Virtual Cards and Contract Spend in Government Sector

Description
In this session, our panel will delve into Virtual Cards and their applications within the context of government contract spending. We will explore the advantages of Purchasing Cards and Virtual Cards, contracting language, policy and best practices in developing programs that will better support your agency's needs moving forward. You will hear from program managers at various stages of program development and the lessons learned during the process.

Key topics to be covered:

• Understanding Virtual Cards: Learn what Virtual Cards are, how they work and their potential benefits for government agencies
• Internal benefits include: Enhanced security, streamlined procurement processes, elimination of 1099s, cost savings and increased rebates that can help fund increased fraud mitigation and reconciliation procedures, etc.
• Contract language to include in your supplier contracts with new and existing contracts to increase card usage
• System setup, integration and streamlined processes for simplifying processes
• Lessons learned and best practices for implementing Virtual Card programs, overcoming obstacles, etc.
• Q&A session: Engage with our panel of experts and have your questions answered in real time

Target Audience
This webinar is a must-attend for those who oversee the card program, procurement and contract officers, finance professionals and government officials looking to optimize their Procurement Card and Virtual Card programs. Don't miss this opportunity to stay at the forefront of financial innovation and improve the efficiency of your operations. You can register today to secure your spot and unlock the potential of Virtual Cards in state contract management.

Speakers

JoAleen Ainslie, CPCP, Financial Services Analyst, Principal, City of Tacoma, Washington State
JoAleen implemented the first Commercial Card program for the Tacoma School District in 1998. She joined Institute of Commercial Payments in 2002 and credits her membership in it for the career successes she has enjoyed. JoAleen was hired as the City of Tacoma's first Procurement Card program manager in 2008 and built the program from there. In 2017 she was promoted to manager of the city's accounts payable division with oversight of the newly hired Procurement Card program manager and implementation of the single use account, EPAY project. She has attended every Institute of Commercial Payments conference since 2003 until the pandemic. Two were missed (2020 and 2021) but she did attend the 2022 conference in Las Vegas. She is an original member of the Government/K-12 Advisory team and Washington State's Commercial Card stakeholder committee. JoAleen has presented at Institute of Commercial Payments, NIGP and NLofC conferences, the Washington State Commercial Card Forums, webinars, roundtables and panel discussion. As a member of the Government/K-12 team, she contributed to the Public Sector Best Practices Guide and two of the Cost Savings Research guides. She was recognized as Institute of Commercial Payment's end-user contributor of the year in 2019. Her passion for the industry has not diminished. She still loves to learn and enjoys sharing her experience and knowledge. Her family is her first priority and she is a diehard Seahawk's 12 fan. The Mariners and Kraken follow as close seconds.

Becky Alexander, Purchasing Card Program Manager, State of Georgia
Becky is the State of Georgia Purchasing Card program manager. In this role, she is responsible for policy, training, audits and contract management for Georgia governmental programs. Previously, she worked as an audit manager and auditor for the State Purchasing Division and external auditor for the Georgia Department of Transportation and in her local county school system. She received a BBA in accounting from Clayton State University and Master of Accountancy from Georgia Southern University. She has over 10 years of state and local government procurement, P-Card and auditing experience.

Kristen Bolden, MBA, CPCP, Director of Public Sector Sales, Visa Inc.
Kristen is the director of public sector sales for commercial solutions, state and local government at Visa Inc. In this role, she is responsible for sales and business development in the state, local and higher education market segments. Her responsibilities include strategic partnership, program development, market research and consulting. Prior to joining Visa Inc., Kristen worked for the Commonwealth of Virginia as an assistant director of finance for 14 years. There, her primary focus was managing the state Purchasing, Travel and Virtual Card programs with an annual spend of over $1 billion and approximately 35,000 cards. The program included state agencies, local governments, authorities, higher eds and K-12 schools. Kristen's program management consisted of managing six card analysts, day-to-day operations, auditing, analytics and project implementations relating to automated approval flows, converting check payments to digital and virtual payables.

She serves as a member of Institute of Commercial Payments and received her CPCP. Kristen has served on numerous advisory boards to assist with enhancing the Government Commercial Card market. She has also been a speaker at numerous national conferences, providing guidance and best practices to Virginia and many other state entities.

Bill Meekins, CPCP, CPPB, CPPO, NIGP-CPP, CSBO, Purchasing Manager, Frederick County Public Schools
Other than a brief stint as a lifeguard one summer, with 20 years of K-12 experience under his belt, Bill is a career FCPS employee, starting at accounts payable and joining the purchasing team as a purchasing agent III and Procurement Card supervisor in 2003. Bill joined Institute of Commercial Payments in 2006 and has served on the Institute of Commercial Payments Government/K-12 Advisory team since 2013. He holds an alphabet soup of certifications, many of them containing the letter "C", but is most proud of his CPCP, which he received in 2007. He took over the FCPS P-Card program, in its infancy in 2003, grew the program from $100K to $15MM in annual spend, and implemented an electronic reconciliation process and ePayables solution in 2011. Did he forget declining balance cards? Nope, they are in use as well!

Bill can often be seen at the Institute of Commercial Payments Annual Conference wearing a brightly colored shirt, unless the room is too cold, in which case he can be found wearing that shirt under a sweater. He is more than willing to discuss any topic that comes into play, and tries to find a spot of humor in every situation. If you see this outgoing introvert, stop by and say, Hi!

Duration
This presentation is approximately 60-minutes in length.

Continuing Education Points
Viewing this webinar earns 0.25 CPCP points to initial eligibility or re-certification.

Original Presentation Date:
Tuesday, January 23, 2024

What Do You Get?
A link to the recorded webinar through the GoToWebinar tool.