This procedure outlines the process of creating and submitting a Spend Authorization to purchase gift cards with a purchasing card, as well as the transaction reconciliation process after the purchase has been made.
Procedure # 3027.1; Rev. 1 (Effective July 1, 2026) Related Policy:UW-3027 Gift Cards Functional Owner: Travel and Card Team, Division of Business Services Contact: Credit Card Program Manager: (608) 262-3300, meghann.grove@wisc.edu
Gift cards to be used as prizes or awards may be purchased with a UW purchasing card when pursuant to UW-3027 – Gift Cards. Prior to payment, these gift card purchases must be pre-approved by the budgetary authority and Divisional Business Office leadership. Approval is obtained via the Workday Expenses Spend Authorization. This procedure outlines the process of creating and submitting a Spend Authorization to purchase gift cards, as well as the transaction reconciliation process after the purchase has been made.
Spend Authorization submission: Prior to purchasing gift cards on a UW purchasing card, the purchasing cardholder must submit a Spend Authorization.
Log in to Workday.
From the Workday Homepage, click on Personal, then Expenses Hub.
On the subsequent screen, under “Tasks”, click the Create Spend Authorization button.
Complete the resulting page (“Create Spend Authorization”) with the following:
Company: Leave as defaulted.
State/End Date: Enter the anticipated date of purchase.
Description: Enter a brief description of the gift card purchase and intended use. This field will be used to identify the appropriate Spend Authorization during the reconciliation process.
Business Purpose: Select Gift Cards (Spend Auth Only).
Justification: Enter the business purpose for the gift card purchase including how the distribution of gift cards will benefit the university.
Scrolling down the page, under “Spend Authorization Lines”, click Add.
Complete the “Spend Authorization Line” requirements:
Expense Item: Select Gift Card.
Quantity: Enter the number of gift cards to be purchased at a particular dollar amount.
Per Unit Amount: Enter the dollar amount of the gift card(s).
Memo: Enter a brief business purpose statement.
Worktags: Enter relevant Worktags.
Note: If additional gift cards are to be requested at another dollar value, scroll up and click Add. Then complete these steps again.
If requesting gift cards in amounts greater than $50, navigate to the Attachments tab and provide a copy of the grant agreement allowing the purchase.
Click Submit.
Approval process:
Driver Worktag Manager: The Driver Worktag Manager reviews the Spend Authorization for appropriateness of funding/budget. Driver Worktag Managers may “Approve” the Spend Authorization to advance it in the approval workflow, “Send Back” the Spend Authorization for editing and resubmission, or “Deny” the Spend Authorization to eliminate it from the approval workflow.
Central Grant Accountant: A Spend Authorization with the Gift Card (Spend Auth Only) “Business Purpose” will only route to the Central Grant Accountant if a Grant Worktag is referenced on the expense lines. The Grant Accountant reviews the Spend Authorization for appropriateness of gift card purchases on the grant(s) referenced.
Expense Operations Lead: The Expense Operations Lead reviews the Spend Authorization for compliance with UW-3027 – Gift Cards. Expense Operations Leads may “Approve” the Spend Authorization, “Send Back” the Spend Authorization for editing and resubmission, or “Deny” the Spend Authorization to eliminate it from the approval workflow.
Once fully approved, the employee/cardholder receives a Workday Notification and may proceed with the gift card purchase.
Reconciliation: Cardholders will reconcile the gift card transaction by linking the approved Spend Authorization to an Expense Report containing the related credit card transaction.
Log in to Workday.
Navigate to the Expense Report:
If creating an expense report for yourself: From the Workday Homepage, click on Personal, then Expenses Hub. On the subsequent screen, under “Tasks,” click the Create Expense Report button.
If creating an expense report for someone else, use the Workday Search bar to search for either the Create Expense Report for Worker task or the Create Expense Report for Non-Worker task. Click on the appropriate task. On the resulting screen, search for the employee or External Committee Member (non-employee) by entering their name in the “For” field, clicking Enter, and then selecting the appropriate individual from the resulting list.
If adding a Spend Authorization to an existing expense report in “Draft” status, open the report, click the Edit button on the bottom of the Header tab, click into the “Spend Authorization” field, and add the related Spend Authorization.
