3024.1 Creating and Submitting an Expense Report Procedure

Procedure #3024.1; Rev. 1 (Effective July 1, 2025)
Related Policies: UW-3013 Purchasing Cards Policy, UW-3014 Shared Liability Cards Policy, UW-3024 Expense Reimbursement Policy
Functional Owner: Accounting Services, Division of Business Services
Contact: Expense Reimbursement Program Manager – Allie Watters, expensereimbursement@bussvc.wisc.edu, (608) 263-3525; Purchasing Card Program Administrator – Meghann Grove, meghann.grove@wisc.edu, (608) 262-3300

Procedure statement
Who is affected by this procedure
Procedure
Contact roles and responsibilities
Definitions
Related references
Revisions

I. Procedure statement

All Purchasing Card, Shared Liability Card, and out-of-pocket transactions are reconciled in Workday Expenses by creating and submitting an expense report. Expense reports are approved by an Expense Partner and a Driver Worktag Manager. Approval routing for the Driver Worktag Manager is based on the Driver Worktag(s) referenced in the funding allocation for each expense line.

The claimant/cardholder may initiate an expense report, or an Expense Data Entry Specialist (EDES) may initiate (and submit) an expense report on behalf of the claimant/cardholder. If an expense report is submitted by the EDES, the claimant/cardholder will be the first approver on the report to confirm the expenses and attest to the accuracy of the expense report entry.

This document details the required procedures for creating and submitting an expense report.

II. Who is affected by this procedure

Employees who seek reimbursement for out-of-pocket or Shared Liability Card expenses; Cardholders who must reconcile Purchasing Card transactions; Expense Data Entry Specialists who prepare, review, and/or submit expense reports on behalf of cardholders/claimants.

