Rule 1271 Evidence of a writing made as a record of an act, condition, or event is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule when offered to prove the act, cond…

Business records can be used as evidence in court even though they are a form of hearsay. Hearsay normally cannot be used as evidence, but business records get a special exception because they are created as part of normal, everyday operations rather than for a lawsuit.

To use a business record in court, four things must be true. The record must have been created as part of normal business activity. It must have been written down at or close to the time the event happened. Someone who works with those records must testify about what the record is and how it was made. The way the record was created must show that it can be trusted.

A good example would be a hospital record, a bank statement, or a company invoice. These are the kinds of documents businesses create every day, not just when there is a legal dispute. Because they are made routinely, courts treat them as more reliable than something someone writes or says after the fact.