On the subsequent screen, complete the following:
Creation Options: Select the third radio button, Create New Expense Report from Spend Authorization. Click into the related field and select the appropriate Spend Authorization from the resulting list.
Update the Business Purpose, if necessary. When creating an Expense Report from a Spend Authorization, the Business Purpose from the Spend Authorization will automatically default into the Expense Report. The “Gift Cards (Spend Auth Only)” Business Purpose can only be submitted on a Spend Authorization and, therefore, will have to be updated on the related Expense Report.
Expense Report Approval: During the approval process, the Expense Partner will confirm each gift card purchase is accompanied by an approved Spend Authorization and other supporting documentation as required by UW-3027 – Gift Cards.
Cardholder: responsible for submitting a Spend Authorization and awaiting approval prior to purchasing gift cards and subsequently reconciling the Spend Authorization with an accompanying expense report and required supporting documentation.
Central Grant Accountant: responsible for reviewing and approving the Spend Authorization for appropriate use of grant funding.
Driver Worktag Manager: responsible for reviewing and approving the Spend Authorization and subsequent Expense Report for funding appropriateness and budget availability.
Expense Operations Lead: responsible for reviewing and approving the Spend Authorization for policy compliance.
Expense Partner: A member of the central audit team in the Division of Business Services responsible for reviewing expense reports for policy compliance.
An guide to how non-policy-compliant expenses may be eligible for reimbursement through a policy exception process.
UW employees can be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses related to UW business if these transactions meet certain policy requirements. If a non-compliant expense is incurred, reimbursement may be possible if a policy exception is allowed.
Expense Operations Leads may allow occasional and reasonable exceptions to policy via the Workday Expenses Spend Authorization process. A Spend Authorization for a policy exception includes details about the non-compliant transaction(s), acknowledgement of the policy violation, and steps taken by the employee/cardholder/traveler to ensure future compliance.
Spend Authorization for a policy exception may be submitted before or after a non-compliant expense is incurred. This step may be initiated by the employee requesting the exception or by an Expense Data Entry Specialist.
Login to Workday.
Navigate to the Spend Authorization:
If requesting the Spend Authorization for yourself: From the Workday Homepage, click on Personal, then Expenses Hub. On the subsequent screen, under “Tasks“, click the Create Spend Authorization
If requesting the Spend Authorization for someone else, use the Workday Search bar to search for either the Create Spend Authorization for Worker task or the Create Spend Authorization for Non-Worker Click on the appropriate task. On the resulting screen, search for the employee or External Committee Member (non-employee) by entering their name in the “For” field, clicking Enter, and then selecting the appropriate individual from the resulting list.
Complete the page with the following:
Company: Leave as defaulted.
Start/End Date: Enter the anticipated or actual date(s) of purchase. If purchase was made on one day, enter the same date in both fields.
Description: Enter a brief description of the policy exception request. This field will be used to identify the appropriate Spend Authorization during the transaction reconciliation process (e.g., non-contract airfare for ABC conference).
Business Purpose: Select Policy & 90-Day Exceptions (Spend Auth Only).
Scrolling down the page, under “Spend Authorization Lines“, click Add.
Complete the “Spend Authorization Line“ requirements:
Expense Item: Select the appropriate Expense Item based on the need for the policy exception request (e.g., “Airfare” for non-contract airfare purchase).
Total Amount: Enter amount or anticipated amount of expense.
Memo: Enter a brief business purpose statement.
Worktags: Enter relevant Worktags.
Note: If additional expense lines are required, scroll up and click Add. Then complete these steps again.
Click Submit. If the Spend Authorization was created by an Expense Data Entry Specialist on behalf of a UW-Madison employee, the employee will receive a Workday task requesting their approval and completion of the subsequent questionnaire.
Complete the “Policy Exception Questionnaire“:
Indicate whether the non-compliant expense is already on an approved expense report. If yes, provide the expense report number.
Use the drop-down menu to identify which policy or policies were violated.
Provide an explanation of the policy violation and include a justification for why an exception should be granted.
List actions taken by the claimant and/or department to prevent future need for exceptions of this nature.
Indicate if the policy exception is for a currently enrolled student or a non-employee.
The Driver Worktag Manager receives a task in their Workday inbox.
After accessing the Spend Authorization, the Driver Worktag Manager reviews the Spend Authorization information, including the Questionnaire Response.
