When you hear the phrase “government purchase card program”, you may not know what it is. It sounds like some sort of debit card program, perhaps along the lines of food stamps, for the poor and underprivileged. You could not be further from the truth.
The government purchase card program is, a program that simplifies the process used by government employees in making work-related purchases. A purchase card is simply a type of credit card. Certain government employees can make purchases with their card without having to “go through all of the red tape”, such as filing requests, invoices and other paperwork. The program was initiated to save the money.
If you are a vendor, you may wonder why participating in this program could be beneficial to your business. If you stop and think about how many purchases the government makes each year, then that is your answer. If you accept government purchase cards, you will increase your profit. From the United States Post Office to the United States Army and everything in between, there are millions of cardholders in the country. Opening your business up to purchase cards opens up a new market for your products or services.
Purchase card purchases process just as swiftly as regular credit cards. Instead of a government employee having to file a ton of paperwork to get a purchase approved, he or she can just come to your business and buy what they need. While it works similar to a standard credit card, a government purchase card adds more information into the transaction, to record detailed data and descriptions for accounting purposes within the governmental systems. Beyond the standard consumer grade information, a government purchase card can record invoice number, order number, item product code, unit of measure, freight amount and duty amount, among other things.
Since it is a card backed by the government, you can rest assured that you will be paid for your product or service. Although there are always those individuals that break the rules, in general, a purchase made with a government purchase card is valid.
If you want to take your business to the next level, consider accepting government purchase cards. You have nothing to lose and you can always change your mind later if things do not go as planned. With government employees spending millions of dollars on various purchases each year, your business has the chance to grow and flourish.
[Want to know more? We can show you how government purchase cards can work for your business – give us a call today.]