Receipts? What receipts?

SMU trusts me with a corporate credit card, which I occasionally use for a business lunch, some gadget we need pronto from Best Buy, or to register for conferences. The Number One Rule of using the procurement card: save your receipt.

Once, I misplaced a receipt from Best Buy that I used to buy a little wireless presentation remote for our university president. I had to write a memo detailing what it was that I purchased and promising to never lose a receipt again. I felt kinda bad about it and have made a more concerted effort to keep track of everything.

After seeing this story in the Dallas Morning News, I didn’t feel so bad. Apparently a secretary in the Dallas school district charged $383,788 over two years on her corporate card and turned in no receipts to show for it. She wouldn’t keep her card (or her job?) long at SMU. (Or any other respectable organization.)