Interview questions for a Commercial Card role.

June 22, 2017 Lynn Larson

Is the right person managing your card program? If not, the problem could be tied to the hiring or selection process your organization used. The next time a Commercial Card program manager or administrator (PM/PA) is needed, ensure your organization is thoroughly prepared. Following are 15 sample interview questions plus an often-overlooked piece of the process.

Interview Questions

Besides standard questions pertaining to a candidate’s professional successes and mistakes (card-related or not), an organization should dive into their opinions/knowledge. In addition to learning about the candidates, you could pick up information and ideas to help your program.

Sample questions:

What is the biggest mistake an organization can make with respect to a card program?
What do you think is the most effective approach for training cardholders and why?
How would you help cardholders’ managers be successful at their reviewer/approver role?
How would you maximize the process savings possible from P-Card usage?
What are some key metrics for evaluating the health/status of a P-Card program?
What is your philosophy regarding card limits (spend and velocity) and MCC restrictions?
How important is Level III transaction data?
What do you think is the best approach for auditing transactions?
What are the benefits of card acceptance for suppliers? Can you share a time when you had to convince a supplier to accept card payments?
Do you have experience using cards in response to a disaster or emergency?
What are your views of a One Card strategy versus two separate programs—P-Cards and Corporate Travel Cards?
Where do you see electronic accounts payable (EAP) solutions fitting into a payment strategy?
Do you have a preference between Virtual Cards (pull payments) and buyer-initiated payments (push payments)?
What roles should procurement and accounts payable fill in relation to a card program?
When should an organization use non-card options—checks, ACH, and wires?

The interview questions your organization chooses to use will likely depend on the status of your card program, as well as your organization’s payment-related interests, priorities, and challenges.

What to Not Overlook

At some point, the hiring process should also test a candidate’s skills that are relevant to the job. For example:

To assess their training style, ask the candidate in advance to prepare a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation to deliver during the interview.
To confirm their writing abilities, request an on-the-spot writing sample.

For either endeavor, one possible topic is P-Card benefits. Further, to evaluate their analysis skills, provide card program data or a report and ask the candidate for their opinions/interpretation. Taking the time to conduct tests like these will improve your organization’s chances of hiring the best possible candidate.

Resources

See additional hiring tips and access related resources.
Contact Recharged Education if your organization would like help with developing a PM/PA job description or formulating interview questions specific to your needs.

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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Can you explain your program data?

June 14, 2017 Lynn Larson

If, without warning, senior management asks you to explain one or more pieces of your card program data, would you be prepared? No matter the topic, you do not want to be fumbling around for an answer. Memorizing key metrics is a good start, but understanding what is behind the numbers is more meaningful. This post describes four things your management may wonder or ask about, and what you should know to shine in the spotlight of their scrutiny.

Process Savings from Card Usage

Sharing your organization’s process savings via your Intranet and/or in a report to management showcases the value of your P-Card program, so be ready to explain:

how you calculated the process savings
how P-Cards save time and money for your organization compared to your other internal purchase-to-pay processes
why your organization’s savings are higher or lower than industry averages (RPMG Research is a great resource)

Card Spend

Relaying progress toward goals and how the current year compares to past years helps keep management informed; see examples below. Ensure you can explain any dips and/or upward spikes.

As a program manager, I once had to ask the organization president to sign off on the payment to our card issuer due to the unusual large dollar amount. While face to face in his office, he asked why the total was so high. Fortunately, I had researched that before approaching him, so I was able to answer.

Revenue Share

Announcing the revenue share (rebate) received from the issuer is always exciting, but do not stop with the dollar total. Include a note about where your organization stands, based on your current contract terms. Are you maximizing the revenue share opportunity? Why or why not?

Internal Fraud/Compliance

Apprising management of the compliance level with card policies and procedures is equally important.

If you do not have issues, it is something to highlight, including the reasons for the success. Perhaps you maintain a current risk assessment that drives you to close any control gaps.
If you have had internal fraud and/or compliance issues, be able to articulate the contributing factors and related remedies. Also, if there are more compliance problems today than in the past, determine why. Has compliance always been on the poor side, but new/better auditing is uncovering more now?

Internal fraud data, as well as process savings, are two things included within the P-Card Risk Analysis Template from Recharged Education. It is available for purchase or, by attending next week’s virtual workshop, you will receive a complimentary copy.

Ensure you can answer "yes" if management asks whether you can explain a particular piece of card program data.

“Analysis without interpretation is just numbers.”

— Included in an ad for Emory University, Goizueta Business School

More Resources

Visit the P-Card Metrics webpage for related information.

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Interface file creation 101.

June 5, 2017 Lynn Larson

Uncertainty. Pressure. A faster heart rate. These are just some of the things people feel when they have to develop a new, electronic Commercial Card interface file for a particular system (finance or other). Even if you relish the challenge, formulating a plan can take time. Through personal experience and by helping others, I have learned it is best to break down the project into manageable steps. The following offers direction on four key aspects associated with interface file development. Keep this handy for the next time you face this situation.

Four Key Aspects

Determine what you need the interface file to do/accomplish.
Identify the system into which the interface file will be uploaded, and the related specifications.
Select the relevant card-related data to be included in the interface file.
“Map” where each piece of card data belongs in the interface file, based on system specifications.

In reality, you might work on these aspects concurrently. Remember to build time into your project for file testing purposes.

Breaking It Down

1. What Do You Want the File to Accomplish?

What are you seeking and why? Will you need to add or modify fields in the system used for transaction reconciliation? For example, is there a piece of data you need to capture in the interface file that would need to be supplied by cardholders?

Most commonly, an interface file is needed for the finance system, but you need to decide which one—AP system or general ledger. Further, there is more than one way to approach it. For example, will the interface file serve to initiate a payment to the card issuer? Maybe; maybe not. It could depend on how often you pay the issuer, how often cardholders reconcile transactions, and/or other factors.

2. Where Will the Card Data Go?

Can the identified system (#2 above) accommodate a file upload? If so, what are the requirements and specifications? Elements to explore include: fields to be populated, field length and type (e.g., alpha, numeric, or either), any prohibited characters that could cause problems during the file upload, etc. You may need to consult with the system provider/vendor.

Also, your card issuer might be able to offer some insight if any of their other end-user clients have an interface file for the same system.

Do not let an interface file project overwhelm you. Break it down into manageable stages.

3. What Card Data is Available?

There are three broad categories of card-related data:

Transaction information, such as date, amount, sales tax, and line-item detail (if available); may also include any data entered by the cardholder during reconciliation
Supplier information, such as name, address, and merchant category code (MCC)
Cardholder/card information, such as name, zip code, and account number

You likely do not need every piece of available data. Determine the information that best supports what you want to accomplish.

4. Where Does Each Piece of Card Data Belong?

The system into which you will upload the file probably does not have field names that exactly match the names of card-related data. You need to figure out what to put where.

Lastly, some data might need to be automatically added to the interface file—to satisfy certain field requirements—versus originating from the card activity. For example, the file specifications might include a field designated as “Payment Type” for which you want a constant default of “PCARD” each time the interface file is downloaded.

Resources

For an introduction to interface files and information about finance system options, visit the Interface Files webpage. If you are seeking external expertise, contact Recharged Education to inquire about consulting services.

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