SHESC Business Services, known as the BOS team, is here to help you with any aspect of purchasing that you will need. We have worked to create systems that help to streamline the process and make your purchasing experience as easy as possible. If you have any questions about our forms or processes, please contact us at SHESCBusinessServices@asu.edu

Below are some helpful links to University Rules and Guidelines that can help you with your purchasing decisions.

ASU PCard Restricted Items List: https://www.asu.edu/purchasing/forms/restrictlist.pdf
ASU Financial Services Policies: https://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/fin/index.html
ASU Purchasing and Business Services Policies: https://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/pur/index.html

 

SHESC Purchase and Reimbursements Request Form

Please complete the Purchase/Reimbursement Request form to share all the information needed to process your request with the BOS team. If you have questions or a complex request, please contact us at SHESCBusinessServices@asu.edu 

Please allow up to 72 hours for all purchase requests to be processed by the SHESC Business Team. ASU Accounts Payable may take up to four weeks for processing once your request is received.

Computer/Software Purchases 

• All computer and laptop purchases must have prior approval from ASU UTO and be purchased and paid through SHESC. No personal reimbursements are allowed. Please complete a Purchase/Reimbursement Request form listing your desired specifications and the BOS team will work with Desktop Support to obtain a quote.     

Amazon Orders 

• All purchases from Amazon are required to be processed through the Sunrise Workday Purchasing system and all deliveries must be to an ASU Campus location. You may include links to specific items in your request or share an Amazon shopping list in your Purchase/Reimbursement Request form. 

Research Tax-exempt Orders 

• Research purchases over $1,000 may be tax-exempt. Please contact us for more information. 

Print Orders (Business Cards) 

• Please contact the SHESC main office (Rm 233) or email the SHESC Business Team. .

Business/Public Purpose Guide

Here are some helpful tips that can help in crafting a short, succinct and informational purchase justification.

What questions should I ask when writing a business/public purpose?

1. What was purchased? Description of specific items, list of services such as equipment maintenance contracts or consultants, etc.
2. How it supports ASU’s mission to advance research and discover public value and/or directly benefit a sponsored project? Clearly justify either in the business purpose
3. Who will be using the item? Title of purchaser, researcher, or staff member (name is helpful) or the lab/unit that will use product
4. When? If not a one-time purchase, such as in the case for service agreements, clearly state the coverage period. (e.g. 01/01/19-12/31/19)
5. Where? If the shipping address is on ASU’s campus, not needed. However, if the purchase is being shipped elsewhere, clearly state why it’s not coming directly to ASU. (e.g. staff member works in ASU DC office)
 

EXAMPLES OF STRONG/WEAK BUSINESS PURPOSES – spell out acronyms!

Purchase of Dell server (on a grant)

• Good: Dell PowerEdge T630 server, budgeted on grant 3’ Untranslated Regions-mediated (3’UTR) Repressive Signals Collectively Oppose Proliferation, to be used by the principal investigator to analyze sequencing reads produced by tissue-specific ribonucleic acid (RNA) isolation.
• Bad: Dell server used to run data analysis for project.

Employee travel to a conference (on a grant)

• Good: Registration for Joe Smith to attend annual Nature Conference in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Smith will present his NIH grant research on Identification of Tuberculosis Vaccines in Exosomes.
• Bad: Registration to attend a conference.

Purchase of an antibody (on a grant)

• Good: Anti-TRPV1 (transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1) antibody used in western blotting for membrane protein analysis of pain sensation & cancer progression.
• Bad: Antibody for western blotting.

Purchase of a lab supply (non-sponsored, unless justified/allocated on grants)

• Good: Biohazard containment system needed to store and organize project samples in BioDesign lab B353. The purchase is split on grants A & B as all samples stored are for these projects.
• Bad: Biohazard containment system.

ASU vehicle repair (non-sponsored, unless budgeted/justified on grant)

• Good: Regular maintenance service (replace battery and wheel balancing) performed on ASU-owned jeep. The jeep is used by Dr. Smith’s lab personnel for field research to gather data essential for experiments on Dr. Smith’s grant for bat migration activity.
• Bad: Vehicle repair and maintenance for car used for research activities.