Business Purpose Information

Providing a Detailed Business Purpose

Business purpose standards help ensure that the benefit to the institution and compliance with regulatory requirements is clearly documented and can be understood by both internal and external reviewers (e.g. managers, auditors, IRS, FOIA, etc.) for all financial and accounting transactions.

The business purpose must support or advance the goals, objectives, and mission of the system; and should adequately describe the expense as a necessary, reasonable, and appropriate business expense for the system. A necessary expense is one for which there exists a clear business purpose and is within system expense policy limitations.

When you submit a purchasing portal request, you must give a detailed business purpose to justify the expense, in a minimum of 100 characters. Following are guidelines to keep in mind when entering your business purpose:

• Describe the purpose of the expense and state the facts by using action verbs that describe the activity and include how the expense benefits the University. Merely re-stating WHAT is being purchased, instead of describing WHY and HOW it benefits the University, is inadequate.
• Never enter acronyms in the business justification field. 
• Remember, the purpose must be clear enough to satisfy fiscal officers and auditors who may have little or no knowledge of your field.
• When grant funds are being used for an expense, information will need to be included in the business purpose about how the purchase benefits that specific grant. 
• A business purpose should answer the who, what, when, where, and why of the expense.

NOTE: The system is engaged in the business of research and education, so describing the expense in that context is appropriate.

For more detailed explanation of University requirements regarding Business Purposes

Business Purpose Examples

Here are some examples of unacceptable business purposes, and how to make them more detailed by including information on what the expense was, and why it was made. The detailed versions can also include who was involved, where it happened, or when it happened.

Insufficient Versions of a Business Purpose	Examples of Appropriate Business Purposes
Presented at conference	Dr. Joe Smith, Associate Professor of Bioengineering (BioE), traveled to Atlanta, Georgia from November 1-4, 2024, to deliver a presentation titled "Innovative Approaches to Nanoparticle-Mediated Gene Therapy for Neurodegenerative Diseases" at the 25th annual Global Summit on Advanced Bioengineering Innovations on behalf of BioE.
Meal with colleagues	Sarah Williams, Special Events Coordinator for Holonyak Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory (HMNTL), took guest speaker, Professor Ellis Johnson of Purdue University, to lunch on October 22, 2024, to discuss the HMNTL seminar presentation on 10/23/2024, which Alex had traveled to campus to speak at.
External Hard Drive	Jessica Brown, Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering (NPRE), needs a portable USB drive to store, transport, and access field research when traveling to Sandia National Laboratories to complete sponsored research on behalf of NPRE during the upcoming semester.
Lunch with donor	Greg Davis, Assistant Director of International Advancement, purchased lunch for Hua Yang, a prominent alumnus and donor of the Grainger College of Engineering, while Hua was in town from China visiting campus on May 18, 2024. Upcoming advancement campaigns were discussed as part of the College’s strategic donor relations and fundraising efforts.
Research collaboration	Susie Larkin, Visiting Research Scientist in the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) traveled to University of Chicago from August 11-15, 2024 to collaborate on sponsored research projects as part of MRL’s core partnership in the Chicago Quantum Exchange.
Conference	Rachel Rodriguez, Postdoctoral Research Associate for the Department of Aerospace Engineering (AE), traveled to Boston, Massachusetts from March 30 – February 3, 2024 to attend the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) National Convention. Dr. Rodriguez participated in committees on behalf of AE and met with colleagues from various institutions to explore future research collaboration opportunities for her research within AE focusing on Boundary-Layer Interactions in Hypersonic Flow.
Membership	Nick Miller, Assistant Professor of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering (ISE), purchased an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) membership in order to stay up to date on current research being conducted in his field. The membership will allow Dr. Miller to make advances on his sponsored research projects within ISE and receive reduced conference registration at upcoming ASME conferences at which he plans to present his research.