Business Purpose & Justification for Expenditures

Please note, as a reminder, university guidelines for “Documentation Requirement for Expenditures” require that when using university funds or requesting reimbursement from university funds, documentation of a clear business purpose is needed so that an approver, reviewer, and /or auditor can fully understand the intent of the purchase or service and how it relates to the overall mission of the university, college, and/or department. 

The business purpose serves as the basis for a determination of allowance or non-allowance of the expenditure and therefore should address the following: what is purchased, for whom it was purchased, why it was needed, and where it is located.  Please keep in mind that restating the item purchased is not a sufficient business purpose.  For example, “freezer” would not be a sufficient explanation of the business purpose.  An appropriate explanation could be: “Freezer for storage of research samples in Dr. Johnson’s lab.”