III. Procedure

How to initiate expense report creation
1. Claimant/cardholder as self:
  1. Log into Workday.
  2. Type “Create Expense Report” into the Search bar at the top of the Workday home page. Click on the pop-up result Create Expense Report task.
  3. Alternatively:
    1. Click on the Menu in the upper-left corner of the page.
    2. Click on Personal to expand the visible options.
    3. Click on the Expenses Hub. The Expenses Hub allows employees to access important Workday Expenses tasks, view unreconciled Purchasing Card and Shared Liability Card transactions, and find information on expense reports in-process.
    4. Under Tasks, click the button Create Expense Report.
2. Expense Data Entry Specialist on behalf of claimant/cardholder/External Committee Member:
  1. Log into Workday.
  2. In the Search bar at the top of the Workday home page, type “Create Expense Report for Worker” if report is for an employee claimant or cardholder OR “Create Expense Report for Nonworker” if the report is for a nonemployee External Committee Member.
  3. Click on the Create Expense Report for Worker task for employees or Create Expense Report for Nonworker task for nonemployees. What you see as the top option will depend on your search terms entered.
    1. If creating an expense report for an employee, type the name of the employee for whom you are creating an expense report in the field Pay To and press Enter.
    2. If creating an expense for an External Committee Member, select External Committee Member from the list of options for Payee Type. (Note: UW-Madison is not using the Payee Type Student in this field. Also, Payee Type Candidate may be used when HR has actually set up a Candidate in Workday. However, there’s no issue with just creating an External Committee member for a Candidate). The page will dynamically update to show the Pay To field. Type the name of the External Committee Member into the Pay To field and press Enter.
3. Complete remaining header section data fields.
  1. Creation Options – Select Create New Expense Report.
  2. Memo – For out-of-pocket or shared liability card expense reports, this field may be used to enter a general justification that applies to an entire report with related expenses. Specific details may then be added on the expense lines for out-of-pocket or shared liability card expense reports. For Purchasing Card reconciliation reports, business purposes are required within the Expense Line; as such, for Purchasing Card reconciliation reports it is suggested to leave this line blank since the justification will be officially recorded within the Expense Line.
  3. Company – This will default to UWMSN – University of Wisconsin Madison.
  4. Business Purpose – Select the appropriate categorization for the expense report. When reconciling a series of unrelated purchasing card transactions, it is recommended users select “Purchasing Card Reconciliation.”
  5. Driver Worktags – Enter the appropriate Program, Grant, Project or Gift that will serve as default funding for the entire expense report. Note: Entry of a driver worktag is OPTIONAL at the header-level of an expense report but REQUIRED on every Expense Line. For Purchasing Card reconciliation reports, it is recommended to group transactions to be allocated to the same funding together, and assign the Driver Worktag at the header-level, so it populates for each line. Funding can still be changed or split (called Itemization in Workday) at the Expense Line level.
  6. If reconciling Purchasing Card transactions or Shared Liability card transactions, select items to be reconciled from the Credit Card Transactions list (example below).
  7. Click Ok to create the expense report.
How to use the Attachments tab.
1. Attachments are not required in this tab; they are only required at the Expense Line-level for Expense Items. For Purchasing Card transactions, do NOT add files in the Attachments tab; it is required to add all attachments pertinent to a Purchasing Card transaction at the Expense Line The Attachments tab may be used for Shared Liability Card or out-of-pocket general attachments that apply to an entire expense report (e.g. conference agenda, itinerary), but receipts for specific Expense Items must to be added to the Expense Line-level.
2. In the expense report, click on Attachments.
3. Click Edit to view the attachment upload screen.
4. Drag and drop appropriate files; alternately, click Select Files to choose files for upload.
5. Click Save when done.
How to enter and complete Expense Lines
1. The Expense Lines tab is utilized to enter individual out-of-pocket transactions and/or to reconcile UW card transactions (Purchasing Card, Shared Liability Card).
2. In the expense report, click on Expense Lines. UW card transactions that were selected during report creation will populate on this screen.
3. Click Add to see options to begin entry of out-of-pocket transactions.
  1. Click New Expense to add out-of-pocket transactions.
  2. Alternately, click Credit Card Transactions to add more UW card transactions (if necessary). Note: If utilizing the Add functionality for Credit Card Transactions, the menu of transactions to select from includes only the date and the dollar amount of the transaction (see below).
4. Select an Expense Line (i.e. transaction) along the left side of the screen to begin entry or reconciliation.
5. Attachments: Add pertinent attachments (i.e. receipts). Click Upload to add additional attachments. Click the Trash icon to delete an attachment.
6. Expense Date: Transaction date. This field will pre-populate for card transactions but must be entered for out-of-pocket transactions.
7. Expense Item: Select the appropriate type of expense for the transaction. Depending on the type of Expense Item, additional Item Detailsmay be required (right side of screen).
8. Total Amount: Enter or review the total dollar amount of the transaction. Ensure the dollar amount matches the attached receipt.
9. Currency: Will default to US dollars. Note: Transactions in a foreign currency should be entered in US dollars with documentation of the currency conversion attached (i.e., redacted credit card statement, Oanda conversion). Purchasing Card transactions and Shared Liability Card transactions in a foreign currency will be automatically converted and do not require supplemental documentation of the conversion.
10. Memo: For Purchasing Card transactions, the business purpose and benefit to UW ofthe transaction MUST be entered in this field. For Shared Liability Card and out-of-pocket transactions, additional justification, context, or detail regarding the specific transaction may be entered if the general business purpose was entered in the Header
11. Company: Will default to UW-Madison.
12. Funding: Enter or review the funding for the Expense Line (funding may have been added in the Header tab already). A Driver Worktag (Program, Grant, Project, Gift) must be added to every Expense Line. The remaining worktags will auto-populate after selection of a Driver Worktag.
  1. If a transaction needs to be allocated to multiple funding sources, click the Itemization button on the right panel under Item Details.
  2. Enter a Memo to describe the funding allocation (e.g. 50% funding split with Grant or Meal Overage allocable to UW-Foundation).
  3. Enter a Driver worktag (Program, Grant, Project, Gift).
  4. Click the Add button to add an additional funding source.
  5. Repeat steps a. – d. until the entire expense is allocated.
  6. Click Done.
13. Personal Expense (for UW Card transactions only): For accidental personal transactions on a Shared Liability Card or Purchasing Card, check the box Personal. If Personal is checked for a Shared Liability Card transaction, the cardholder will have to personally pay the amount due to U.S. Bank. If Personal is selected for a Purchasing Card transaction, when the expense report is fully approved, the employee will receive a To Do step in their inbox. Via the to-do step, the cardholder will be required to indicate whether the amount will be paid back by payroll deduction, payment by check or cash, or withholding the amount from a future expense report.
14. Repeat steps 1 through 13 as necessary to complete additional expense line entry and/or reconciliation.
15. Review the expense report and resolve any errors or alerts. A critical warning, denoted with a red exclamation, is a hard stop and must be resolved before the transaction can move forward and be submitted. An alert, denoted with a yellow question mark, won’t stop a transaction from moving forward but may require further attention.
16. Navigate to the bottom of the expense report, and click on one of the following options:
  1. Click Submit if ready to advance the report into the approval workflow.
  2. Click Save for Later if the report is not ready for submission. Click the X in the upper right corner of the report to close the expense report and return to the prior screen.
17. Click Close to exit the editable screen for the expense report.
Next steps after submitting
1. Approval Workflow: If an Expense Data Entry Specialist creates a report on behalf of an active employee, the claimant/cardholder will be the first approver on the expense report to confirm the expenses and attest to the accuracy of the expense report entry. All expense reports are approved by an Expense Partner and a Driver Worktag Manager. Approval routing for the Driver Worktag Manager is based on the Driver Worktag(s) referenced in the funding allocation for each expense line.
2. Payment: Upon completion of all approvals, UW-Madison will directly pay U.S. Bank for approved Shared Liability Card Transactions. Approved out-of-pocket transactions will be picked up by an overnight payment process, and checks will be mailed or direct deposit will be received within three to five business days. Purchasing Card transactions are paid to U.S. Bank regardless of transaction reconciliation/approval on an expense report. When a Purchasing Card transaction is fully approved, it is posted to the general ledger.

