diff --git a/util.cpp b/util.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02dab83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+#include "util.hpp"
+
+#include <fstream>
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+#include <phosphor-logging/elog-errors.hpp>
+#include <string>
+#include <xyz/openbmc_project/Common/error.hpp>
+
+namespace google
+{
+namespace ipmi
+{
+
+using namespace phosphor::logging;
+using InternalFailure =
+    sdbusplus::xyz::openbmc_project::Common::Error::InternalFailure;
+
+nlohmann::json parseConfig(const std::string& file)
+{
+    std::ifstream jsonFile(file);
+    if (!jsonFile.is_open())
+    {
+        log<level::ERR>("Entity association JSON file not found");
+        elog<InternalFailure>();
+    }
+
+    auto data = nlohmann::json::parse(jsonFile, nullptr, false);
+    if (data.is_discarded())
+    {
+        log<level::ERR>("Entity association JSON parser failure");
+        elog<InternalFailure>();
+    }
+
+    return data;
+}
+
+} // namespace ipmi
+} // namespace google