21-2: P-card reconciliation

Effective: April 20, 2021
Revised: October 21, 2025
References: Utah Code 63A-3-110, Administrative Code R33, Administrative Code R25-3

---

Purpose

This policy outlines how p-cards must be reconciled. It covers submitting a p-card reconciliation, approval for p-card reconciliation, and missing receipts.

---

Definitions

Agency – Any agency, board, bureau, commission, office, department, or other administrative subunit of state government. This definition includes the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Agency site coordinator – The employee assigned to oversee the agency’s p-card program.

Business meal – Meals with clients, vendors, employees, or colleagues that are for a business purpose and paid for by the traveler. A business meal is considered a group gathering.

Concur – Software used by the state to manage travel, reimbursements, and p-card transactions.

P-card – A state-issued purchasing card used for approved business purchases.

P-card program administrator – The GovOps Division of Finance employee who coordinates the p-card program.

P-card reconciliation – The general term for making sure p-card transactions are accounted for correctly. In Concur, the state’s travel and expense system, p-card holders add their expenses to a report.

Reimbursement request – The general term for requesting payment for travel expenses. In Concur, travelers add their expenses to a report. Travelers who cannot use Concur use form FI 51: Travel reimbursement request.

Sufficient documentation – The documents that show the merchant, amount paid, method of payment, date incurred, and description of the item purchased or service received. A combination of supporting documents may be needed to verify each element of the expense. Sufficient documentation includes the following official evidence of transaction:

• Itemized receipts
• Invoices
• Cash register tape receipts
• Canceled checks or other documents reflecting proof of payment or electronic funds transferred
• Account statements
• Credit card statements

---

Policy

A – P-cards must be reconciled in Concur

1 – Cardholders must submit a p-card reconciliation in Concur once a month.

1a – Submitting p-card reconciliations more than once a month could increase the fees charged to the state for Concur, so cardholders must submit a p-card reconciliation only once a month and not more.

2 – Agencies may choose the monthly period for their p-card reconciliation. For example, an agency could choose the first to last day of each month as their monthly period for reconciliation. And another agency could choose the statement dates as their monthly period.

3 – P-card reconciliations should be submitted and approved within 30 days of the last day of the chosen monthly period.

4 – Cardholders should reconcile transactions in the selected date range only if the goods or services have been received. Travel transactions may need to be added to a reimbursement request instead of the cardholder’s p-card reconciliation.

4a – If the cardholder is traveling and uses their p-card to pay for their own travel expenses or for a non-employee’s travel expenses, then those expenses including agency booking fees must be added to the cardholder’s reimbursement request.

4b – If the cardholder is not traveling and uses their p-card to pay for an employee’s conference registration, a non-employee’s travel expenses, or contracted rideshares, then those expenses should be added to the cardholder’s p-card reconciliation.

5 – Cardholders must attach an itemized receipt or other sufficient documentation to each p-card transaction in Concur. If a cardholder doesn’t have an itemized receipt or other sufficient documentation, see section C.

5a – The documentation must show the following information:

• the items or services;
• merchant;
• dates the items were purchased or services incurred;
• quantities;
• cost of each item;
• total cost; and
• proof of payment.

6 – Cardholders must upload any other documentation necessary to show the p-card purchases complied with applicable GovOps Division of Finance and GovOps Division of Purchasing policies.

7 – Cardholders must code transactions by expense type. Expense types are tied to the appropriate object codes.

7a – Cardholders must itemize transactions when multiple items are purchased on the same transaction and require different expense types.

7b – Cardholders must allocate transactions when necessary accounting templates differ from the default accounting template.

8 – Cardholders must enter the name of the employee who received the goods or services and the date the goods or services were received for each transaction.

8a – Cardholders should attach the packing slip or other documentation showing the date the package was delivered and who received the goods.

9 – Cardholders must reference the limited purchasing delegation (LPD) or contract number in Concur when making a purchase using limited purchasing delegation authority or a state contract.

B – P-card reconciliations must be approved in Concur

1 – P-card reconciliations must be approved by the budget officer and the cardholder’s supervisor.

2 – Budget officers must review and approve p-card reconciliations within 10 calendar days after the cardholder submits their reconciliation for approval.

3 – Supervisors must review and approve p-card transactions within 10 calendar days after the budget officer approves the reconciliation.

4 – Approvers must make sure:

4a – Transactions are supported by sufficient documentation.

