+ OMB Circular A-123 (Appendix B): Improving ... - The White House

• Suspend or revoke employee security clearance;
• Include misuse or delinquency occurrence in employee performance evaluations;
• Suspend or terminate employment;
• Ensure consistent enforcement of penalties; and
• Publish actions taken by the agency for misuse of charge cards.
Section 4.9 provides examples of potential charge card offenses and remedies or penalties for
such offenses. Egregious purchases are most severe when they result in an intentional private
gain for the purchaser with little if any benefit to the agency. Agencies must otherwise comply
with all applicable law and regulatory guidance in determining whether to impose disciplinary or
adverse action in any specific case.
When implementing policies and practices that ensure effective strategic sourcing, charge
card managers should:
• Initially focus on high volume, commonly used supplies (such as office supplies,
tools/hardware, express delivery, relocation services, etc.) which agency personnel use or
could use the purchase card to obtain;
• Keep the program simple to start by focus on awarding Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA)
against the GSA schedule program; considering using E-Buy to help put these in place.
• Leverage vendors who already have highly evolved web-based ordering systems and who
provide quick delivery;
• Explore how GSA Federal Supply Service can assist in developing virtual store fronts to host
the agencies’ BPAs (e.g., GSA Advantage!);
• Evolve the strategy as the agency gains more experience and better understands how the
program supports mission needs, saves money, and improves the value of taxpayer dollars;
• Develop a communication strategy to effectively get the word out about discounted contracts;
• Require merchants to monitor and report on the savings achieved versus “regular” GSA
schedule prices (or whatever baseline is applicable);
• Maintain information on procurement activity usage of reduced-price contracts; and
• Renegotiate with merchants the price and terms of high-volume commodities at the end of a
fixed period of time.
Appendix B
OMB Circular A-123
(Revised January 2009)