United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2004-03-12 monographic deposited born digital 62 p. GA 1.13:GAO-04-430 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-430 P0b002ee180388217 f:d04430 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-430 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-430 GAO-04-430 Cost control Credit sales Federal procurement Internal controls Military procurement Program evaluation Discounts Other Written Product A09456

From 1994 to 2003, the use of government purchase cards exploded from $1 billion to $16 billion. Most purchase card transactions are for small purchases, less than $2,500. While agencies estimate that using purchase cards saves hundreds of millions of dollars in administrative costs, the rapid growth of the purchase card presents opportunities for agencies to negotiate discounts with major vendors, thereby better leveraging agencies' buying power. To discover whether agencies were doing this, we examined program management and cardholder practices at the Departments of Agriculture, Army, Navy, Air Force, Interior, Justice, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs. GAO also examined why agencies may not have explored these opportunities. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-430/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-430.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-430/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-430.pdf GAO-04-430 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-430 Other Written Product GAO-04-430; Contract Management: Agencies Can Achieve Significant Savings on Purchase Card Buys; Cost control Credit sales Federal procurement Internal controls Military procurement Program evaluation Discounts Title 41 Section 46 Title 41 Section 48 41 U.S.C. 46 41 U.S.C. 48 Public Law 103-355 Public Law 107-248 Public Law 107-314