Institute of Financial Operations - North Texas
3 Q 2013 Meeting Minutes
The quarterly meeting of the North Texas Chapter of the Institute of Financial Operations was held on
August 21, 2013 at Southwest Airlines in Dallas, Texas.
Lunch and networking started at 11:00 AM. Sandy Champion, President of the NTIFO Chapter, called the
meeting to order and thanked Mark Boozer at CTMI for providing the luncheon and Southwest Airlines
for providing the facility. Chapter introductions were made. Sandy introduced Jennifer Darcangelo,
Corporate Credit Card Supervisor, Southwest Airlines.
Creating Value through a PCard Program
Southwest has a one-card program, Master Card with Citibank, with 1,142 cardholders and 2,595 cards.
Over 222,000 transactions ($132M) per year are processed through their Pcard program. It is companybilled, company-paid. They get a daily transaction feed from Citibank into their SAP ERP system each
day. The file contains the name of the person who owns the card so that the transactions can go into a
buffer for the cardholder to do an expense report.
SWA looked at different aspects of their business to see how they could make the Pcard program
effective and cost efficient. They created programs within the program to service a number of needs
within the company. They use templates that are preloaded with the MCC codes that are needed for
each of the card types. The cards look identical, but behind the scenes the various programs allow
different types of purchases.
General Purchase Program – These cards have a swipe on the back. They are open to most types of
vendors. If specialty vendors are needed that are not allowed under General Purchase, they can put
them into a different template.
Travel Card – For airfare, hotels, car rental, and other travel expenses.
Travel and Purchase – This is a hybrid card for people who have a need to purchase as well as travel.
Chip and PIN – These cards have the swipe on the back so that they can be used here. They also have a
chip imbedded in the card. The user holds the card up to a machine, the machine reads it, and then it
asks for a personal PIN. This cuts down on fraud. These are very popular in Europe right now, and SWA
has three of these cards for people who travel there.
Officers (Vice Presidents or higher) – These cards are open to almost all MCCs and the spend limits are
higher.
Ghost Cards – These are used for purchases that only need a number. They issue plastic but there is no
swipe on the back. Each station is issued their own ghost card to use for large dollar purchases such as
glycol for deicing the planes. The merchant takes responsibility for these purchases since they are not
assigned to an individual.
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Emergency Response Cards – Airlines must have a robust emergency response program in place. They
must be sure that employees can get whatever they need at any time when there is an incident. These
cards are issued to emergency responders at each station. An additional 500 emergency cards are kept
at corporate for people who will go into the field to respond to emergencies. There are no restrictions
on these cards and they are tied to insurance claims. These are the only cards that allow cash
withdrawals.
Chow Cards – These are pre-funded cards for per diem, training, temporary assignments, special events,
and can be used at restaurants and hotels only. There is a $70 limit per transaction on these cards and
no receipts are required. The cards are requested by an admin and issued for a date range. The card is
shut off at the end of the time frame. Whatever money is left on the card goes back to the company.
This has saved a lot of money compared to issuing per diems in advance.
Virtual Card for Crew Hotels – These are one-time use numbers and are restricted to hotel expenses.
They are administrated by a third party and accessed through an on-line system.
Card Controls
The card program is administered at the corporate office. Cards are requested online. The employee
fills in the required information, including the name they want on the card, the type of spend the will
have, and the dollar amounts needed. All cards are director or vice-president approved before they can
be ordered. The terms and conditions for having the card are included with the application. The card is
approved online and then it goes to the card administrator. Cards are ordered once per week. The card
admin checks for approvals and makes sure that the types of purchases requested are appropriate for
Pcard.
All cardholders must go through training to use the card. On-site training is offered three or four times
per year. Training has also been held in other cities. There is an on-line handbook that all employees
must read and then pass an assessment with an 80 grade or higher before they can have the card.
Southwest keeps the handbook and assessment as concise as possible for ease of use.
All card maintenance must go through the corporate office Pcard administrators. Requests for spend
limit increases must be approved by the director or vice-president. They will do a temporary increase if
needed. With the templates they have in place, they can easily add an MCC code temporarily, if
needed.
Expense reporting is done in a customized SAP module. Each employee must go into the system and
expense their transactions. There is an automated email reminder that goes out periodically to remind
cardholders of transactions that need to be expensed. If the cardholder does not expense the
transactions after three months, they will consider closing the card.
