Division of Business Services

3024.8 Using UW Foundation Funding in Workday Expenses

Procedure # 3024.8; Rev.: 2 (Effective June 30, 2025)
Related 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

Contents

  1. Procedure statement
  2. Who is affected by this procedure
  3. Procedure
  4. Contact roles and responsibilities
  5. Definitions
  6. Related references
  7. Revisions

I. Procedure statement

Out of pocket, shared liability card, and purchasing card transactions reconciled in Workday Expenses may be billed to the University of Wisconsin Foundation (UW Foundation). Claimants, cardholders, and/or Expense Data Entry Specialists are responsible for assigning Foundation Expense Items to transactions and entering UW Foundation funding details prior to report submission. Accounting Services bills UW Foundation weekly for fully approved UW Foundation charges in Workday Expenses.

Back to top

II. Who is affected by this procedure

  • Employees who seek reimbursement for out-of-pocket or shared liability card expenses
  • Purchasing cardholders
  • Expense Data Entry Specialists who prepare expense reports in Workday Expenses
  • Expense Partners and Expense Foundation Specialists who approve reports
  • Divisional Business Officers who review/manage Foundation spend.

Back to top

III. Procedure

  1. Foundation Expense Items
    1. An Expense Item is a sub-classification of Spend Category, used to categorize and track specific expenses within an expense report. Expense Items are entered into an expense line (at the line level or within itemization) to identify the type of expense. The Foundation Expense Item Group contains Expense Items used to identify expenses to be charged to a University of Wisconsin Foundation (UW Foundation) account.
    2. The Foundation Expense Items are:
      Screenshot of Workday and the Expense Item types for UW Foundation

      1. Alcohol (Foundation) – to be used for alcoholic beverages at hosted meals and events within specified UW-Madison limits ($50/person alcohol).
      2. Meals-Hosted/Event Food and Drink Overage (Foundation) – for Hosted Meal and Event food and drink expenses which exceed UW allowable amounts and are to be charged to a Foundation account.
      3. Non-Travel (Foundation) – Non-travel expenses to be charged to a Foundation account which do not belong in another Foundation expense item. Note: Non-travel expenses require justification for billing UW Foundation in lieu of UW-Madison.
      4. Other Business Meal/Event Expense (Foundation) – Meal- or Event-related expenses other than food and drink to be charged to a Foundation account. Note: We do not anticipate this category to be frequently utilized by UW-Madison.
      5. Travel (Foundation) – Travel-related expenses to be charged to a Foundation account. Note: Routine, allowable travel expenses must be paid by UW-Madison. Policy non-compliant expenses may not be billed to UW Foundation. There must be justification and approval from UW Foundation for billing travel expenses to UW Foundation.
    3. When a Foundation Expense Item is assigned to a transaction at the expense line level, the Foundation Account Number must be added in the Item Details panel. The Foundation Account Name is not a required field but should be added for data validation purposes.
    4. Expense reports with Foundation Expense Items will require an additional approval by an Expense Foundation Specialist prior to payment. This is to ensure accurate, appropriate, and allowable billings to University of Wisconsin Foundation in Workday Expenses.
  2. Assign Foundation Expense Items to expense lines
    1. Refer to Procedure 3024.1 Creating and Submitting an Expense Report for directions on how to create a new expense report.
    2. Navigate to the Expense Lines tab of the expense report and begin entering required line-level documentation and details:
      1. Drop and/or select files to add to the attachments. This should include, at minimum, a receipt, as well as any other relevant documentation. For items split-billed to UW Foundation, a business meal calculator should be attached showing how the claimant or cardholder arrived at the amounts to be billed to UW-Madison and UW Foundation.
      2. Enter required Expense Line details. In the example below, directions are provided for a hosted meal to be split billed to UW-Madison and UW Foundation utilizing the Itemization capability.
        1. For Expense Item, enter Meals-Hosted. Note: The Foundation Expense Items will be added at the Itemization step to assign part of this transaction to UW Foundation. However, if an expense is to be billed entirely to UW Foundation, with no portion assigned to UW-Madison, the appropriate Foundation Expense Item may be added at this step instead.
        2. For Total Amount, enter the total dollar amount of the meal.
        3. In the Memo section, write a business purpose for meal.
        4. Enter and/or update the funding on the expense line by adding the appropriate Program, Grant, Project, or Gift.
      3. When the Expense Item Meals-Hosted is added, a panel on the right side of the screen titled Instructions pops up. Additional Item Details need to be added, and the Itemization functionality will be utilized to bill to UW Foundation.
        Workday example of an added Expense Item Meals-Hosted, showing where "Item Details" and "Itemization" fields are

