ProCard Trainings

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts awarded a contract to Citibank to provide procurement cards for State of Texas agencies. The University of Texas at Austin (hereafter referred to as UT Austin, or the University) elected to participate in the program and incorporate Citibank within its current ProCard program. All of the information included in this section of the Handbook of Business Procedures (HBP) is intended to foster knowledgeable, safe, and efficient use of the ProCard program by eligible users.

Purchases that support the daily business needs of the University should utilize the appropriate procurement method. Trained and certified UT Austin employees are issued credit cards, also known as ProCards, from the state-approved bank to be used only for the purchase of allowable low-dollar and low-risk goods and services for university purposes.

Some staff within each college, school, or unit (CSU) may be issued a higher limit credit card for the purchase of more expensive allowable goods or services when other methods of procurement are not more appropriate. In addition to the basic procurement card training, these individuals must train and be certified in all procurement rules and methods, and thus act as an extension of the central procurement staff.

The following key elements need to be incorporated into policy considerations and understood by individual Cardholders:

• A ProCard draws directly on UT Austin’s funds; therefore, all procurement and accounting procedures required by state law and university policy apply to its use.
• The Cardholder is personally responsible for all purchases made on their ProCard. 
• Failure to follow the procedures related to the use of ProCard may result in the loss of card privileges and/or other discipline up to and including dismissal. 

DEFINE is The University of Texas DEpartmental Financial INformation NEtwork, accessed through the university mainframe computer. Through DEFINE you can:

• Create electronic document. These include, payment vouchers, requests for transfer of funds, cash deposits, and IDTs.
• View accounting transactions on accounts.
• View account balances.
• View authorized signers for an account.
• ...and more.

 ProCard transactions are routed through DEFINE to create a VP7 voucher for reconciliation purposes and payment processing. Review common terminology related to ProCard and DEFINE systems. Learn More about 

View DEFINE Glossary and Terms

ProCard billing and payment processing are based on a particular dates known as Cycle Dates. For any given month, you will know the following dates:

• Begin Cycle Date - The first day of the billing period; card limits have been reset
• End Cycle Date - The last day of the billing period
• VP7 Production Date - The date in which your voucher will route through DEFINE so that reconciliation can begin
• Departmental Approval Deadline - VP7s must be final approved by 5:00PM

A Cycle Date will begin on the 4th of each month and close on the 3rd of the following month (August will have two VP7 productions to mark the end of one FY and the beginning of the new FY).

View Cycle Dates for the entire current FY. 

Before we go further into the details of allowed and disallowed usage, here is a quick guide to important topics in which we have adjusted our business practices as a result of the pandemic. 

• Office Supplies
• Off Campus Shipments
• Appropriate Conduct with the ProCard
• Electronic Documentation Support

ProCard Guidance for Cardholders and Managers

The ProCard office recognizes the following items as items that should not be procured the ProCard and while this list is not all-inclusive, we acknowledge there may be a University business purpose that may require an exception. We ask in those instances that you reach out to our office to determine if the item/s in question can be allowed. The Disallowed List is intended to give ProCard users guidance regarding appropriate usage. Prior to using your ProCard, this list should be reviewed in its entirety. Purchase of items on this list can result in consequences. 

While not all inclusive, the Office Supplies List contains a list of items which are considered traditional office supplies and therefore must be purchased through our mandatory contract with Today's Business Solutions as fulfilled by Office Max/Office Depot. When visiting in-store, the Store Purchasing card (SPC) should be used in conjunction with the UT ProCard. This card will identify and apply tax exemption, including the application of our discounted pricing. 

To order office supplies, please visit Today's Business Solutions through UT Market. (UT Austin credentials are required to access) 

The procurement process can take you down a long path. We have created a Procurement Flowchart to not only identify when the ProCard should be utilized but when the other procurement strategies that should be considered. 

CitiManager is an online tool that allows cardholders to view their account information, view/download statements and balances, and perform other self-service tasks such as setting alerts or viewing your PIN. 

Follow the link to access the CitiManager Portal. The following instructions and guidance will be used to assist you in further navigation and account setup. 

After the approval of your ProCard application, you will automatically have a profile created. However, you will still need to visit CitiManger to register your card and complete your registration. You can do so by following the Site Registration instructions. 

When it comes to activating your card, you can always call CitiBank using the number on the back of your ProCard or you can activate your card online. View the Card Activation instructions if you decide to activate your card online. During the activation process, you will be asked to establish a PIN. We highly recommend you do so as we have encountered instances in which ProCards have been declined as a result of no PIN. Forgoing the DEBIT feature and selecting CREDIT, will not remedy this issue with certain vendors. Once established, here's How to View your PIN. As you begin utilizing your card, you will want to know How to View/Download Statements and you can see how, here. 

CitiManager has many features within its application but not all will be applicable to you, based on your permissions. For those reasons, we have included a Quick Start Guide and an End-to-End Guide. As you view these instructional guides, should you have any additional questions, please contact our office and we can assist. 

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GCMS is an additional tool that can be used to monitor your card, transactions, and balances. This tool closely resembled the application functionality most are familiar with when it comes to their personal debit/credit cards. Here you will have greater visibility into your card and have more functionality when it comes to assigning object codes, account numbers, receipt uploads, and transaction splitting between account numbers. We highly recommend this application as your primary tool. 

Begin by following this link to the GCMS Portal. The following instructions and guidance will be used to assist you in further navigation and account setup. 

You will not automatically be signed up for this tool which means you will need to follow these instructions to gain GCMS Access. As previously mentioned, GCMS is going to be more robust when it comes to accessibility and function so we always recommend starting with key features to help familiarize you with navigation. Knowing How to Search for Transactions will help you narrow your transaction history to search a small segment of your spend, should you need to find certain transactions. Another valuable tool that we hope you don't have to use very often, but it happens, is How to Review Declined Transactions. The ProCard Office can certainly assist with this type of issue but in the times of acquiring an expedited response, you will have the ability to identify the cause of the decline. At this point, you have the option to either call our office or use the CitiBank number on the back of your card to speak with a representative. We offer you both solutions because we want you to take advantage of the resource that is going to get your card back to procurement status. Card declines can be common depending on the items you are purchasing or in the event you have exceeded your Single Transaction Limit or Cycle Limit. Use these instructions to review your declined transactions and then communicate with the ProCard Office so that we can assist. 

Through GCMS, you will have the ability to split a transaction but before you view the instructions, we should clarify that there are two forms of transaction splitting. 

1. When you knowingly ask a vendor to split a transaction to remain below your Single Transaction Limit. This is a violation of ProCard Policy and not allowed.  
2. When you wish to allocate funds from different account numbers. This is allowed and what we are discussing in these instructions. 

Now that you know the acceptable practice of Splitting Transactions, feel free to review how you can use multiple account numbers to split the total cost of your item/s. 

GCMS has many features within its application but not all will be applicable to you, based on your permissions. For those reasons, we have included a GCMS Quick Start Guide and a GCMS End-to-End Guide. As you view these instructional guides, should you have any additional questions, please contact our office and we can assist. 

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Our goal is to inform and education cardholders and users of the ProCard, on all things ProCard related. Click on the link to view our training sessions and register for training. (UT EID Required)

Click Here to Sign Up