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.
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.
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.
Instructions for Divisional Business Office employees on how to review a policy exception for a noncompliant expense report. Applies to UW–Madison expense reports.
When a new Policy Exception Approval Request form has been submitted by a claimant/cardholder, both the primary and backup exception approvers for a cost center hierarchy will receive an email from Microsoft Power Automate (flow-noreply@microsoft.com) and a Microsoft Teams Activity notification that the request is pending withing the Microsoft Teams Approvals application. The exception request may be reviewed and acted upon in either Microsoft Outlook or in Microsoft Teams Approvals. Directions for each process follow below.
Reviewing a Policy Exception Approval Request Form in Microsoft Outlook
Click on image to enlarge – How a Policy Exemption Approval Request appears in Microsoft Outlook
Every Policy Exception Approval Request form will show at the top of the request as “Created by DEXTER FIERRO.” This only indicates that Dexter Fierro, Division of Business Services Business Analyst, created the Power Automate workflow as a whole. He did not create the specific request that is being submitted.
The second line, “Requested for Rebecca Lin” indicates that this Policy Exception Approval Request has been submitted by claimant/cardholder Rebecca Lin (or on behalf of claimant/cardholder Rebecca Lin), followed by a date and time stamp for unique identifiers of the request.
In the following section, a summary of form field answers is displayed. Here is where exception approvers will find the cost center hierarchy as well as the dollar amount and relevant expense report number. The exception request notes exactly which policies were violated and contains claimant/cardholder responses regarding the circumstances of the exception request and the steps taken to prevent future exception requests of a similar nature.
The hyperlinked text Here is a link to the item you are approving contains a link to the Microsoft SharePoint item record for the specific policy exception approval request form being reviewed. This link is utilized to access attachments added to the Policy Exception Approval Request form, which can be found at the bottom of the SharePoint item page. This link should be used to access attachments, to request additional information from the claimant or submitter via the Comments functionality in SharePoint, or to grant access to another ad-hoc reviewer of the form via the Comments functionality in SharePoint. A comment may be directed to any individual with an Outlook account via @mentions. This functionality may be leveraged to ask the claimant, cardholder or submitter for more information or to ask other individuals to review the request and comment on it, such as a Cost Center Manager. It is envisioned that this @mention functionality would be used most often to request more information from the claimant, cardholder or submitter. The @mention functionality triggers an email to the mentioned individual, which grants them access to the SharePoint item to provide further information via comments. See below for an example of where to find attachments and to see a comment added triggering the claimant to provide more information.
Click on image to enlarge – How to access request attachments and add comments to a request (including tagging a claimant/cardholder)
When an approver is ready to Approve or Reject the request, the approver should return to the email in their inbox and click their desired action button. Exception approvers have the opportunity to add a comment, but it is not required. Click “Submit” to complete the action step (this is the same regardless of whether Approve or Reject is selected). An email will be sent to the claimant/cardholder and submitter notifying them of the decision.
For the approver who completed the action step, the Microsoft Power Automate email for the request will dynamically update to reflectthe status of Approved or Rejected (Figure A below). For the other approver who did not complete the action step, their Microsoft Outlook email regarding the request will be updated to note “Others have already completed this request” (Figure B below).
Figure A. What the approving individual sees they complete the approval process: “Approved” status in the email
Figure B. What an approving individual sees when a different approver has completed the approval process: “Others have already completed this request” status in the email
Reviewing a Policy Exception Approval Request Form in Microsoft Teams Approvals
Click on image to enlarge – How to find requests in Teams under the “Approvals” section
Microsoft Teams has an application called Approvals. All Power Automate Policy Exception Approval Request Forms are visible within and actionable within Microsoft Teams Approvals. This application can be added to Microsoft Teams by clicking on the sidebar View More Apps “…”, searching for Approvals, and then pinning to your taskbar by right-clicking on the icon and selecting Pin. An exception approver will receive an Activity notification every time a Power Automate Policy Exception is submitted for their approval.
Navigate to a requested policy exception form in the Approvals Any items with Status “Requested” are still pending action from approvers. Click anywhere on the Request title to view the details of the submitted form.
Click on image to enlarge – You can see request details when a Policy Exception Approval Request is selected in the Teams workflow, including why the request was completed
A summary of form field answers is displayed. Here is where exception approvers will find the cost center hierarchy and cost center hierarchy, as well as the dollar amount and relevant expense report number. The exception request notes exactly which policies were violated and contains claimant/cardholder responses regarding the circumstances of the exception request and the steps taken to prevent future exception requests of a similar nature.
