New spending restrictions apply to SmartPay travel and purchase cards. Travel cards are widely used in governments (for example, most Army reserves have these cards). The government tracks travel expenses, such as hotels and airlines, through software tools such as Concur. GSA already requires receipts for any purchases its employees earn over $75. “The system is a pain in the butt and requires authorization from the supervisor before spending any money,” the current GSA employee said.
After the trip is completed, employees must submit coupons that match the approved fees. According to current GSA employees, employees are being tracked scanned – employees are told to minimize ATM withdrawals to avoid unnecessary expenses, they like the others in this story, they are with Dired in anonymous condition Conversations were conducted because they were not authorized to speak publicly. They said that abuse of cards was already a reason for disciplinary action, including termination.
Purchasing cards is even rarer, for work expenses under $10,000; anything above this amount requires a formal government contract. They are used in office supplies, IT equipment and training, etc. If employees want to spend money on purchasing cards, they must submit a form called SF182. The form then needs to be approved and signed by the supervisor. Once completed, the form will be submitted to the Approval Office and will be required in the name of the person who wants to make the purchase, a description of the item, an estimated price, an accounting code, and the date of the goods or service.
Once the payment is approved, it will assign a purchase request number. Only in this way can employees really spend money. If they spend 10% more than the approved amount, they need to approve written approval again. At GSA, each purchase is tracked through a program called Pegasys, which requires a separate form to access. Pegasys has two aspects: the purchase aspect, the money spent, and the settlement aspect. Using the request number, the card holder must match the 100 minutes of both aspects.
“To commit fraud, you have to let employees, supervisors and possible people get involved in it,” another GSA employee said. “It’s not like [DOGE is] Require. ”