The Driver Worktag Manager reviews the Spend Authorization for appropriateness of funding/budget. Driver Worktag Managers may “Approve” the Spend Authorization to advance it in the approval workflow, “Send Back” the Spend Authorization for editing and resubmission, or “Deny” the Spend Authorization to eliminate it from the approval workflow.
Expense Operations Lead:
The Expense Operations Lead receives a task in their Workday inbox.
After accessing the Spend Authorization, the Expense Operations Lead reviews the Spend Authorization information, including the Questionnaire Response. Expense Operations Leads may “Approve” the Spend Authorization, “Send Back” the Spend Authorization for editing and resubmission, or “Deny” the Spend Authorization to eliminate it from the approval workflow.
Once fully approved, the employee receives a Workday Notification as well as an email confirmation.
Spend Authorizations for policy exceptions must be linked to the expense report(s) containing the non-compliant expense(s) prior to submission.
Login to Workday.
Navigate to the Expense Report:
If creating an expense report for yourself: From the Workday Homepage, click on Personal, then Expenses Hub. On the subsequent screen, under “Tasks“, click the Create Expense Report button.
If creating an expense report for someone else, use the Workday Search bar to search for either the Create Expense Report for Worker task or the Create Expense Report for Non-Worker task. Click on the appropriate task. On the resulting screen, search for the employee or External Committee Member (non-employee) by entering their name in the For field, clicking Enter, and then selecting the appropriate individual from the resulting list.
If adding a Spend Authorization to an existing expense report in “Draft” status, open the report, click the Edit button on the bottom of the “Header“ tab, click into the “Spend Authorization” field, and add the related Spend Authorization.
On the subsequent screen, complete the following:
Creation Options: Select the third radio button, Create New Expense Report from Spend Authorization. Click into the related field and select the appropriate Spend Authorization from the resulting list.
Update the Business Purpose, if necessary. When creating an Expense Report from a Spend Authorization, the Business Purpose from the Spend Authorization will automatically default into the Expense Report. The “Policy & 90-Day Exceptions (Spend Auth Only)” Business Purpose can only be submitted on a Spend Authorization and, therefore, will have to be updated on the related Expense Report.
Enter a Driver Worktag (optional).
If applicable, select related Credit Card Transaction(s).
During the approval process, the Expense Partner will ensure an approved Spend Authorization is linked to any expense report containing a non-compliant expense. If the required Spend Authorization has not been obtained, the Expense Partner will return the expense report to the employee or Expense Data Entry Specialist, requesting either an approved Spend Authorization or the removal of the non-compliant expense line.
The UW–Madison Travel & Card Team kicks off a new virtual Expenses Q&A series on May 28 where UW employees can learn Workday Expenses tips and tricks, best practices, and frequent audit findings. There will also be time for attendees to ask their own questions of the team.
Attendance is optional and open to all UW employees who work with Workday Expenses. Each Q&A session is an hour long and sessions will be recorded.
Scheduled summer sessions:
May 28, 10 – 11 a.m.; session full but waitlist available
When future sessions are scheduled, they will be available at the same Q&A registration link above. Learn more about Purchasing Cards and related trainings on the Purchasing Card page and find reimbursement information on the Reimbursement page.
The Workday Expenses Centralized Audit web page has been updated with new processing statistics. Previously, the Travel and Card team had been able to share only the estimated turnaround time for newly submitted reports in business days. This figure represented a projected maximum turnaround time in an effort to convey transparently the anticipated delays to our campus community. We are happy to share we now have enhanced data and reporting capabilities that allow us to publish the actual daily average and median Expense Partner processing times for approved reports, along with the potential maximum processing time. For clarity and simplicity, we have standardized the reporting to calendar days rather than business days.
As of October 22, the Expense Partner team has an average processing time of 21 calendar days, a median processing time of 23 calendar days, and a maximum estimated processing time of 30 calendar days. The calculated average and median have been trending downward, and we anticipate further improvements in the coming weeks as our new Madison central audit staff members are now fully trained and assisting with the queue.
Since September 16, team members have approved a total of 9,990 reports and the queue has had a net decrease of just over 2,300 reports from the peak queue volume. The difference between total approved and net decrease is attributable mainly to the significant daily incoming volume of reports in a season of peak expenses activity.