4b – The date, merchant, and amount match the itemized receipt.

4c – Items or services purchased were for legitimate business purposes.

4d – All necessary supporting documentation to show the p-card purchases complied with applicable GovOps Division of Finance and GovOps Division of Purchasing policies is attached.

4d.1 – For example if a cardholder paid for expenses for a group gathering with their p-card, they must include documentation such as an approved form FI58, an agenda, a list of attendees, and documentation of quotes when the small purchase rule applies.

4e – Purchases comply with both finance and purchasing policy.

4f – Transactions are properly coded by expense type.

4g –Correct accounting templates are applied to the transaction.

4h – Goods and services have been properly received. The person who received the goods or services and the date they were received must be noted.

4i – Limited purchasing delegation or state contract numbers are referenced.

4j – Missing receipt affidavits are used when appropriate.

C – Insufficient documentation requires a missing receipt affidavit

1 – Cardholders must use the missing receipt affidavit option in Concur if they don’t have sufficient documentation for an expense.

1a – The use of the missing receipt affidavit in Concur is not a substitute for responsible record-keeping. Cardholders are expected to obtain and submit itemized receipts for all business expenses. The affidavit option should be used infrequently and only after all reasonable efforts to obtain a copy of the receipt have failed. 

2 – Cardholders must make a good-faith effort to contact the merchant and request a copy of the itemized receipt before using the missing receipt affidavit. The level of effort put into obtaining the copy of the receipt should be based on the dollar amount and frequency of lost receipts by the cardholder. 

3 – Cardholders must not use the missing receipt affidavit for lodging, airfare, and rental car costs or booking fees. Cardholders must contact the merchant or the State Travel Office as applicable to get a copy of the itemized receipt for these expenses. 

4 – Cardholders must document the items purchased and their efforts to obtain a copy of the receipt. 

5 – Cardholders must certify that they lost the receipt and the costs are valid business expenses in Concur, including an acknowledgement that they might be responsible to repay any reimbursement not deemed valid business expenses.

6 – Approvers may deny the use of the missing receipt affidavit, especially when its use is considered unreasonable or abusive. Approvers should consider how often the cardholder uses the missing receipt affidavit and their familiarity and compliance history with policy before approving.

7 – Agencies are required to monitor the use of missing receipt affidavits.

8 – The GovOps Division of Finance periodically reviews the use of the missing receipt affidavit in Concur.

9 – Cardholders with excessive missing receipt affidavits may lose p-card privileges.

D –  Purchases that don’t comply with policy must be reconciled and reported

1 – All purchases must be reconciled even if purchases don’t comply with policy or are personal expenses because the money has already been spent.

2 – If cardholders make personal purchases using their p-card, they must inform their supervisor immediately in writing.

2a – Cardholders must immediately repay personal purchases, and the agency must record a cash receipt transaction offsetting the expense type recorded in the p-card reconciliation.

2b – If the agency approves the employee to not repay immediately, the agency must record an employee receivable in Vantage and ensure the repayment is made at the agreed upon time.

2c – A copy of the check received for repayment and the CR number must be attached in Concur to relevant p-card transactions.

3 – If approvers find personal purchases on a p-card, they must contact the cardholder immediately to determine the cause of the personal purchases and why the cardholder didn’t notify them. The discovery and reasons must be documented in writing.

3a – Cardholders and approvers must follow the repayment procedures described in section D2 above.

4 – If approvers believe the personal purchases were intentional and not incidental to business, they should report it to their executive director or designee, who must determine the intentionality of the cardholder’s use for personal expenses.

4a – If executive directors or designees determine the cardholder’s use of their p-card for personal expenses was intentional, cardholders must pay an administrative penalty of 50% of the personal purchase to the GovOps Division of Finance in compliance with Utah Code 63A-3-110 in addition to the repayment to the agency in section D2.

4a.1 – The cardholder may appeal the executive director or designee’s decision as described in Administrative Code R25-3.

5 – If approvers find travel purchases that don’t comply with policy, they must follow policy 10-6H. The executive director or designee must decide if the cardholder must repay the costs of  the noncompliance.

6 – If approvers find non-travel purchases that don’t comply with policy, they must document the noncompliance in Concur and educate the cardholder on the related policy. 

6a – Supervisors are responsible for tracking cardholder noncompliance and determining when repeated noncompliance needs to be discussed with higher management for corrective action, including if cardholder privileges should be taken away.