
$6,279,620.00
$4,048,645.00
$468,284.00
20022003
20032004
20042005
20052006
20062007
Rebates Per Contract Period
120,000.00
$101,056.00
100,000.00
80,000.00
$44,776.00
60,000.00
40,000.00
20,000.00
$2,824.00
-
2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
* 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*
Purchasing Card
Traditional
Purchase Order
$7.60
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)
$31.30
$5.71
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)
$31.75
$8.52
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)
$21.83
$26.16
$89.21
* 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) 371-1405
[email protected]
Norma Little (501) 683-2217
[email protected]
Address:
1509 West 7th Street, 3rd Floor
Little Rock, AR 72201