The Travel and Card Team would like to sincerely thank all of our campus stakeholders for their patience, understanding, and support as we have navigated the challenges of the last few months. We are committed to continuous improvement of our service delivery area, as well as increased customer satisfaction over the coming months.
If you have any questions about centralized audit of Workday Expenses at UW-Madison, please feel free to reach out to Allie Watters (allie.watters@wisc.edu) at any time.
All Purchasing Card, Shared Liability Card, and out-of-pocket transactions are reconciled in Workday Expenses by creating and submitting an expense report. It may be appropriate to include a secondary review of an expense report prior to submission for approval. Claimants/cardholders and Expense Data Entry Specialists may utilize the “Hold” Business Purposes to indicate whether an expense report is still in process by the expense report initiator (**Hold – In Progress) or if it is ready for review prior to submission, typically by departmental or divisional finance staff (**Hold – Ready for Review). This procedure outlines where to find the Business Purpose field, when to utilize the “Hold” Business Purposes, and how to run reporting to find which reports might be ready for review and/or submission.
All Purchasing Card, Shared Liability Card, and out-of-pocket transactions are reconciled in Workday Expenses by creating and submitting an expense report. It may be appropriate to include a secondary review of an expense report prior to submission for approval. Claimants/cardholders and Expense Data Entry Specialists may utilize the “Hold” Business Purposes to indicate whether an expense report is still in process by the expense report initiator (**Hold – In Progress) or if it is ready for review prior to submission, typically by departmental or divisional finance staff (**Hold – Ready for Review). This procedure outlines where to find the Business Purpose field, when to utilize the “Hold” Business Purposes, and how to run reporting to find which reports might be ready for review and/or submission.
Note: This functionality is NOT used by every Department/Division. Check with your Division Coordinator to see if this will be implemented for your Department/Division.
Departments/Divisions who plan to utilize “Hold” Business Purposes to facilitate Expense Data Entry Specialist pre-submission review of expense reports. Department/Divisional staff that wish to monitor pending expense reports with “Hold” Business Purpose activity.
May apply to employees who seek reimbursement for out-of-pocket or Shared Liability Card expenses; cardholders who must reconcile Purchasing Card transactions; and Expense Data Entry Specialists who prepare, review, and/or submit expense reports.
The Business Purpose field in the header section of an expense report is used to summarize the official purpose of the expense report or indicate the status of the report. Upon creating an expense report, the initiator (claimant, cardholder, or Expense Data Entry Specialist) may utilize the Business Purpose field in the header section of the expense report to identify activity and progress on the report and indicate that the report is ready for review by Expense Data Entry Specialists assigned to review/submit expense reports.
Note: Some units have two teams of Expense Data Entry Specialists, one team that creates reports and one team that reviews prior to submission, which is why a report may be created by one Expense Data Entry Specialist and reviewed by a second, different Expense Data Entry Specialist.
The expense report initiator should select **Hold – In Progress if the report is incomplete and not ready to be reviewed yet.
The expense report initiator should update the Business Purpose field to **Hold – Ready for Review when all expense lines have been completed, and all supporting documentation has been attached. This Business Purpose will signal to Expense Data Entry Specialists who are reviewers that the report is ready for them to take action.
Click Save for Later and close the expense report.
Searching for Expense Reports with the Business Purpose **Hold – Ready for Review or **Hold – In Progress (Expense Data Entry Specialist reviewers)
Expense Data Entry Specialists who are tasked with reviewing expense reports prior to submission will run the report Expense Report (UW) to identify reports ready for review and submission.
In the Search bar of the Workday homepage, type “Expense Report (UW)” and press Enter.
In the search results category Tasks and Reports, click the hyperlinked text Expense Report (UW).
Fill out the search parameters as applicable below. Note: All fields highlighted below are optional. Utilize individual fields as appropriate to your assigned units.
Limit search results by selecting a date for Report Date on or After or Report Date On or Before. May also run wide open with no dates entered.
Cost Center Hierarchies: Limit search results by entering the Cost Center Hierarchy/Hierarchies assigned to the Expense Data Entry Specialist for oversight/review. Reports will populate if expense line funding on the expense reports falls within the selected Cost Center Hierarchies (e.g., UWMSN | CCHL5 | L&S | College of Letters and Science). This does not have to be entered, especially if more narrow elements of the Foundational Data Model are used in the ensuing fields (e.g., Program).