IV. Contact roles and responsibilities

Driver Worktag Manager: Divisional/Departmental staff responsible for reviewing Workday Expenses transactions for budget and funding.
Employee: May initiate a report; if EDES submits a report on behalf of an employee, the employee will be the first approver of the report to attest to the accuracy of the expenses entered.
Expense Data Entry Specialist (EDES): Employees assigned a security role to create and submit expense reports on behalf of employees and non-employees (External Committee Members).
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: employee claimant, cardholder or Expense Data Entry Specialist that creates expense reports for out-of-pocket expenses or to reconcile card expenses.

V. Definitions

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.
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.
Expenses Hub: An app that allows employees to access important Workday Expenses tasks, view unreconciled Purchasing Card and Shared Liability Card transactions, and find information on expense reports in-process.
Expense Item: A sub-classification of Spend Category, used to categorize and track specific expenses within an expense report.
Expense Line: Refers to a specific entry within an expense report, representing a single incurred cost (e.g., Airfare) or credit card transaction (e.g. Professional Services). Requires the date, Expense Type, dollar amount, and payment method of a specific expense. May necessitate filling out additional Item Details in the expense line.
Expense report: Electronic submission to request reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses and/or to submit card-product expenses for approval.
Purchasing Card: a university-liability VISA credit card issued by U.S. Bank to a trained UW-Madison employee for business-related purchases. All Purchasing Card transactions must be reconciled in Workday Expenses by submitting an expense report.
Shared Liability Card: A VISA credit card issued by U.S. Bank to a UW–Madison employee in which the liability is shared by the employee and the UW, and the card is used for business-related purchases. All Shared Liability Card transactions must be reconciled in Workday Expenses.
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.

VII. Related references

VIII. Revisions

Procedure Number	3024.1
Date Approved	July 1, 2019
Revision Dates	Feb. 26, 2020 – added E-Re Estimated Withholding Expense Type. Jan. 19, 2021 – Updated Procedure Number to 3024.1 from 320.1. Oct. 4, 2023 – Added Lodging – Student section. Removed Relocation – Direct Moving Costs and Relocation – Temporary Lodging sections. March 15, 2024 – Clarification added that justification note must indicate any personal time added, to validate only business expenses are being claimed. January 31, 2025 – Travel Agency Services Fees definition updated. June 29, 2025 – Updated to reflect Workday procedures and terminology.

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