UW Expense Reimbursement
Definition 
Use Workday to request reimbursement for expenses paid with personal funds by SMPH employees or non-employees.
Before submitting, ensure the expense is allowable, budgeted, and adheres with policy. For travel related expenses, utilize the Travel Guidance Tool.
Related Reference Guide(s): UW Refund of Expenses
Who
UW employees and non-employees are eligible to submit for reimbursement through Workday. Non-employees must be reimbursed through Workday, but should first be set up as an External Committee Member.
Department/Unit Initiators
-
- Employee as Self
- Expense Data Entry Specialist - This role has the ability to enter reimbursements on behalf of other employees.
Department/Unit Approvers
-
- Gift Manager
- Grant Manager
- Program Manager
- Project Manager
- Cost Center Manager
- Expense Report Reviewer (optional)
It is highly recommended that departments incorporate the Expense Report Reviewer security role into their Expense Reimbursement and P-Card workflows. Doing so will allow departments to stop using the 'on hold' business purpose, and still help ensure that expense reports receive the appropriate finance review before being routed to Central Campus Audit.
Departments that already have a centralized finance review process outside of Workday and/or utilize a Finance EDES to submit expense reports on behalf of employees are not required to incorporate the Expense Report Reviewer role, although they may choose to do so if it would enhance their existing review process.
*There are other approver roles at the campus level listed within the Create an Expense Report Workday job aid.
UW Contract Signatures
Obtaining Access
Setting Up Access to Submit Expenses on Behalf of Someone Else (Expense Data Entry Specialist)
If you need any security roles, including Expense Data Entry Specialist (EDES), to complete this process, discuss with your next level leader. If approved, reach out to your department/unit’s Workday Role-Based Access Requester.
To check your security role access:
- Click on the Employee Lookup tab in Tableau.
- Enter your name in the legal name field (last name, first name).
To find your department/unit’s Workday Role-Based Access Requester:
- Go to your Workday profile and click "Job” in the left navigation menu.
- Click “Support Roles” in the top header.
- In the Assignable Role column, scroll to find the Role-Based Access Requester.
Setting Up an External Committee Member
An External Committee Member is a non-employee or guest that is getting paid through the Expenses module.
To set up an External Committee Member follow the Create an External Committee Member Workday job aid.
See the How section for Workday jobs aid on how to pay a non-employee.
Setting Up Access for Expense Report Reviewer (Optional)
The Expense Report Reviewer UW security role enables departments to perform an additional review of expense reports before the Expense Partner review step.
Responsibilities include:
-
- Reviewing funding worktags for accuracy.
- Making edits prior to the expense report advancing to Expense Partner review.
Additional Role Details:
-
- Roles are assigned at the Cost Center or Cost Center Hierarchy Level (CCHL).
- The Expense Report Reviewer may be assigned to multiple workers within the same cost center or hierarchy.
- Expense reports that are routed to multiple Expense Report Reviewers only require one approval. This includes when multiple Expense Report Reviewers are assigned to the same cost center/hierarchy and when split-funded expense reports have Expense Report Reviewers assigned to both cost centers.
- There are no routing exclusions - the Expense Report Reviewer will see ALL expense reports that use their assigned CCHL, including any expense report they create or are the subject of.
- Expense reports still route to worktag managers for approval. If the Expense Report Reviewer is also the worktag manager, the expense report then routes to the cost center manager for approval as their alternate. If that is the same person still, the expense report skips the worktag manager's approval step.
- Employees assigned both Expense Data Entry Specialist (EDES) and Expense Report Reviewer UW may encounter the same expense report multiple times in the workflow—once during submission and again during review.
To request this role, discuss the need with your department leadership and contact your department's Workday Role-Based Access Requester.
Training
- Expense Reports and Credit Cards in Workday Part 1
- Expense Reports and Credit Cards in Workday Part 2
- Workday for Finance: Expenses for Support Staff
Prerequisites
How
SMPH Standardized Workday Pre-Transaction Process
Core Workday Job Aids
Related Workday Job Aids
-
- 3024.2 How to Use “Hold” Business Purposes in Expense Reports and Identify Reports on Hold via Reporting
- 3024.3 How to Find Expense Report Payment Details and Process Payment Void/Reissue Requests
- 3024.7 How to Process an Expense Report Not in Compliance with the University’s Accountable Plan Procedure
- 3024.8 Using UW Foundation Funding in Workday Expenses
- 3024.9 Expense Report Review and Approval Procedure (for Driver Worktag Managers)
- Award Header and Award Line Lifecycle Status
- Business Meal Calculator
- Expenses Hub Overview
- How to Request a Policy Exception in Workday Expenses
- Scan Receipts, Enter Quick Expenses, and Submit Expenses Through the Workday Mobile App
- Terminate an External Committee Membership
- UW Division of Business Services Expense Report Fix-It Guide (PDF)
- Workday Expenses Business Purposes for Expense Reports
Related Reports
- SMPH Fiscal Master Report Inventory (Excel) – Filter the Category column to show Expenses.
Questions
For help with content questions or technical issues, please visit the ATP in SMPH – How to Get Help section. It includes instructions for submitting tickets and connecting with SMPH subject matter experts or technical support teams.