Effective Date: April 1, 2025 (see Revision Log for what changed on this date)

Introduction

This procedural statement sets forth university requirements for use of the Official Function form when food/beverage is purchased for an official function, or when alcohol is purchased for an official function or CU-hosted conference.

For information on how to purchase food, beverage, catered services, meeting facilities, and other items related to official functions, see the How to Buy Official Functions [2] purchasing instructions.

Procedural Statement

The most common types of official functions are:

• Community relation functions-external: directly related to the University’s instructional, research, public service, or health care mission
• Donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship official functions: require use of advancement/development funds (Fund 36 SpeedTypes) or appropriate gift funds (Fund 34 SpeedTypes with a Gift Purpose Code 2 of Y, designating that the SpeedType is restricted for purposes including entertainment, donor cultivation, or personnel recruitment)
• Employee recognition/appreciation events and retirement functions
• Goodwill functions: for official guests/volunteers to indicate goodwill or esteem
• Multi-unit or multi-campus events: participating units may not report to the same officer and events may not occur more often than monthly
  • Single-unit (reporting to the same officer) events require approval from appropriate vice chancellor/vice president
  • Meetings more frequent than monthly require approval from appropriate vice chancellor/vice president
• Recruitment functions: to enlist new employees, faculty, post-/pre-doctorates, student athletes, etc. (activities must be directly related to work position/field of study/reason for recruitment – exceptions may be authorized by appropriate officer)
• Student functions: hosted for students, and directly related to student/educational development (e.g., student recognition, student recruitment, and student program development)
• Training functions: to enhance staff knowledge or to educate employees, associates, or other individuals (must have a written agenda, subject matter/focus of activities must be directly related to work environment/work tasks)

For purposes of determining the use of the Official Function form, the cost of an official function is the cost of university-purchased food/beverage for personal consumption and related taxes/tips/fees.

The organizational unit must complete the Official Function form if:

• The University purchases alcoholic beverages in any dollar amount for an official function or for a CU-hosted conference (requires compliance with university and campus-specific policies/procedures on alcoholic beverages); or,
• The total cost of the official function exceeds $500 (if the total cost of an official function exceeds $10,000 the Official Function form requires approval by appropriate officer); or,
• Regardless of total cost, the per-person cost of an official function exceeds $115 (requires approval by appropriate officer – it is expected that, as stewards of university resources, employees continue to stay well below this threshold).

Furthermore, the requirements of this procedural statement must be considered in conjunction with any campus-specific policies on alcoholic beverages.

Exceptions

The Official Function form is not applicable to the following cases:

• Purchases of strictly business materials (copies of handouts, room/instructional equipment rentals, etc.) for workday-type functions such as staff/faculty meetings
• Purchases of food/non-alcoholic beverage for conferences hosted by the University
• Purchases of food/beverage for fundraising events (for these, see instead the Fundraising Authorization form)
• Purchases of food/beverage for ordinary student residential life activities
• Purchases of food/beverage for research/instructional projects
• Purchases of food/beverage for resale

Unless approved by the appropriate campus controller [3], there are no exceptions to this procedural statement.

Official Function Documentation in the Concur Travel & Expense System

For reconciling Procurement Card, Travel Card, or personal expense reimbursement transactions, CU System policy does not require a separate Official Function form since official function-related information is entered directly in Concur and routing for approval is managed within the system.

Related Administrative Policy Statements (APS) and Finance Procedural Statements (FPS)

• APS Alcoholic Beverages Purchased for University Events [4]
• FPS Alcoholic Beverages Purchased for University Events [5]
• FPS Recognition and Training [6]
• FPS Sensitive Expenses [7]

Forms and Other Resources

• Official Function (OF) form [8]
• How to Buy Official Functions [2] purchasing instructions

Revision Log

• Updates 4/1/2025: Identified authority to approve exceptions as belonging to the appropriate campus controller.
• Updates 12/1/2022: clarified OF form requirements when purchasing alcohol for official functions/CU-hosted conferences; increased per-person-cost threshold for requiring officer approval from over $85/person to over $115/person (this adjusts for inflation since 2008, when the $85 threshold was established); added stewardship language on per-person food/beverage costs; additional minor edits aligning descriptions of official functions with language used in FPS Sensitive Expenses [7].
• Supersedes PSC Procedural Statement Official Functions dated 3/1/2019.