Click on image to enlarge – The details of a Policy Exception Approval Request, including where you can find attachments, the approval workflow, where to add comments, a reassign option, and the ability to reject or approve the request
Continue scrolling on the form to view the SharePoint item link Here is a link to the item you are approving. This link is utilized to access attachments added to the Policy Exception Approval Request form, which can be found at the bottom of the SharePoint item page. This link should be used to access attachments, to request additional information from the claimant, cardholder or submitter via the Comments functionality in SharePoint, or to grant access to another ad-hoc reviewer of the form via the Comments functionality in SharePoint. A comment may be directed to any individual with an Outlook account via @mentions. This functionality may be leveraged to ask the claimant, cardholder or submitter for more information or to ask other individuals to review the request and comment on it, such as a Department Administrator, for instance. It is envisioned that this @mention functionality would be used most often to request more information from the claimant or submitter. The @mention functionality triggers an email to the mentioned individual, which grants them access to the SharePoint item to provide further information via comments.
A diagram of the approval workflow is provided with both the primary approver and backup approver listed.
If an approver would like to add comments, they may do so in the Comments section.
The form approval may be reassigned to another Teams user with a Microsoft account. Note: This is not recommended as a best practice. The primary and backup approvers should be approving all requests. The SharePoint @mention functionality can be used to gain additional feedback from individuals, but the requests themselves should always be approved by the Divisional CFO or delegate (the primary or secondary approver).
When an approver is ready to take action on the form, click Reject to deny the request or Approve to approve of the exception request. An email will be sent to the claimant/cardholder and submitter notifying them of the decision. The Microsoft Teams Approvals log will dynamically update the status of the form once this is completed.
As of October 1, 2024, several changes were made affecting travel policy and expense reimbursement/payment approval guidance. The information is summarized below.
Travel Policy Updates
Effective October 1, 2024, the following travel policy updates have been made as a result of the August 1, 2024 update to UW-5087 – Remote Work:
UW-3016 – Air Travel: This policy was updated to reduce the number of situations in which a cost comparison is required for air travel. Specifically, “travel prior to or after the required business travel dates” (e.g., adding personal time to business travel) no longer requires a cost comparison. In addition, travelers may now depart from or return to any airport within the state of Wisconsin or within 100 miles from the Wisconsin border without a cost comparison. The policy was further updated to clarify that when a cost comparison is required, the cost comparison flight will generally depart from or return to the Dane County Regional Airport (MSN). The “no exceptions” clause has been removed from the 80% reimbursement statement when a valid cost comparison is not provided with a payment/reimbursement request.
UW-3026 – Non-Payable/Non-Reimbursable Expenses: This policy was updated to include a prohibition of payment/reimbursement of travel expenses to an employee’s assigned headquarters location.
UW-3015 – University Travel: This policy was updated to provide allowable departure and return times for UW business travel. Arrival on the day prior to a business event and departure on the day after business concludes is allowable. For international travel, arrival up to two days prior to the business event is allowable.
UW-3019 – Vehicle Use/Rental: This policy was updated to clarify the situations when mileage is a reimbursable expense. To summarize – commute mileage is never reimbursable and must be accounted for when reconciling business travel expenses.
Remote Work Audit Timeline
Travel and expense payment approvers should use the following timeline when auditing expenses:
For travel occurring on or before October 1, 2024: Expense reimbursement claims or payments will be processed under the remote work policy in place prior to August 2, 2024.
For travel occurring between October 1 and December 31, 2024: Exceptions may be granted via the Exception Request for Business Travel Form to allow for travel to headquarters location or additional mileage due to change in headquarters location if the travel was planned or scheduled prior to August 1, 2024.
All travel on or after January 1, 2025 for remote employees must conform to UW-Madison travel policies and application of UW-5087 – Remote Work.
Audit Resources
Information will be forthcoming for all e-Reimbursement approvers/auditors and purchasing card site managers who will need access to HR Remote Work Agreement data to audit travel expenses for remote employees.
Remote Work Agreements
All UW–Madison employees working remotely were required to complete a FY25 Remote Work Agreement (RWA) by October 1, 2024. If employees completed their FY25 RWA prior to July 31, 2024, they did so with the previous version of the RWA. It is recommended a new RWA be submitted – especially for those employees who are assigned fully remote (as a condition of their employment) – to streamline the expense reimbursement process going forward.
The Travel and Card team is pleased to announce several modifications to existing policies. See below for a summary of changes and impacts.
Policy UW-3016, Air Travel: Section I. Booking Methods has been updated to reflect four distinct exceptions. Previously, exceptions A. and B. were combined, which led to confusion, as the exceptions are truly separate and unrelated cases. The updated language reflects two separate exception categories: flights that can not be booked with designated travel management company and international flights purchased abroad (outside the United States).
