Organizations frequently use procurement cards (often referred to as P-cards) to purchase goods or services using processes outside normal acquisition and cash disbursement procedures. P-cards are a form of company charge card that are issued to approved employees who are expected to comply with company P-card policies and operating procedures. In many cases, P-cards replace petty cash funds used to make smaller purchases on short notice. While providing a number of conveniences for organizations, the use of P-cards involves risks that should be addressed by internal controls.
REQUIRED
a. Visit the Fraud Magazine website ( www.fraud-magazine. com ) and search for the November/December 2011 article "Preventing, Detecting, and Investigating Procurement Card Abuse" by using the search string "procurement card abuse."
b. Identify three preventative and three detective internal controls related to the use of P-cards.
c. Briefly describe the purpose of each internal control identified in part (b).