After the cardholder completes the expense report, it is workflow-routed to their leader to review and
approve. After that, the charges post to the GL. A post-audit is done of a percentage of the expense
reports, as well as all expenses in certain categories and dollar amounts. The audit includes the card
charges as well as cash expenses that were submitted for reimbursement.
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During the audit, they look for purchases that should not have been placed on the Pcard because they
are associated with a purchase order. There is a 100% receipt policy at Southwest so they check to
make sure that there are itemized receipts for all purchases. A cover sheet with a bar code gets
scanned with the report to link receipts to the report. If receipts are missing, an email is sent to the
employee and their leader, and those employees’ expense reports are audited for the next three
months. If there is continued miss-use, the card may be cancelled.
The system allows access to real-time information to be able to see what the employees are buying. At
any time, they can look at the purchases by card number, by program type, by merchant, etc. They can
look at attempted and declined transactions to see what might be needed or what employees have
tried, but should not be purchasing by Pcard. Reports validate that the amount of the Citibank
statement is the correct amount. They also make sure that the rebate corresponds to the spend on the
cards.
Benefits
 Reduced transactions to Accounts Payable

Good visibility of purchases

Efficiency of existing processes

Eliminating W9s and 1099 reporting

Rebate – Accounts Payable is now a profit center for Southwest Airlines!
Jennifer took questions from the attendees. This presentation was very well-received and will be useful
for all companies that have or are considering a Pcard program.
Chapter Business
Membership and Refer-a-Friend update– Anita Poynor
The Refer-a-Friend contest that just ended was won by the New England Chapter. They got four
premium new members. National was looking at the type of members that were added during the
contest period. The contest winners were based on percentage of growth rather than numbers. We
got three new premium members plus one virtual member. Considering the size of our chapter, we
would have needed many new members to win.
One member stated that her organization added a lot of new members during the contest time frame.
But, since the specific requirements of the contest were not met, and they were not aware, no rebates
were given. The new member organization spokesperson was a bit disappointed but we welcomed the
new members nevertheless!
The Refer-A-Friend rebate is ongoing, however. A person who refers a new member can earn $25 and
the chapter will earn $100 ($65 each for group memberships of 5 or more) to use as needed. You must
make sure that National receives and acknowledges the referral for it to count.
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We now have 203 members in our chapter. There are 98 member companies.
Website Update – Joanna Wilson
If you received an email today regarding a Data Dimensions Happy Hour learning event at the Dallas
Zoo, then your email address is probably fine on the IFO website. If you are not receiving emails
regarding IFO, let Joanna know (joanna.wilson@freemanco.com ) and she will address it. Be sure and
RSVP to Data Dimensions via the emailed invite if you plan to attend, as space is limited.
Sandy noted that the North Texas Chapter website is part of the national website and includes meeting
agendas and other information regarding the local chapter. If you have any issues accessing this
information, email Sandy or one of the other officers and we will help.
Chapter Advisory Committee Update – Sandy Champion
This committee works on adding value to the organization for accounts receivable, purchasing, etc, as
well as accounts payable. The committee would like for the organization to start publishing how many
members are involved in each area. We also want to know the financial status of the IFO, which is a
non-profit organization. The new IFO Foundation was set up to accept donations from companies. IFO
will use this money to fund educational programs.
CAPP and CAPA renewals – Tonya Fyke
Tonya encouraged everyone who is not a CAPP or CAPA to look into the program as more and more
companies are looking for certified professionals. The test is online so you do not have to travel to
become certified. The upcoming test window is September 16th through October 18th. There are several
testing facilities in the area, including Plano and Arlington, among others.
For current CAPPs and CAPAs, you should get an email from National when it is time for your
recertification and you should also keep track of it on your own. After sending in your recertification,
you should hear something back from National within two or three weeks. If not, follow up by email to
make sure that your renewal was received. Be sure to keep records of when you sent in your
recertification as well as copies of all supporting documentation.
2013 IFO Forum El Carnivale – Darlene Belisle
Darlene attended her first IFO Fusion conference in May. It was held at Disney’s Coronado Springs
Resort in Orlando, Florida. Darlene enjoyed meeting and networking with new people. Keynote speaker
sessions were usually held in the mornings and all were interesting.
