University policy and federal Uniform Guidance require that sponsored expenditures be adequately documented. In order to establish adequate and consistent documentation standards related to sponsored award purchases, a business purpose will be required in Mountaineer Marketplace for sponsored award purchases starting July 1, 2025. At a minimum, the Internal Notes field on the requisition cart will be the field users need to use when entering their business purpose (see below for screenshots). The business purpose statement ensures that the benefit to the sponsored award and compliance with award requirements is clearly documented and can be understood by both internal and external reviewers (managers, auditors, etc.). In order to document that the expense is allowable, reasonable and allocable to the sponsored award, the business purpose must explain how the purchase benefits the work of a sponsored award and why it is necessary. If allocating a purchase across multiple funding sources, the detail related to the allocation must be provided. Attachments are encouraged when providing separate supporting documentation, which should be noted on the Internal Notes field.
Guidelines for Business Purpose Explanations: