Twokin Consulting: Review the number of purchase cards

This post is a continuation of a series of Twokin Consulting articles on how higher education institutions need to challenge the status quo using innovative ideas for reducing costs, increasing revenues, and improving campus operations.

Twokin Consulting Estimate of Implementation Difficulty	Easy
Twokin Consulting Estimate of Implementation Timeline	Short Time Frame (1 month to 3 months)
Twokin Consulting Estimate of Direct Financial Impact	Small
Twokin Consulting Estimate of Campus Controversy it will Generate	Some will question it

Let me share a quick innovation ideas. Review the number of purchase cards (p-card) you have for your organization. In Twokin Consulting’s experience, it can vary greatly with nearly all employees having one to only a handful.

When a large number of employees have a p-card, an organization needs to make sure it has a timely and good reconciliation process. Even then, it can be burdensome.

In comparison, with only a limited number of cards, then numerous people are “borrowing” the card to charge items. At one school I was at, there were three p-cards for the entire university. Needless to say, nearly $10,000 in monthly charges occurred on each of the cards with transactions by numerous individuals.

All transactions should be reviewed at least annually by the budget office to explore for any trends or opportunities for savings. For example, at one of Twokin Consulting's clients, marketing team and the curriculum team both were purchasing annual memberships at a stock photograph website. Once realized, they shared an account for a savings of over $500 per year

Twokin Consulting specializes in helping supporting colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations in brainstorming strategies and ideas for improving operations.