Some of the workshops that would have been valuable were held at the same time, so you had to
choose which one to attend. Darlene preferred the Leadership and Fraud workshops, but the Tax and IT
workshops also provided value to take back from the Forum. The Exhibitor Hall gave opportunities to
learn from the vendors and to take vendor tours.
On the last day, there was a Niche Workshop that lasted five hours. Darlene chose the Leadership
workshop. Darlene liked the special events and closing party but thought the guest prices were too high
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to try to invite a local AP co-worker. Tonya mentioned that one-day passes are also available. All-in-all,
the conference was educational as well as fun for Darlene.
2014 IFO Forum is in Texas! – Sandy Champion
The next Fusion will be at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. Everybody needs to try to get this into their
budget. Anita asked about a letter on the IFO website that you can give to your leadership. The letter
outlines the educational benefits to help justify the cost of attending Fusion. Sandy said that they will
find the letter and send it out to the chapter.
California Franchise Tax Board Update – Tonya Fyke
The California FTB has implemented a Withholding Voluntary Compliance Program. This will provide the
opportunity for eligible withholding agents to remit past-due non-wage withholding for the previous
two calendar years, including interest. The benefits of the program include waiver of penalties,
elimination of audits for the look-back period, and limitation of the tax liability to the look-back period,
plus interest. CA will keep the terms of the agreements confidential and will not share the information
with other tax authorities, except as provided under California Revenue and Taxation codes.
Additional information from Jan: California requires that payers withhold 7% withholding for all nonresidents performing services in California. Having a completed and signed CA 590 form on file for
vendors located in California or providing services in California relieves the withholding requirements
unless the withholding agent has been told by the FTB that the form cannot be relied upon. The form
cannot be used for exemption from wage or real estate withholding.
Go to the website at www.ftb.ca.gov for more information and to get a copy of the CA 590 form and
instructions.
Future Events – Sandy Champion
2014 IFO Fusion – Grapevine, TX – May 5 -8, 2014
Canadian Financial Operations Symposium – September, 2013
Evolution Conference in the UK – November, 2013
Upcoming 2013/2014 chapter meetings:
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Topic: Recovery & Supplier Information Management – Together at Last
Speaker: Jeff Ulanski, Senior Solutions Consultant - Lavante
Facility: Allstate Insurance Company – Darlene Waggoner
Food: Lavante – Lynn Anderson
Contact: Lynn Anderson – Lavante
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Topic : Processing AR Payments
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Speaker: TBD
Facility: Oxy, Inc
Food: TBD
Contact: Cathy Harris – Oxy, Inc
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Topic: Seven Steps to Go Paperless – Commerce Bank
Speakers: Kurt Wachtendorf
Facility: TBD, possibly a new facility at Commerce Bank
Food: Commerce Bank
Contact: Lee Wood – Commerce Bank
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Topic: Career Updates
Speakers: Holli Hay
Facility: Accounting Now
Food: TBD
Contact: Holli Hay – Accounting Now
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
We will wait until a later date to see what topics are needed.
Door prize winners were:
Clarita with Freeman: SWABIZ laptop bag, Toshiba flashlight, Toshiba coffee mug, SWA lunch bag
Stephanie with KPMG: SWABIZ laptop bag, Toshiba calculator, Toshiba flashlight, SWA lunch bag
Steve with Sears Holdings: SWABIZ laptop bag, Toshiba water tumbler, Toshiba car charger for USB port,
SWA lunch bag
Robin with Hunt Oil: Toshiba reusable shopping bag, Toshiba pad folio, Toshiba notebook, Toshiba pens
and pencils, SWA notebook, SWA water bottle
Vickie with the City of Southlake: SWA lunch bag, SWA notebook, SWA water bottle
Joanna with Freeman: SWA lunch bag, SWA notebook, SWA water bottle
Angelina with Medco Construction: SWA lunch bag, SWA notebook, SWA water bottle
Paula with Dallas ISD: SWA lunch bag, SWA notebook, SWA water bottle
Judy with Alcon: SWA lunch bag, SWA notebook, SWA water bottle
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The meeting adjourned at 1:00.
Jan Wallace
Historian
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