These guidelines are designed to provide assistance to the community when documenting the business purpose on a transaction made with Cornell funds. This includes all transactions and all fund types at the University.

 

 

Definition of the Business Purpose

A business purpose describes the expenditure and ties it, where necessary, to the source of funds being used.

Business Purpose Examples for Sponsored Awards

 

Unacceptable	Acceptable	Notes
Lab Supplies	Reagents for USDA fungus project
Notebook	Lab notebook to record results of NOAA rainfall study	Additional description may be needed where item would normally be unallowable or indirect
750ml Jack Daniels	Alcohol for administration to mice as part of NIH- funded fetal alcohol study
Towels for Lab	Paper towels to preserve samples for NSF project
Membership	Membership for American Microbiology Society to allow presentation of NIH-funded results	Memberships are normally indirect. Can only be charged directly in accordance with policy 3.18
Lunch	Lunch for Professor Li of MIT, assisting on DOE grant	Meals generally limited to travel status; a detailed meal receipt is required for every business meal
Honorarium	Speaker fee for NSF-funded conference per attached letter	Use object code 6731
Travel to Japan	Travel to Japan to attend Nanotechnology Symposium in support of NSF facility
Ship Materials	Shipment of soil samples to NAL lab for analysis for the NSF Passive Phloem Loading grant	Routine postage is an indirect (F&A) expense. Shipping of laboratory materials, especially where express shipments are required, may be charged directly where allocable and properly documented.

5/15/2013

j. silber

 

 

 

Failure to Document Business Purpose

 

Lack of documented business purpose of travel and other business expenses is a compliance concern that arises regularly.

 

The university receives, from a variety of sources, funds that carry with them fiduciary responsibilities. These responsibilities require that funds only be used for ordinary, reasonable, and necessary business-related expenses incurred in furtherance of a specific project or the university's missions. When university community members fail to provide supporting documentation evidencing business purpose of expenses, as required for internal and external reviewers, it can result in inappropriate charges going undetected.

Evidence of lack of documented business purpose or failure to detect inappropriate charges could lead to fines, penalties, and a loss of the public trust which could have a serious impact on future funding.