OMB has issued new guidance relating to use of government charge cards by federal employees, the latest in a series of directives following numerous reports from GAO and IG offices about abuse of the cards.
The latest guidance, as a revision to Circular A-123 Appendix B:
* updates the micropurchase threshold to reflect the current $3,000 threshold
* expands descriptions for erroneous and improper purchases including practices for minimizing such purchases;
* adds a requirement for charge cardholders, approving officials, or both to reimburse the government for any unauthorized transactions or erroneous purchase card transactions that were not disputed;
* incorporates guidance on disciplinary actions for fraud and other egregious abuse of a government charge card;
* updates performance metrics;
* adds a chapter on internal controls for convenience checks; and
* adds a chapter on controls related to property acquired with government charge cards.
The guidance, available at www.cfoc.gov, covers travel, purchase and certain other types of cards.