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Procurement director outlines revised p‑card procedures, procurement manual and subscription consolidation
Summary
Procurement Director Dave Thomas told the committee the county has 173 procurement cards in use, has updated the p‑card manual and is finalizing a 64‑page procurement policy manual under legal review; the county is consolidating subscription and vendor accounts to reduce duplicate bills.
Dave Thomas, Beaufort County procurement director, updated the Finance, Administration and Economic Development Committee on Jan. 27 on the county’s procurement card program, the draft procurement policy manual and efforts to consolidate subscription and vendor accounts.
Thomas said the county currently manages 173 procurement (p‑) cards and uses Bank of America software integrated with the county’s Munis ERP to manage requests, approvals and budget reconciliation. He said most cards carry a $1,500 monthly limit and are used for travel, office supplies and smaller purchases; some departments have higher limits for their operational needs. "When they go on travel, if an employee does go on travel, it is easier for them if they have their own p card to use as a travel card," Thomas said.
He described training and control measures the county is adding: a revised p‑card manual posted on the staff intranet; a planned instructional video and an exam required before issuance; an 80% pass threshold for the test; and an electronic approval workflow that requires department-head signoff and finance review. Thomas said HR will withhold card issuance until an employee has completed the required training and passed the test.
Thomas said the county uses an outside monitoring tool called PCard Integrity (as described in the presentation) to flag irregular spending and cross‑check vendor payments against Munis to detect possible duplicate invoicing. He also said the county received a $27,000 rebate in fiscal year 2024 from card usage that will return to the general fund.
On procurement policy, Thomas said the new policy manual is 64 pages across 10 chapters and remains under legal review; he expected to present it to the committee when final. He described ongoing work to consolidate vendor and subscription accounts (Amazon, Uniline and others) to reduce the number of accounts and centralize payments.
Committee members asked about violation classifications, historical card counts and the plan for department review of subscription needs. Thomas said the number of cards has decreased from the prior year (about 200) and that staff can provide reports showing county spending by vendor when requested. No formal action was taken; Thomas said he expects to return with the procurement manual when legal review is complete.
