Breaking news involving surcharging.

September 29, 2016 Lynn Larson

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal initiated by a group of New York merchants who claim New York’s “no surcharge” law violates their First Amendment free speech rights.

Update

Visit the Surcharge News webpage to see the March 29, 2017, Supreme Court outcome.

If the merchants are successful, it sets the stage for the removal of “no surcharge” laws in the handful of states that have such laws. This would not necessarily lead to a pike in merchants surcharging for credit card use, but it is certainly something to watch. End-user organizations who rely on state “no surcharge” laws today (when dealing with merchants who want to apply a surcharge) may have to rethink their strategy in the future.

See the related webpage on surcharge news for background about the evolving state laws, including what has occurred in New York and elsewhere.

What is the future of surcharging, especially in states that currently have laws prohibiting this practice?

About the Author

Blog post author Lynn Larson, CPCP, is the founder of Recharged Education. With more than 15 years of Commercial Card experience, her mission is to make industry education readily accessible to all. Learn more…

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A quiz can enhance training.

September 21, 2016 Lynn Larson

Requiring cardholders and their managers to pass a quiz in conjunction with their initial P-Card training and/or annually helps confirm their understanding of key points, policies and procedures. Like any initiative, a successful quiz requires good planning. Following are quiz tips and example questions for your consideration.

Length

A quiz does not need to be long to be effective. In many cases, 10 questions are enough to cover important material without causing “test fatigue.”

Format

An electronic tool that can present a quiz and also score each one is ideal. Ask your management if such a system is already available within your organization. If not, inquire about your options.

Tips for Writing Quiz Questions

I gleaned the following tips when I chaired the Purchasing Card Professional Certification Council for the CPCP program:

Avoid questions containing “not,” such as “Which type of purchase is NOT allowed on a P-Card?”
Focus on important content. Do not test on trivia, such as “In what year did the organization implement a P-Card program?”
Keep the questions as concise as possible.
Offer distinct answer options rather than “all of the above” or “none of the above.”
Try to make all answer options a similar length.

Finally, allow others to review the quiz before finalizing.

Related Resources

A quiz supports training by confirming employees' understanding of the material.

Help is Available

Submit a contact form if you are interested in obtaining a quote for a review of your training program to determine improvement opportunities.

Example Questions

The examples below highlight the type of information you might want to include.

Why does the organization have a P-Card program? or What is a benefit of the P-Card program?
Who is authorized to use a P-Card?
Where is the approved supplier list located?
By what date each month must cardholders reconcile their transactions?
Within how many days of the Post Date may a cardholder dispute a transaction?
What should the supporting documentation for each transaction include?
What should a cardholder do with the supporting documentation for each transaction?
What is the P-Card single purchase/transaction limit?
What is the first step for requesting a temporary limit change?
Are gift card purchases allowed on a P-Card? or substitute other purchase types, such as travel expenses

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Give new life to policies and procedures.

September 14, 2016 Lynn Larson

Even if your management will not budge on what your policies and procedures (P&P) say, how you write them can boost or hinder cardholder compliance. I have seen too many P&P manuals comprised of large, unappealing text-heavy paragraphs. To give them new life, separate general information from procedures and make procedures more prominent using an appropriate format. Design matters; following are “before” and “after” examples. Which one would you rather read?

Before

In this example, the steps are buried in the text block and the passive voice adds to the dullness.

After

This version reflects a script format, using Responsibility and Action columns to separate the tasks by job role. Each action begins with a verb and speaks to the person responsible.

You could also modify the columns to make the script format appropriate for other procedures, such as ones involving only a cardholder. For example, the first column could be Tasks and the second one How to Complete with numbered instructions for each task. Cardholders who already know how to do something can concentrate on the first column.

Procedure Writing

Evaluating your P&P for the following five procedure writing elements and making improvements where needed will make the content easier to read.

Appearance
Style/language
Format
Level of detail
Consistency

These elements, plus other procedure formats and more, are addressed within the guide referenced below.

What is old and lifeless can be revitalized if you take the time to incorporate effective procedure writing characteristics.

More Tips

Consider purchasing the related guide from Recharged Education for just $29.99. With more than 20 pages of content, it is a real value. For providers who want to distribute the guide to multiple clients, there is a license option with no limit on the number of copies to share.

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