Effective immediately, Handbook AS-709, Purchase Card Policies and Procedures for Local Buying, is revised to support Purchase Card reconciliation Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) testing compliance as follows:
n Updated the cardholder and credit card approving official (CCAO) reconciliation certification requirement from signing the reverse side of the cardholder monthly Statement of Account to signing the last page of the statement in the designated signature blocks.
n Added a requirement to the CCAO reconciliation process, requiring the CCAO to sign and date the account detail and summary report sent by the bank provider (U.S. bank) to certify the reconciliation was completed.
Handbook AS-709, Purchase Card Policies and Procedures for Local Buying
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4 Cardholder and CCAO Reconciliation Procedures
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42 Reconciliation Procedures
421 Overview
421.1 Reconciliation Process Cycle Time
***Here are the guidelines to ensure timely processing:
[Revise the fourth bullet to read as follows:]
n The cardholder retains all documentation for 3 years from the date of the bank statement of account, and the CCAO retains the signed and dated bank-issued account detail and summary report for 3 years from the date of report.
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422 Cardholder Procedures
422.1 Cardholder Process Overview
***After receiving, you must do the following (generally within 5 to 7 working days):
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[Revise item e of 422.1 to read as follows:]
e. To certify completion of the reconciliation, sign and date the final page of the statement.
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423 CCAO Procedures
423.1 CCAO Process Overview
[Revise 423.1 to read as follows:]
As the CCAO, you must verify that each assigned cardholder reconciliation was correctly performed using the bank-provided account detail and summary report, ensuring that billing errors do not go undetected. Around the beginning of each month, your cardholders will be forwarding to you their Statement of Account from the 18th of the previous month along with supporting purchase documentation (see 335.1). If you do not receive cardholder records and/or the bank report during the first few days of the month, call your cardholders or bank provider as appropriate. After receipt, you must complete your reconciliation, sign and date the final page of the statement after the cardholder’s signature, and return to the cardholder no later than the 18th of the month. (You also sign, date, and retain the bank-issued account detail and summary report for 3 years from date of report.)
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423.4 CCAO Certification and Returning Documentation to the Cardholder
[Revise 423.4 to read as follows:]
After completing the review and reconciliation procedure, sign and date the Statement of Account in the section designated for the CCAO, and return with the supporting purchase documentation to the cardholder for retention. In addition, to certify completion of the CCAO reconciliation process, sign and date your CCAO account detail and summary report. If cardholder transactions exceed one page, you must sign and date on the final page of the report.
423.5 Documentation Retention Period
[Revise first sentence to read as follows:]
Keep the signed and dated bank-issued CCAO account detail and summary report for 3 years from the date of report.***
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of Handbook AS-709 and also into the online version available on the Postal Service PolicyNet website:
n Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
n Under “Essential Links” in the left-hand column, click PolicyNet.
n Click HBKs.
(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet website is http://blue/usps.gov/cpim.)
Your agency program coordinator (APC) can answer questions about these changes or other Purchase Card–related inquiries. Locate your APC at http://blue.usps.gov/purchase/operations/ops_impachome.htm.
— Supply Management Infrastructure,
Supply Management, 3-24-11
