There are University policies which all Purchasing Card holders must adhere to. Please see the following links for Policies BS14 (Restrictions around Goods and Services), FN10 (Descriptions of allowable Business Expenses/Activities) and RA10 (Sponsored Awards rules and definitions), for more information regarding reimbursable business expenditures.
The additional policy below describes an approved procedure for purchasing low-cost IT-related goods within the College of Information Sciences and Technology using Penn State purchasing cards “P-Cards”. Personal cards should generally not be used and grad student equipment should be purchased by the Penn State IT staff embedded in IST only. This policy is effective immediately upon issuance of a P-Card. This policy is done in order to ensure that Penn State Equipment adheres to all of the necessary security, risk and specifications needed.
Please note: P-Card purchases which do not align with this policy can be deducted from the holder’s future paycheck.
General
Individual faculty members may purchase IT-related items up to $250 on their P-Card or personal credit card without prior approval, if the faculty member has authority to spend appropriate funds to cover the purchase. IT purchases that exceed the $250 limit must be processed through the Penn State IT staff embedded in IST. Please contact the Penn State Finance staff embedded in IST (fo@ist.psu.edu) for non-IT related transaction questions.
If the faculty member does not have access to and/or control over appropriate funds, reimbursement will be denied. Reimbursements that are denied can be appealed by contacting the Strategic Finance Partner. Appeals will be reviewed by the Strategic Finance Partner, IT Strategic Partner, and ultimately by the Dean. Examples of allowable/prohibited IT purchases are as follows:
Allowable Items
These items will be reimbursed as long as the following are met): 1) funding is available, and the expense is 2) Allowable, 3) Allocable, and 4) Reasonable.
Disallowed Items
These items will not be reimbursed when purchased without prior IT approval.
- Computers any form factor or operating system
- Tablets
- Mobile Devices
- Printers
- Internal computer components
- Monitors
- Software or Cloud Services
All Transactions
- Must align with the strategic goals of the college and university.
- Must be considered reasonable, allocable, and allowable.
- Will be reviewed for reimbursement by the Procurement Hub and Penn State IT staff embedded in IST.
Allowable Costs
Allowable costs are costs that conform to the policies and procedures of Penn State and any other relevant entity such as an external sponsor. The costs must be necessary for the performance of a sponsored project and/or to perform regular business on behalf of The Pennsylvania State University. It is the purpose of the charge, not necessarily the type of charge that determines it is allowable.
Allocable Costs
Allocable costs are transactions that provide direct benefits to the project and can be identified as contributing to a specific project at a high degree of accuracy.
- Are incurred solely to advance the work funded.
- Benefit sponsored projects and/or other work of Penn State in proportions that can be clearly documented through reasonable methods.
Reasonable Costs
Reasonable costs reflect the actions a prudent person would take at the time the decision was made to incur the costs. Reasonable costs are those that are generally recognized as necessary for the success of sponsored projects and/or other work of Penn State per Penn State policy.
Questions regarding allowable transactions should be directed to the Penn State Finance staff embedded in IST (IST FPAC).
Revised by: Dr. Andrea Tapia, Dean, 01/31/2026
Approved by: Dr. Andrew Sears, Dean, 12/4/2018