If a more specific search is desired, enter a specific Fund or Driver Worktag (Program, Gift, Grant, Project), (i.e. a research administrator EDES may wish to search for expense reports ready for review by Grant).
Expense Report Payee: Enter a claimant or cardholder name to limit results to reports belonging to that specific claimant/cardholder.
Expense Report Created By: Enter the name of the expense report initiator (claimant, cardholder or Expense Data Entry Specialist) to restrict results to a specific initiator.
Business Purpose: Select the Business Purpose **Hold – Ready for Review to return results only for expense reports ready for review. If desired, the search may also be run for **Hold – In Progress to view reports in progress by initiators given the specified criteria.
When done entering search criteria, click OK to run the report.
Reviewing Expense Reports and Updating the Business Purpose for Submission (Expense Data Entry Specialist reviewers)
The search results of Expense Report (UW) may be used as a queue for Expense Data Entry Specialists performing the review function prior to submission.
(1) From the search results, hover over the Expense Report number to reveal the Related Actions menu for the expense report. Click the Related Actions icon (…) to view the Actions menu.
(2) Hover the cursor over Expense Report to populate options.
(3) Click Edit to enter into the expense report.
Tip: Right-click on Edit and select See in New Tab to maintain original search results in one tab, and the selected expense report for review in a second tab.
Scroll down to the bottom of the expense report screen and click the Edit button. The Expense Data Entry Specialist now has an editable version of the expense report open.
The Expense Data Entry Specialist may now edit, revise, and update the data and supporting documentation in the Header, Attachments, and Expense Lines tabs. (5)
(6) When finished with the report, the Expense Data Entry Specialist must remove the **Hold – Ready for Review Business Purpose and add the correct Business Purpose to categorize the expenses (e.g., Purchasing Card Reconciliation for purchasing card transactions).
Click Submit to advance the expense report into the approval workflow. Note: If an expense report for an employee is submitted by an Expense Data Entry Specialist, the employee will be the first approver of the report to attest to the accuracy of the expenses entered or being reconciled.
The Expense Data Entry Specialist reviewer may return to the results of Expense Report (UW) and proceed to the next expense report for review/submission, repeating the process in step C above.
Expense Report Initiator – employee claimant, cardholder or Expense Data Entry Specialist that creates expense reports and is responsible for applying “Hold” Business Purposes.
Expense Data Entry Specialist (reviewers) – Expense Data Entry Specialists identified by Departments and Divisions to review and submit expense reports created by others; responsible for running Expense Report (UW) to identify reports ready for review.
Business Purpose: Selection in the header section of an expense report used to summarize the official purpose of the expense report or indicate the status of the report.
Cost Center Hierarchy: A group of cost centers in a tree structure within a controlling area that represent specific areas of cost incurrence from a controlling perspective.
Driver Worktag: The primary funding source for the transaction. Types of worktags that can be a driver are Grant, Gift, Project, or Program.
Foundational Data Model: The framework to support accounting and financial reporting in Workday.
“Hold” Business Purposes: A subset of business purposes to identify reports in progress and reports ready for review.
Expense report: Electronic submission to request reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses and/or to submit card-product expenses for approval.
Workday: The cloud-based software used by the Universities of Wisconsin to manage finance and human resources.
Workday Expenses: The Workday module used to create, submit, and approve expense reports for out-of-pocket, Shared Liability Card, and Purchasing Card transactions.
In advance of Workday go-live, and with a launch of an HR Data Feed from Workday to Concur, Concur self-registration is no longer available. Starting July 8th, users will no longer need to register for Concur and will be granted access to the application based on their HR employment status.
Concur will be available for regular booking during this time, however no new users will be granted access to Concur until July 8th. If an employee needs to book travel during this time and does not have a Concur profile, another user will need to use the “Book for a Guest” feature in Concur to make the booking on behalf of the traveler.
This form is used to request policy exception approval to allow for reimbursement of noncompliant transactions. Once submitted, the form is automatically routed to Divisional Business Office contacts for approval. This form is intended to be used only by Divisions participating in the Division of Business Services centralized audit of expenses.
This form is used to request policy exception approval to allow for policy non-compliant transactions to be paid/reimbursed in Workday Expenses. Once submitted, the form is automatically routed to Expense Operations Leads contacts for approval.
