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.

Following are guidelines to keep in mind when entering your business purpose in the business justification field of your purchasing portal request:

• When you submit a purchasing portal request, you must give a detailed business purpose to justify the expense, in a minimum of 100 characters.
• 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.

Unacceptable Version of Business Purpose	Detailed Version of Business Purpose
Presented at conference	Presented a paper at the Exotic Animal Symposium to share research with colleagues.
Meal with colleagues	Business meal with John Q. Doe – guest speaker from Purdue University and Jane Q. Smith – Asst. Prof. U of I.
External Hard Drive	A portable USB Flash Drive is needed for field research when away from the office.
Lunch with donor	Lunch with donor to discuss giving opportunities to the college in support of the building campaign.
Research collaboration	Various trips throughout South America to research rural irrigation systems to provide data for journal publications titled” Improving Rural Irrigation Systems”.
Conference	Attended the International Bio-medical conference to keep up on current trends and for professional development.
Membership	This membership will provide certification for a program that I need in order to successfully complete my research work.