How to Request a Policy Exception in Workday Expenses

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.

Jump to:

• Spend Authorization submission
• Approval process
• Reconciliation
• Expense report approval

Spend Authorization submission

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.

1. Login to Workday.
2. Navigate to the Spend Authorization:
   1. 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
   2. 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.
3. Complete the page with the following:
   1. Company: Leave as defaulted.
   2. 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.
   3. 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).
   4. Business Purpose: Select Policy & 90-Day Exceptions (Spend Auth Only).
   5. Scrolling down the page, under “Spend Authorization Lines“, click Add.
   6. Complete the “Spend Authorization Line“ requirements:
      1. Expense Item: Select the appropriate Expense Item based on the need for the policy exception request (e.g., “Airfare” for non-contract airfare purchase).
      2. Total Amount: Enter amount or anticipated amount of expense.
      3. Memo: Enter a brief business purpose statement.
      4. Worktags: Enter relevant Worktags.
      5. Note: If additional expense lines are required, scroll up and click Add. Then complete these steps again.
   7. 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.

4. Complete the “Policy Exception Questionnaire“:
   1. Indicate whether the non-compliant expense is already on an approved expense report. If yes, provide the expense report number.
   2. Use the drop-down menu to identify which policy or policies were violated.
   3. Provide an explanation of the policy violation and include a justification for why an exception should be granted.
   4. List actions taken by the claimant and/or department to prevent future need for exceptions of this nature.
   5. Indicate if the policy exception is for a currently enrolled student or a non-employee.
5. Click Submit.

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Approval process

1. Driver Worktag Manager:
   1. The Driver Worktag Manager receives a task in their Workday inbox.
   2. After accessing the Spend Authorization, the Driver Worktag Manager reviews the Spend Authorization information, including the Questionnaire Response.
   3. 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. Expense Operations Lead:
   1. The Expense Operations Lead receives a task in their Workday inbox.
   2. 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.

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Reconciliation

Spend Authorizations for policy exceptions must be linked to the expense report(s) containing the non-compliant expense(s) prior to submission.

1. Login 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 “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.
   3. Enter a Driver Worktag (optional).
   4. If applicable, select related Credit Card Transaction(s).
   5. Click OK.
   6. Complete the expense report as outlined in Procedure 3024.1 – Creating and Submitting an Expense Report.

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Expense report approval

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.

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Related references:

• Procedure 3024.1 – Creating and Submitting an Expense Report
• Procedure 3024.5 – How to Create, View and Update External Committee Member Profiles in Workday

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