diff --git a/backend/internal/tests/setup.go b/backend/internal/tests/setup.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..397a2f67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/internal/tests/setup.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package tests
+
+import (
+	"KonferCA/SPUR/common"
+	"os"
+)
+
+/*
+Sets up all the any environment variables that the application needs to
+properly boot up and run.
+*/
+func setupEnv() {
+	os.Setenv("APP_ENV", common.TEST_ENV)
+	// this is not a real bucket and is just here to allow
+	// the stogare.NewStorage to proceed
+	os.Setenv("AWS_S3_BUCKET", "test-bucket")
+	os.Setenv("DB_HOST", "localhost")
+	os.Setenv("DB_PORT", "5432")
+	os.Setenv("DB_USER", "postgres")
+	os.Setenv("DB_PASSWORD", "postgres")
+	os.Setenv("DB_NAME", "postgres")
+	os.Setenv("DB_SSLMODE", "disable")
+}