Purchasing cards have streamlined Wake County Schools purchasing process

September 16, 2002 - Purchasing cards have made it easier for teachers to buy the supplies needed for their classrooms and streamlined the administrative process of Wake County Public School System employees making small purchases.

"Our goal was to speed up the purchasing process and to cut down on the number of purchase order transactions," said Scott Doolittle, WCPSS Senior Director of Purchasing. "It's been successful because it's an efficient way to get supplies to the classroom. It's eliminated the paperwork processing time. It's helped teachers not spend their own money. It's given some flexibility in making purchases."

In the first seven months of this year, purchasing cards were used to make more than 16,000 school supply purchases of $500 or less. That accounted for 90 percent of all purchases using the cards and totaled about $1.6 million.

"The purchase card eliminated the writing of purchase orders and checks for all of those items," Doolittle said. "Now accounting gets one bill for the entire system and processes its payment. In the past, that was a manual process. Now with our ORACLE computer database system, we've made it an electronic process. In the past, it took weeks. Now it takes hours."

While teachers get the supplies they need much quicker, the reduced administration in the use of purchase cards provides a cost savings to the school system. MBNA America, the world's largest independent credit card issuer, estimates the administrative costs of purchase cards total $25 per transaction, compared with $85 per transaction when using purchase orders. In addition, the WCPSS purchase card account earns a three-tenths percent financial reward which totaled about $15,000 in 2001.

With the purchase card, a teacher can get a principal's authorization and use the card to buy the materials she needs for class the same day. Her purchase is part of one bill electronically tracked and paid.

Before, the teacher was required to write a requisition. It had to be approved by the principal before going to the school bookkeeper to be written up as a purchase order. The order was sent to WCPSS Purchasing where a buyer would purchase the materials from a vendor. It may take weeks for the materials to arrive from the vendor and be logged in at WCPSS Purchasing's receiving office. Then the item would be sent to the school. The item's paperwork would be processed through WCPSS Accounting, where it would be matched up with the invoice and then the payment would be issued by check which had to be generated, processed, and mailed.

Ballentine Elementary Principal Marge Ronco said the purchasing card system is a huge improvement.

"The cards have helped us when we needed to purchase perishable items for special projects such as a fifth grade camping trip or a kindergarten Thanksgiving feast. You don't have to worry about having to open purchase orders with lots of different vendors to get the job done," Ronco said. "You can take advantage of discounts online and can often purchase "used" books that appear new at great discounts. When ordering professional books for teachers, I was able to save about 50 percent buying used books online."

In 1998, Doolittle and WCPSS financial managers looked at ways to improve the purchasing process. Impressed by the reports of other government agencies using purchasing cards, they investigated the process. With the state's approval, Wake launched a pilot project using the purchasing cards in 12 schools and WCPSS maintenance. The program expanded to all WCPSS schools and offices the next year.

WCPSS Purchasing provides training in the card's use. Limits are set for the amount that can be spent per transaction and per month. And the accounts are audited to prevent misuse.

"The use of purchasing cards is a sound business decision that directly impacts classrooms in a positive way," said Del Burns, WCPSS Associate Superintendent for Administrative Services. "Not only does it help teachers quickly obtain needed materials and supplies, it saves the system a significant amount of money."

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