Expense reports in Workday - for reimbursement and T&E card reconciliation

When do I create an expense report?

Some reasons you would create an expense report include:

• To create a reimbursement request for a staff or faculty employee, or a pre-hire
  • To reimburse a student, create a miscellaneous payment request
• To reconcile actual costs related to a Spend Authorization request
  • Completing this process uses the funds that have been previously encumbered for the purpose identified in the Spend Authorization
• To verify and reconcile purchases made on the T&E card
  • Completing this process releases payment to the vendor and draws funds from the budget line associated with the purchase
  • To verify and reconcile purchases made on the Purchasing card (P-card) follow these steps.
• You should not use Expense Reports for moving expenses. All moving expense are reimbursed through payroll processes. Contact hr-payroll-l@mtholyoke.edu to discuss this process. 

Steps

Begin Expense Report

1. From the Workday home screen, click the Global Navigation Menu in the top left to open the Workday Apps sidebar
2. Click the Expenses hub app
3. At the top of the screen, click the Create Expense Report Button
   1. Note 1: If you are creating an expense report on behalf of someone else, you will instead use the Workday search bar to find the correct task. Search for "Create Expense" and select the relevant option from the options given—Create Expense Report for Worker, Create Expense for Non-Worker, and Create Expense Report for Pre-Hire. Add the payee's name in the "Pay To" field.
   2. Note 2: If your expense report will be more more than $2,000, it must be associated with a spend authorization and the spend authorization must receive approval before you can submit the expense report. Spend Authorizations are typically created in advance, but can be made after-the-fact as well.
   3. Note 3: You will not be able to submit the expense report unless the payee has entered their expense elections. Expense elections can be changed by the employee, following the instructions at the end of this training guide. 
4. In the Expense Report Information section, enter the following:
   Note: Required fields are typically noted with a red asterisk (*)
   1. Creation Options
      1. Create New Expense Report: use this when total expenses are below $2,000.00 and there is no existing spend authorization associated with the purchase(s).
      2. Copy Previous Expense Report: This allows you to copy an expense report you have submitted previously to bring in similar data. For example, this can be used for recurring trips that have the exact location and mileage. Workday will create a copy of the selected Expense Report with pre-filled details from that report. Remember to update all details as needed before submitting the expense report.
      3. Create New Expense Report from Spend Authorization: this allows you to create a new Expense Report that is linked to an approved Spend Authorization. Several fields will auto-fill form the spend authorization. Be sure to edit/update/add details from the as needed before submitting the final Expense Report.
   2. Memo: Enter a meaningful description of what was purchased. This should not be the same as the spend category and should be specific to what was purchased. (Ex. APSA Conference Travel Expenses 6/10-6/15/24). If you are creating from a Spend Authorization, this will auto-populate.
   3. Company: This field defaults to Trustees of Mount Holyoke College. Only change this field if you are certain that your cost falls under a different Company.
   4. Expense Report Date: defaults to current date.
      1. Note: You may need to change the Expense Report Date to match the period (month) of the transaction. For example, if you made a purchase on August 21st, and you are creating the Expense Report on September 3rd, change the "Expense Report Date" to August 31st to keep the transaction within the August fiscal period.
   5. Business Purpose: Select the item associated with the purpose of the travel from the list of options. 
   6. Worktags: Verify the Worktags for the overall Expense Report. You can change worktags on each expense item, as needed, but this sets the default for all items. 
      1. Cost Center identifies which cost center will pay for the items. This field defaults to the requester's Cost Center. For a brief overview of worktags, review slides 6-8 in this presentation. 
      2. Other Worktags: You may charge to a Gift, Grant, Project, Program, or Designated Fund, if applicable. The Cost Center will automatically update to the correct choice if you choose from one of these categories. 
      3. Additional Worktags: Do not edit these. Changing the defaults will cause errors. 
   7. Add all relevant credit card transactions (T&E Card), if applicable

Illustrations:

• When ready, click OK to proceed to the next step

Adding lines to the expense report

After you click OK, the next screen will different depending on how you have started the expense report.

If you have not added any credit card transactions, the next screen will look similar to this:

• Click the Add button to add new expense lines

If you have added credit card transactions, the next screen will look similar to this:

• Errors will happen automatically, because the credit card transaction records are incomplete. As you complete the fields in each expense report line, the errors will go away. Don't panic!

From this stage, you will enter and/or update information for each expense line item. Complete the following fields for each Expense Line

• Attachment:  Receipts are required for all purchases.
  • You can batch your receipts by expense line, for example uploading all airfare as one PDF, or all meals in one (legible) image file.
• Expense Date: Enter the date the expense was incurred.
• Expense Item: choose form the existing items. Typically, it is easiest to search by entering a keyword and pressing enter, or by navigating the Spend Category folder. For example, searching for the keyword "meal" reveals several options.

• Quantity: Total number of items, if applicable.
• Per Unit Amount: The dollar amount per Item if applicable.
• Total Amount: Total dollar amount for the Item (depending on the Item, it may auto-calculate based on Quantity and Per Unit Amount).
• Currency: Defaults to USD.
• Memo: Enter a meaningful description of what was purchased. This should not be the same as the expense item and should be specific to what was purchased. (Ex. three nights at Hilton Garden Inn Chicago)
  • Note: Each expense item may generate help text and related fields. When you select the "rental car" expense item, for instance, it opens a custom field for rental car agency and dates of rental. You will find Instructional Text with these fields, describing College policies and providing links to policy documents.
• Worktags: Typically, you will leave the Cost Center as is. If you know you want to charge the line item to a Gift, Grant, Project, Program, Designated Fund, or a different Cost Center enter it here. 
• Available Spend Authorization lines: If you are creating the expense report from a spend authorization, this field will automatically fill and calculate. In the example below, the spend authorization estimated $500 for travel meals. The actuals were $425, leaving a $75 surplus in that category. These funds will be unencumbered when the spend authorization closes. 

• If you need to add additional expense items, click the orange Add button near the top left of the page. Follow the steps above until all expenses have been added. 
• Review all fields to ensure accuracy and completeness. Remember to open all three tabs at the top of the screen—Header, Attachments, and Expense Lines. You may need to add an overall attachment for the entire expense report, such as a conference program, travel itinerary, or a flyer advertising your event.

• When you have completed all required fields and resolved any errors click Submit to send your expense report out for review and approval, or click Save for Later to save your progress.