Policy UW-3019, Vehicle Use/Rental: Previously, vehicle use/rental policy did not mention the allowability of parking expenses. A section has been added outlining payable and reimbursable parking expenses.
Policy UW-3024, Expense Reimbursement: There are two updates to expense reimbursement policy. The first update brings UW-Madison into alignment with the Universities of Wisconsin on accountable plan standards for Universities of Wisconsin students. The second update allows for expanded payment of expenses on behalf of any UW-Madison students, regardless of student type (e.g. undergraduate, graduate or doctoral students).
UW-Madison’s accountable plan needed to be updated to match Universities of Wisconsin policy to reflect that UW students who are not employed by the University are exempt from accountable plan requirements. Note that if a UW student is employed by UW-Madison or Universities of Wisconsin, they are considered an employee under the accountable plan and must comply with the 90-day deadlines.
Section IV., Claiming Own Expenses, has been updated to state employees may claim travel-related expenses for other travelers who are current UW-Madison students. Previously, this policy restricted the exception to undergraduate student travel only. Efforts should still be made to direct pay for student expenses utilizing Purchasing Cards or other direct methods of payment.
Policy UW-3026, Non-Payable/Non-Reimbursable Expenses: Edited to specify that parking costs at the headquarter worksite (office, etc.) are not payable/reimbursable. Previously, the term used was: assigned workplace. This change updates the language to reflect that used by Universities of Wisconsin. Added “early check-in” as a non-payable/non-reimbursable item on lodging folios; however, please be advised early check-in/late checkout may be paid or reimbursed if justified by business need/circumstances.
As always, please let us know if you have any questions.
The Travel and Card team is happy to announce the following policy updates and changes:
UW-3022, International Travel: To align with Universities of Wisconsin foreign/international travel policy, two new allowable expenses associated with international travel will be added: international calling/data plans when accompanied by a business justification and required inoculations/vaccinations.
UW-3024, Expense Reimbursement: Universities of Wisconsin require receipts regardless of cost for international calling/data plans as well as required inoculations/vaccinations. These have been added to the section “Receipts are always required…”
UW-3018, Meals and Incidentals: A note has been added to clarify that individual phone calls are included in the incidental per diem rate, but international calling/data plans are reimbursable for foreign travel if supported by a UW business purpose.
UW-3075, Official Functions and Expenses: Several Divisions on campus have reached out regarding whether children/dependent travel expenses may be included as part of an Official Function pre-approval for a UW-Madison job interview trip. Policy language currently limits this to “a spouse/significant other/companion.” The “a” will be removed to allow for more flexibility in arranging job interview travel, where the number of accompanying individuals is not limited to one. The policy will now read: “Travel expenses for spouse/significant other/companions to accompany an applicant on a UW-Madison job interview trip.” The approved Official Function must outline each additional traveler for the job interview trip, the approved travel expenses for additional travelers, and the business benefit for including the additional traveler(s) on the job interview trip.
UW-3026, Non-Payable/Non-Reimbursable Expenses: This policy needed to be updated to reflect that dependent travel expenses may be payable/reimbursable if associated with a preapproved Official Function for job applicant travel. Additionally, a provision for rental of graduation regalia was added. Purchase of regalia is neither payable nor reimbursable. Finally, we clarified a point of confusion around manuscript expenses; both article submission fees and article publication fees are payable/reimbursable when purchased using a card product (e.g., debit, credit).
All of these changes are reflected in the UW-Madison Policy Library.
This procedure explains how to review and approval expense reports in e-Reimbursement, the Expense module of the Shared Financial System (SFS), from the perspective of an Approver or Auditor.
All Purchasing Card, Shared Liability Card, and out-of-pocket transactions must be reconciled by submitting an expense report in Workday Expenses. Expense reports are reviewed by an Expense Partner (policy compliance) and Driver Worktag Manager (budget/funding) prior to payment. Approval routing is based on the Driver Worktag referenced in the funding allocation for each expense line. When an expense report has been approved by an Expense Partner, the report will route to the Driver Worktag Manager(s) assigned to the driver worktag(s) on each expense line. Driver Worktag Managers will receive a Workday Inbox task and bell-icon notification prompting them to take action on expense reports. Driver Worktag managers must review expense reports for sufficient budget and appropriateness of funding.
This document details the required procedures for Driver Worktag Managers to review and approve an expense report in Workday Expenses.