        1. For the Attendees section, search for and/or add all attendees. Manually add all attendees if the total number is under 25. For attendees at or exceeding 25, an attendee list can be attached instead (with the Number of Persons field updated to reflect the total number of attendees).
        2. For Destination, begin typing the city/town where the meal took place. Press Enter to search and select the correct location.
        3. For Number of Persons, enter the number of attendees at the meal.
        4. For Merchant, enter the name of the establishment or restaurant.
        5. After completing all Item Details, click Add in the Itemization section.
        6. A pop-up window will appear that allows you to add additional funding lines to the Meals-Hosted expense line, including amounts to be billed to UW Foundation.
        7. The amount entered into the first itemization will be the allowed amount on UW-Madison funding. For Total Amount, enter the amount allowable on UW-Madison funding (in example image, $46 x 4 attendees equals $184). For Memo, type “UW-Madison allowed meal costs.” After accounting for the amount on UW-Madison funding, we can see that we still have $226.60 to expense (see Remaining for the dollar amount remaining to itemize at the top of the page). Click Add to initiate the next entry.
          Example of adding Expense Line for a Hosted Meal in Workday; shows where to enter total amount for expense, the necessary memo line, and "add" button to continue to next expense
        8. The next itemization is for UW Foundation meal overage. To assign a line to UW Foundation, update the Expense Item to the appropriate Foundation Expense Item. For meal overage, the Foundation Expense Item is Meals-Hosted/Event Food and Drink Overage (Foundation). For Total Amount, enter the dollar amount of the overage. For Memo, enter “Foundation meal overage.” On the right side of the pop-up, enter the Foundation account number in the field Account Number. Enter the name of the Foundation account in the field Foundation Account Name. Click Add to initiate the next entry.
          Example in Workday of a Hosted Meal/Event expense item under UW Foundation; special memo, account number, and account name must be applied
        9. The last itemization (if applicable) is for UW Foundation alcohol charges. Update the Expense Item to the appropriate Foundation Expense Item, Alcohol (Foundation). For Total Amount, enter the dollar amount spent on alcohol. For Memo, enter “Alcohol-related charges.” On the right side of the pop-up, enter the Foundation account number in the field Account Number. Enter the name of the Foundation account in the field Foundation Account Name.
          Example in Workday of a alcohol purchase expense item under UW Foundation; special memo, account number, and account name must be applied
        10. Review all itemization entries for errors/missing information. Then, click Done to complete the itemization process
    3. Click Submit to submit the report for required approvals. Expense reports with Foundation Expense Items will route to a Expense Foundation Specialist after the Driver Worktag Manager for review of Foundation data entry
  3. Payment/Reimbursement and UW Foundation Billing Process
    1. Purchasing card transactions are paid to U.S. Bank in full by the University, even when charged in part or entirely to UW Foundation. Claimants filing expense reports for out-of-pocket or Shared Liability Card transactions will receive full payment upon approval of the report, even when items are charged in part or entirely to UW Foundation.
    2. UW Foundation is billed on a weekly basis for the Workday Expenses receivables created by entry and approval of Foundation Expense Items. UW Foundation then pays the University back for the expenses.
    3. UW Foundation has the final authority to approve or deny any billings for payment, which could require reimbursement from the claimant/cardholder if the billing is denied.

Back to top

IV. Contact roles and responsibilities

  • Claimant/Expense Data Entry Specialist: Responsible for understanding and complying with Business Meals, Hosted Events, Official Functions and University travel and purchasing policies. Responsible for entering Foundation Expense Items, number of attendees and their names and affiliations, Foundation account numbers and Foundation account names. Responsible for ensuring amounts split between UWF and UW funding are accurate and providing sufficient justification for Workday Expenses approvers and UWF personnel to approve expenses.
  • Driver Worktag Manager: Divisional/Departmental staff responsible for reviewing Workday Expenses transactions for budget and funding.
  • Expense Foundation Specialist: Central audit team in the Division of Business Services responsible for reviewing and approving Foundation Expense Items in expense reports prior to payment. Responsible for initiating the billing process to UW Foundation for approved Foundation Expense Items on a weekly basis.
  • Expense Reimbursement Program Manager: Oversees the UW Foundation billing process for UW-Madison and reconciles the Foundation receivable account on a monthly basis.

Back to top

V. Definitions

  • Claimant: individual claiming reimbursement for expenses.
  • Cardholder: the UW–Madison employee whose name appears on a UW credit card product and who is responsible for all purchases made with that card.
  • Expense Data Entry Specialist: An Expense Data Entry Specialist (EDES) is a security role in Workday Expense that grants the ability to create, edit, and submit expense reports on behalf of employees, external committee members, and pre-hires.
  • Expense Foundation Specialist: Central audit team responsible for reviewing card activity and out-of-pocket transactions allocated to the University of Wisconsin Foundation.
  • Expense Item: A sub-classification of Spend Category, used to categorize and track specific expenses within an expense report.
  • Expense Item Group: An organized set of related expense items.
  • 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.
  • University of Wisconsin Foundation (UW Foundation): The University of Wisconsin Foundation raises, invests and distributes funds for the benefit of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. UW Foundation pays back UW-Madison for allowable Foundation expenses billed via Workday Expenses.
  • Workday Expenses: The Workday module used to create, submit, and approve expense reports for out-of-pocket, Shared Liability Card, and Purchasing Card transactions.

Back to top

VI. Related references

Back to top

VII.  Revisions

Procedure Number 3024.8
Date Approved June 30, 2020
Revision Dates Jan. 19, 2021 – Updated Procedure Number to 3024.8 from 320.8
June 30, 2025 – Updated to reflect Workday procedures and terminology.

Back to top