Split Purchase, Year-End Funds, and a Delinquent Travel Card
You are the agency program coordinator and government purchase card holder for a 60-person unit. Your single-purchase limit is $7,500 and your monthly limit is $50,000. On 20 September, a division chief submits a $14,800 requirement for ergonomic chairs and asks you to split it into two orders of $7,400 each “to beat the limit and obligate before 30 September.” The vendor says delivery will slip to 15 October. A separate travel card statement shows a $1,240 airline charge 45 days past due; you also have a $320 hotel receipt missing from August travel. The budget officer says year-end funds are “use it or lose it” and asks for a status by noon.
1. How should you respond to the request to split the purchase and to the year-end funding pressure?
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Refuse the split. The requirement is a single $14,800 need, and dividing it into two orders to stay under the card limit is an improper split designed to evade a threshold. It is not a legitimate series of separate purchases. The fact that it is 20 September and funds expire on 30 September makes the request worse, not better.
Explain the alternatives in writing: route the full requirement through the contracting office or a properly approved purchase request, or reduce the scope to a genuine requirement that fits within the card limit. Do not structure the order around the calendar. Funds must be obligated for a bona fide need of the period, not spent simply to avoid losing them. The vendor’s 15 October delivery date also raises a question about whether the need is truly a current-year requirement.
Tell the division chief and budget officer that you will not process the split and why. Offer to help prepare a proper package if the requirement is valid. Document the refusal and the alternatives so the decision is transparent.
2. What steps should you take on the delinquent travel card and the missing $320 hotel receipt?
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Handle the delinquency first because it affects your personal accountability and the agency’s card program. Contact the card program coordinator and the bank, pay at least the undisputed amount immediately, and determine whether the charge is valid. If it is valid, pay it and seek reimbursement through the travel voucher process. If it is disputed, file the dispute promptly and document the reason. Notify your supervisor as required by the agency’s card policy; a 45-day delinquency is not something to hide.
For the missing receipt, do not invent an amount or use a personal credit card statement as a substitute without following policy. Request a duplicate receipt from the hotel. If it cannot be obtained, use the agency’s missing-receipt procedure, which normally requires a signed statement explaining the loss and may require supervisory review. Keep the $320 claim separate from the airline charge so the voucher is clear.
Document every call, date, and reference number. The reasoning is to resolve the valid debt quickly, preserve reimbursement rights, and leave an audit trail.
3. What should you tell the budget officer by noon?
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Give a factual status, not a promise to “find a way.” State the amount already committed, the amount obligated, the known unfunded requirement-the $14,800 chairs-and the fact that you have not split it. Identify the risk that the requirement cannot be properly awarded before 30 September and that delivery after 15 October may affect the bona fide need determination. Ask the budget officer to confirm whether current-year funds are actually available for this purpose and whether a valid requirement can be satisfied within the card limit.
If the budget officer pressures you to record an obligation before a valid commitment exists, decline and escalate to your supervisor or the resource management office. Do not enter a false obligation or backdate a transaction.
Close with a clear recommendation: process a proper contracting request if the need is valid, or defer the purchase to the next fiscal year if it is not. A short written status protects both offices and gives the budget officer something accurate to report.