To get started, log into Workday. If there are expense reports awaiting your approval, a notice will appear in the section Awaiting Your Action. To view expense reports waiting for your approval in My Tasks in your Workday inbox, click the link Go to My Tasks or click the inbox icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
Navigate to an individual expense report awaiting Driver Worktag Manager approval
In My Tasks, all items awaiting your action will appear. To see only expense reports awaiting your action, type “expense report” into the Search This will narrow your results to only expense reports (pictured below).
Click on an expense report in the search results.
Click on the arrows icon to expand the screen.
Review general report information; navigate to the Expense Lines tab for review
On this screen, Driver Worktag Managers should review general report information prior to navigating to expense lines for individual transactions.
View the top section of the expense report for claimant/cardholder name and dollar amount totals for the expense report.
Pay to – Name of the claimant/cardholder
Status – Indicates the current workflow step
Personal – The total dollar amount of any expense lines marked personal by the claimant/cardholder. A purchasing cardholder or shared liability cardholder will mark a transaction Personal to identify accidental personal purchases. Purchasing card transactions marked personal create a receivable for the employee for the amount owed back to UW-Madison.
Company Paid – The total dollar amount of all purchasing card and shared liability card transactions included in the report. (not including those marked as Personal).
Prior Balance Applied – A dollar amount will show here if an employee has elected to deduct the amount owed for a purchasing card transaction marked Personal.
Cash Advance Applied – The dollar amount of a Spend Authorization for a Cash Advance that has been attached to the current expense report.
Reimbursement – The dollar amount the claimant will receive for out-of-pocket transactions.
Total – The sum total of the expense report.
Navigate to the tabs section (middle of the page)
Header – Click on header to view header-level details. See Appendix I. below for detailed explanation of header fields.
Attachments – Attachments at the header-level are not required but may be found on this tab. Attachments are required at the line-level.
Business Process – This tab contains information about the business process history of the expense report, including prior approvals and any future-required approvals.
Expense Lines – Click on this tab to view individual expense lines. Funding review will start in this tab. There are two methods for funding review that are discussed in the following section, and Driver Worktag Managers will need to utilize one or both, depending on whether a transaction is Itemized.
Review funding on the report
The first way to review funding is by filtering Driver Worktags in the Expense Lines This method is preferred for lines that do not have itemization (e.g. split billing). This section will review how to filter an expense report by Driver Worktag and identify itemization on an Expense Line.
It is recommended to expand the viewing pane as you review the expense report. Click the double arrows to the right of the gear icon.
From this expanded screen, click the Expense Lines tab.
Click Worktags to filter based on your assigned Driver Worktag.
For Value, select the Driver Worktag(s) for which you are a manager.
Click the Filter button.
The resulting view will show transactions allocated to the Driver Worktag(s) selected.
The primary responsibility of the Driver Worktag Manager is to assess the funding entered on every expense line for appropriateness, allowability and sufficient budget. The expense report will show the details of the first expense line clicked on.
Expense Item – A sub-classification of Spend Category, used to categorize and track specific expenses within an expense report.
Charge Description/Memo – For out-of-pocket and Shared Liability Card transactions, this field may contain additional detail about the expenses claimed. For purchasing card transactions, a complete justification with the business purpose and benefit to UW should be enumerated here.
Total Amount – Total dollar amount for the Expense Line (transaction).
Expense Report Line Date – Transaction date
Itemization – Indicates whether a line has been itemized (e.g. split billed, hosted meal, per diems). Note: If “Yes”, there are additional instructions for viewing itemized funding in Section B.
Worktags – The Foundational Data Model (FDM) values are located in the Worktags Review each dimension of the FDM values to ensure that the Program, Grant, Gift, or Project has budget and funds available for the expense listed. Confirm expenses are allocable to and allowable on the listed funding and that other elements of the FDM are accurately presented.
Cost Center – Financial or operational unit.
Function – Identifies the general purpose of a transaction (e.g., instruction, research).
Fund – Identifies the funding source to facilitate financial reporting.
Driver Worktag – Every expense line will require a driver worktag. The cost center, fund, and function will flow from the selection of driver worktag.
Additional Worktags may be present, such as Expenditure Treatment for Grants.
Once review of the first funding line is completed, scroll to the next listed expense line.
The next expense line in this example is ITEMIZED. If a Driver Worktag Manager sees indicators of Itemization on an Expense Line when reviewing, they must go into the detailed view of expense lines to review the funding. Indicators visible on the report include: the column Itemized will say “Yes”; the Worktags will be blank; and the Outline Icon is present. See below for these indicators of an itemized Expense Line.
If no itemization is present in the report, proceed to Section E. to Approve, Send Back, or route to an Ad Hoc approver.
