USAID Thread...D.O.G.E Crackdown

[Susan]

My immediate thought is that now government employees will spend a lot of hours figuring out how to do the same work related purchases in different ways, including on reimbursements. Changes in routines cost money to implement. Making government employees more accountable for purchases done by way of a credit card would have been a better idea.

Procurement cards are for non-purchase orders and no-contract purchases. Most purchasing is done on contract, so there is nothing to "figure out." If they don't have a card, they contact their office administrator, who will order what is needed through the procurement system.

Based on how the "reporting" is done, I suspect all accounts were temporarily frozen while they determined who needed a card.

I have a state procurement card for an office of 15 people. I need to track and report spending and keep my files available for auditing for at least five years (I keep my electronic files forever, but I also need to keep hard copies). I've been audited several times with a few dings here and there. I'm confident the federal government system is similar. By having fewer cards out there, it's easier to track and audit. I've had my card for 20 years now, and I've been audited 5 times by the state. (My purchasing is looked over every month by the finance office.)