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 was purchased
• For whom it was purchased
• Why it was needed
• Where it is located  

Please keep in mind that simply 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.”