Review the funding on detailed expense lines (for itemization)
To enter the detailed view of an itemized Expense Line (such as per diem, hosted meals or split-funded expenses), hover over the Expense Line until the cursor changes and click to enter the detailed view of the Expense Line.
Click the View Details button to open a pop-up showing all funding lines.
The pop-up screen will contain a series of funding allocations. Each one must be reviewed sequentially for budget and funding by scrolling through the entries.
Once all itemized lines are reviewed, click Done to exit itemization.
Click the left-facing arrow in the upper-left corner of the expense report (on the red banner) to return to the main section of the expense report, where you will take action on the report based on your funding review.
Driver Worktag Managers have the following options for acting on an expense report:
Approve – If the funding is correct on all expense lines/itemizations, click Approve. The report will advance either to the next stage of approval (if there are Foundation Expense Items) or it will have fully completed the approval process with shared liability card transactions and out-of-pocket transactions approved for payment. Approved expense reports for purchasing card transaction reconciliation will post to the general ledger, as payment of purchasing card balances is handled separately by the institution and is not connected to the final approval of the expense report.
Send back – If the funding on a report or on an expense line is incorrect, the report must be sent back to the initiator or a prior approver. Click on the To field to identify who to send the report back to. Choices will include the initiator (claimant, cardholder, Expense Data Entry Specialist) or a prior approver (Athletics Approver, Expense Partner). The Reason field should provide direction to the claimant, cardholder, Expense Data Entry Specialist, or prior approver selected in the To field that the funding must be changed/updated prior to resubmission/approval. Indicate the new funding string for relevant expenses (if known).
In the example below, the expense report is being sent back to the Expense Partner. The Expense Partner can be identified by the language “Review Expense Report” next to their name. The Reason should identify the expense line (e.g., by Expense Item, dollar amount) that requires a funding change as well as the appropriate Driver Worktag and/or other FDM values that should be updated. Once the recipient (To) and the Reason are filled in, click Submit to execute the send back.
More Actions Menu (approving and adding an ad hoc approver) – The Driver Worktag Manager may approve the expense report and manually route it to a Cost Center Manager or Expense Operations Lead for further review by clicking the “…” icon next to Send Back.
This launches the Add Approver pop-up. Note: This should only be done if all expenses are on the correct funding and sufficient budget is available to cover the costs, as ad-hoc-routing to a Cost Center Manager (CCM) or Expense Operations Lead (EOL) will record a full approval of the report for the Driver Worktag Manager first. Identify the Additional Approver by clicking the icon of three bulleted bars (see below). This will open a menu to select the assigned CCM or EOL. Add a Comment to indicate why the report is being sent to an additional approver. Click Approve and Send to Approvers. The approval step is complete, and the report will route to the selected CCM or EOL.
After clicking Approve, Send Back, or completing the More Actions approval and ad hoc routing, the Driver Worktag Manager’s task is complete.
Cost Center Manager: May be responsible for ad-hoc approval of an expense report.
Driver Worktag Manager: Divisional/Departmental staff responsible for reviewing Workday Expenses transactions for budget and funding. Driver Worktag Managers may send an expense report back to the Expense Partner or expense report initiator to update the funding on an expense report.
Expense Operations Lead: May be responsible for ad-hoc approval of an expense report.
Expense Partner: A member of the central audit team in the Division of Business Services responsible for reviewing expense reports for policy compliance.
Expense Report Initiator: Person who creates an expense report. The initiator may be an employee claimant, employee cardholder, or Expense Data Entry Specialist. The initiator is responsible for entering the appropriate funding on an expense report and may be responsible for updating the funding on an expense report if it is sent back by the Driver Worktag Manager.
Expense Item: A sub-classification of Spend Category, used to categorize and track specific expenses within an expense report.
Foundation Expense Item: Used to identify expenses to be charged to a University of Wisconsin Foundation (UWF) account.
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.
The Header tab of an expense report contains the following informational data fields:
Expense Report Number – System-assigned numerical identifier for the expense report.
Memo – May be used for the title of the expense report. May be used for a general justification for related out-of-pocket or Shared Liability Card expenses. This field should not be used to enter justifications for Purchasing Card transactions. Purchasing Card transactions MUST utilize the Expense Line-level Memo field for justifications. Field is not required at the header level.
Company – Identifies the business unit as University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Expense Report Date – Claimant/cardholder entered date.
Business Purpose – Claimant/cardholder selection that identifies the general category and purpose of the expense report.
Reimbursement Payment Type – Identifies the payment method for the expense report, if applicable (e.g., Direct Deposit).
