Upcoming change: business purpose required for sponsored award funded purchases

Upcoming change: business purpose required for sponsored award funded purchases Wednesday, October 22, 2025 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: Describe the purpose of the expense and include how the cost benefits the sponsored award. Merely re-stating what is being purchased is inadequate. - Instead, describe why and how it benefits the award. Be specific: A business purpose that says “Lab Supplies” is unacceptable; A business purpose that says “Nitrogen used in the preservation of tissue samples for Award 1ABC” provides the detail to illustrate how the award benefits from the purchase. Remember that both internal and external reviewers may not be familiar with a grant’s activities. Use plain language explanations where possible and avoid the use of acronyms or overly technical jargon. For purchases which have a specialized or novel project use or without context could be considered questionable, provide relevant context. Consider whether approved grant budget justifications or other records should be referenced to support these costs. How to locate/use the Internal Notes and Attachments section- the section is directly under the Accounting Codes section on the requisition: To add the business purpose for your requisition, click the pencil icon in the Internal Notes and Attachments section. A box will then pop up with a free field for you to use. If you wanted to add an attachment, click the Add button. A box will then pop up for you to drag the attachment over or manually upload. You can also use the comments tab at the top of the requisition if you wanted to add a more detailed comment about the purpose (the internal notes field is limited to 1000 characters). If you have any questions about the business purpose requirement, please contact sharedservices@mail.wvu.edu or 304.293.6006. All News Articles Related Articles New Staples Guide for Printing Update to Hospitality Policy MyTravel Tool Discontinued University Travelers are encouraged to join Emerald Club WVU implements new mobile device policy Archives October 2025 1 September 2025 1 August 2025 1 March 2025 1 October 2024 2 February 2024 1 November 2023 1 July 2023 1 June 2023 1 March 2023 1 February 2023 1 January 2023 1 November 2022 2 October 2022 1 September 2022 2 July 2022 2 June 2022 1 May 2022 2 February 2022 3 January 2022 2 December 2021 1 November 2021 2 October 2021 4 September 2021 3 August 2021 3 July 2021 1 June 2021 4 May 2021 1 April 2021 2 March 2021 4 February 2021 2 January 2021 1 December 2020 2 November 2020 2 September 2020 1 July 2020 3 June 2020 3 May 2020 2 April 2020 1 March 2020 5 January 2020 3 December 2019 1 November 2019 1 September 2019 2 August 2019 1 June 2019 6 April 2019 3 March 2019 1 February 2019 1 January 2019 3 December 2018 3 June 2018 3 Wednesday, October 22, 2025 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: Describe the purpose of the expense and include how the cost benefits the sponsored award. Merely re-stating what is being purchased is inadequate. - Instead, describe why and how it benefits the award. Be specific: A business purpose that says “Lab Supplies” is unacceptable; A business purpose that says “Nitrogen used in the preservation of tissue samples for Award 1ABC” provides the detail to illustrate how the award benefits from the purchase. Remember that both internal and external reviewers may not be familiar with a grant’s activities. Use plain language explanations where possible and avoid the use of acronyms or overly technical jargon. For purchases which have a specialized or novel project use or without context could be considered questionable, provide relevant context. Consider whether approved grant budget justifications or other records should be referenced to support these costs. How to locate/use the Internal Notes and Attachments section- the section is directly under the Accounting Codes section on the requisition: To add the business purpose for your requisition, click the pencil icon in the Internal Notes and Attachments section. A box will then pop up with a free field for you to use. If you wanted to add an attachment, click the Add button. A box will then pop up for you to drag the attachment over or manually upload. You can also use the comments tab at the top of the requisition if you wanted to add a more detailed comment about the purpose (the internal notes field is limited to 1000 characters). If you have any questions about the business purpose requirement, please contact sharedservices@mail.wvu.edu or 304.293.6006. 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: Describe the purpose of the expense and include how the cost benefits the sponsored award. Merely re-stating what is being purchased is inadequate. - Instead, describe why and how it benefits the award. Be specific: A business purpose that says “Lab Supplies” is unacceptable; A business purpose that says “Nitrogen used in the preservation of tissue samples for Award 1ABC” provides the detail to illustrate how the award benefits from the purchase. Remember that both internal and external reviewers may not be familiar with a grant’s activities. Use plain language explanations where possible and avoid the use of acronyms or overly technical jargon. For purchases which have a specialized or novel project use or without context could be considered questionable, provide relevant context. Consider whether approved grant budget justifications or other records should be referenced to support these costs. How to locate/use the Internal Notes and Attachments section- the section is directly under the Accounting Codes section on the requisition: To add the business purpose for your requisition, click the pencil icon in the Internal Notes and Attachments section. A box will then pop up with a free field for you to use. If you wanted to add an attachment, click the Add button. A box will then pop up for you to drag the attachment over or manually upload. You can also use the comments tab at the top of the requisition if you wanted to add a more detailed comment about the purpose (the internal notes field is limited to 1000 characters). If you have any questions about the business purpose requirement, please contact sharedservices@mail.wvu.edu or 304.293.6006. All News Articles Related Articles New Staples Guide for Printing Update to Hospitality Policy MyTravel Tool Discontinued University Travelers are encouraged to join Emerald Club WVU implements new mobile device policy Archives October 2025 1 September 2025 1 August 2025 1 March 2025 1 October 2024 2 February 2024 1 November 2023 1 July 2023 1 June 2023 1 March 2023 1 February 2023 1 January 2023 1 November 2022 2 October 2022 1 September 2022 2 July 2022 2 June 2022 1 May 2022 2 February 2022 3 January 2022 2 December 2021 1 November 2021 2 October 2021 4 September 2021 3 August 2021 3 July 2021 1 June 2021 4 May 2021 1 April 2021 2 March 2021 4 February 2021 2 January 2021 1 December 2020 2 November 2020 2 September 2020 1 July 2020 3 June 2020 3 May 2020 2 April 2020 1 March 2020 5 January 2020 3 December 2019 1 November 2019 1 September 2019 2 August 2019 1 June 2019 6 April 2019 3 March 2019 1 February 2019 1 January 2019 3 December 2018 3 June 2018 3 New Staples Guide for Printing Update to Hospitality Policy MyTravel Tool Discontinued University Travelers are encouraged to join Emerald Club WVU implements new mobile device policy Archives October 2025 1 September 2025 1 August 2025 1 March 2025 1 October 2024 2 February 2024 1 November 2023 1 July 2023 1 June 2023 1 March 2023 1 February 2023 1 January 2023 1 November 2022 2 October 2022 1 September 2022 2 July 2022 2 June 2022 1 May 2022 2 February 2022 3 January 2022 2 December 2021 1 November 2021 2 October 2021 4 September 2021 3 August 2021 3 July 2021 1 June 2021 4 May 2021 1 April 2021 2 March 2021 4 February 2021 2 January 2021 1 December 2020 2 November 2020 2 September 2020 1 July 2020 3 June 2020 3 May 2020 2 April 2020 1 March 2020 5 January 2020 3 December 2019 1 November 2019 1 September 2019 2 August 2019 1 June 2019 6 April 2019 3 March 2019 1 February 2019 1 January 2019 3 December 2018 3 June 2018 3