UW Purchasing Cards (P-Card, Department P-Card, Shared Liability/Corporate Card)

Definition UW Health Logo

  • Individual Purchasing Card (P-Card): A university-liability credit card issued to a UW–Madison employee for business-related purchases <$5,000 reconciled through the Expenses module. The card is assigned to a specific UW–Madison employee and may only be used by that individual.
  • Department Purchasing Card (P-Card): A university-liability credit card issued to a UW–Madison employee which can be used by both the cardholder and other authorized purchasers for business-related purchases < $5,000 reconciled through the Expenses module.
  • Shared Liability/Corporate Card: Individual-liability credit card issued by U.S. Bank to a UW–Madison employee for business-related purchases.  

Before making any purchases, ensure the expense is allowable, budgeted, and adheres with policy. For travel related expenses, utilize the Travel Guidance Tool.

Related Reference Guide(s): UW Refund of Expenses


Who

UW-Madison employees are eligible to be purchasing card holders. 

Department/Unit Initiators

    • Employee as Self (UW purchasing card holder)
    • Expense Data Entry Specialist - This role has the ability to enter reimbursements or reconcile p-cards on behalf of other employees.

Department/Unit Approvers

    • Gift Manager
    • Grant Manager
    • Program Manager
    • Project Manager
    • Cost Center Manager
    • Expense Report Reviewer (optional)

      It is highly recommended that departments incorporate the Expense Report Reviewer security role into their Expense Reimbursement and P-Card workflows. Doing so will allow departments to stop using the 'on hold' business purpose, and still help ensure that expense reports receive the appropriate finance review before being routed to Central Campus Audit.

      Departments that already have a centralized finance review process outside of Workday and/or utilize a Finance EDES to submit expense reports on behalf of employees are not required to incorporate the Expense Report Reviewer role, although they may choose to do so if it would enhance their existing review process.

*There are other approver roles at the campus level listed within the Reconciling UW Credit Cards in Workday job aid. 

UW Contract Signatures


Obtaining Access

How to Obtain and Manage a Purchasing Card

Setting Up Access to Submit Expenses on Behalf of Someone Else (Expense Data Entry Specialist)

If you need any security roles, including Expense Data Entry Specialist (EDES), to complete this process, discuss with your next level leader. If approved, reach out to your department/unit’s Workday Role-Based Access Requester.  

To check your security role access: 

  1. Click on the Employee Lookup tab in Tableau.
  2. Enter your name in the legal name field (last name, first name).

To find your department/unit’s Workday Role-Based Access Requester:  

  1. Go to your Workday profile and click "Job” in the left navigation menu.
  2. Click “Support Roles” in the top header. 
  3. In the Assignable Role column, scroll to find the Role-Based Access Requester. 

 See the How section for Workday job aids on reconciling card expenses for someone else. 

Setting Up Access for Expense Report Reviewer (Optional)

The Expense Report Reviewer UW security role enables departments to perform an additional review of expense reports before the Expense Partner review step.

Responsibilities include:

    • Reviewing funding worktags for accuracy.
    • Making edits prior to the expense report advancing to Expense Partner review.

Additional Role Details:

    • Roles are assigned at the Cost Center or Cost Center Hierarchy Level (CCHL). 
    • The Expense Report Reviewer may be assigned to multiple workers within the same cost center or hierarchy.
    • Expense reports that are routed to multiple Expense Report Reviewers only require one approval. This includes when multiple Expense Report Reviewers are assigned to the same cost center/hierarchy and when split-funded expense reports have Expense Report Reviewers assigned to both cost centers.  
    • There are no routing exclusions - the Expense Report Reviewer will see ALL expense reports that use their assigned CCHL, including any expense report they create or are the subject of. 
    • Expense reports still route to worktag managers for approval. If the Expense Report Reviewer is also the worktag manager, the expense report then routes to the cost center manager for approval as their alternate. If that is the same person still, the expense report skips the worktag manager's approval step. 
    • Employees assigned both Expense Data Entry Specialist (EDES) and Expense Report Reviewer UW may encounter the same expense report multiple times in the workflow—once during submission and again during review.

To request this role, discuss the need with your department leadership and contact your department's Workday Role-Based Access Requester.


Training

Prerequisites


How

SMPH Standardized Workday Pre-Transaction Process

Core Workday Job Aids

Related Workday Job Aids

Related Reports


Questions

For help with content questions or technical issues, please visit the ATP in SMPH – How to Get Help section. It includes instructions for submitting tickets and connecting with SMPH subject matter experts or technical support teams.


References

Policies

Guidelines

Forms



Keywords:
UW Purchasing Cards, P-Card, Department P-Card, Shared Liability/Corporate Card, corp card
Doc ID:
151794
Owned by:
Michelle M. in SMPH Fiscal
Created:
2025-06-17
Updated:
2026-07-23
Sites:
SMPH Fiscal