3027.1 Approval to Purchase Gift Cards on a UW Purchasing Card Procedure

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

I. Procedure statement

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.

II. Who is affected by this procedure

UW purchasing cardholders; Expense Data Entry Specialists; Driver Worktag Managers; Central Grant Accountants; Expense Operations Leads; Expense Partners.

III. Procedure

Spend Authorization submission: Prior to purchasing gift cards on a UW purchasing card, the purchasing cardholder must submit a Spend Authorization.
1. Log in to Workday.
2. From the Workday Homepage, click on Personal, then Expenses Hub.
3. On the subsequent screen, under “Tasks”, click the Create Spend Authorization button.
4. Complete the resulting page (“Create Spend Authorization”) with the following:
  1. Company: Leave as defaulted.
  2. State/End Date: Enter the anticipated date of purchase.
  3. 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.
  4. Business Purpose: Select Gift Cards (Spend Auth Only).
  5. Justification: Enter the business purpose for the gift card purchase including how the distribution of gift cards will benefit the university.
  6. Scrolling down the page, under “Spend Authorization Lines”, click Add.
  7. Complete the “Spend Authorization Line” requirements:
    1. Expense Item: Select Gift Card.
    2. Quantity: Enter the number of gift cards to be purchased at a particular dollar amount.
    3. Per Unit Amount: Enter the dollar amount of the gift card(s).
    4. Memo: Enter a brief business purpose statement.
    5. Worktags: Enter relevant Worktags.
    6. Note: If additional gift cards are to be requested at another dollar value, scroll up and click Add. Then complete these steps again.
    7. 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.
    8. Click Submit.
Approval process:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
1. Log in to Workday.
2. Navigate to the Expense Report:
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
3. On the subsequent screen, complete the following:
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Enter a Driver Worktag (optional).
  4. Select related Credit Card Transaction(s).
  5. Click OK.
  6. Complete the remaining reconciliation as outlined in Procedure 3013.2 – Purchasing Card Use and Account Management.
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.

IV. Contact roles and responsibilities

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.

V. Definitions

Expense Report: Electronic submission to request reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses and/or to submit card-product expenses for approval.
Spend Authorization: A request submitted in Workday Expenses that must be used to obtain pre-approval for gift card purchases.
Workday: the cloud-based software used by the Universities of Wisconsin to manage finance and human resources.

VI. Related references

VII. Revisions

Procedure Number	3027.1
Date Approved	July 1, 2026
Revision Dates	N/A

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