business-rule
Purpose
Identify, classify, and document business rules that constrain or govern system behavior. Business rules exist independently of any software system -- they are organizational policies, regulations, mathematical formulas, and domain constraints. Use this to separate the enduring business logic from transient implementation details, ensuring rules are maintained, traced, and consistently applied across multiple features and use cases.
This is not a requirements specification -- it is a reference catalog. Business rules feed into functional requirements, use cases, and acceptance criteria but live in their own managed collection.
Key Concepts
What Is a Business Rule?
A business rule is a statement that defines or constrains some aspect of the business. It exists whether or not software is built. Examples:
- "Orders over $10,000 require VP approval" (policy)
- "Sales tax is 8.25% in Texas" (fact)
- "A customer with 3 consecutive late payments is classified as high-risk" (inference)
- "Shipping cost = base rate + (weight * per-pound rate) + surcharge" (computation)