1. Year End
2. Purchasing News – Celebrating a Retirement
3. Coming Soon – Improving Expense Report Processing
4. Budget Errors
5. Currency Conversion on Expense Report
It is not too early to begin thinking about year end! The annual year end memo can be found here.
In addition, the following year end seminars are available for registration via Success at Wes. These seminars will go through various year end procedures in depth and provide an opportunity for questions.
Tuesday May 5th at 10a
Wednesday May 13th at 1p
Thursday May 21st at 11a
Tuesday June 2nd at 2p
Wednesday June 17th at 11a
Thursday June 25th at 1p
The following items are things you can begin thinking about now:
PCards –be sure to bring all of your expense report reconciliations and pcard verifications current.
Workflow backlog – All documents will need to be processed by year end.
OneSource – Please review any outstanding receiving and mark any items that have been received as such.
Prepaids – If you have an invoice that pertains to next fiscal year but needs to be paid in this fiscal year, create the supplier invoice as normal with two additional steps:
1) Check the checkbox right before the “Memo” field on each line labeled “Prepaid”.
2) Tab over to the “Prepaid Details” tab and enter a “Prepaid Amortization Type” of “Schedule”.
In some situations (use of certain spend categories) you may receive an error message related to the prepaid amortization type. If you receive that message then uncheck the Prepaid checkbox and just add the prepaid worktag in the “Additional Worktags” box. If the payment is being made on an expense report or PCard verification, there is no equivalent checkbox. However, we have created an additional worktag that will drive the accounting to a prepaid expense. Simply type the word “Prepaid” in the Additional Worktags box and add it to this field.
2. PURCHASING NEWS – Celebrating a retirement
As usual, the Purchasing Office has put together the attached Purchasing News with information on Springhill Suites in Cromwell, MHEC Consortium, Workday and More.
However, most notable is that after 21 distinguished years with the Finance Department, Olga Bookas – Director of Purchasing, has announced her intention to retire on May 15, 2026.
Since joining us over two decades ago, Olga has been a cornerstone of our strategic procurement and contract negotiations. Her legacy is one of remarkable growth; building our Purchasing Office from the ground up, transforming it into a robust department that has saved the University millions throughout her tenure.
Her leadership extended to the regional and national stage through her service on the Boards of NAEP-NE and CCPG. Many of us also fondly remember her ability to bridge the gap between the University and the community—organizing the “Taste of Middletown,” for many years as well as multiple vendor shows – bringing the best of our local vendors directly to campus.
These initiatives were a perfect reflection of her professional skill and her personal spirit of hospitality. We will plan a celebration to honor Olga’s incredible career and will share those details with the community as soon as they are finalized. Please join us in thanking her for 21 wonderful years of service.
3. COMING SOON – Improving Expense Report Processig
Do you regularly process expense reports on behalf of others? Or have you delegated your expense reporting to a colleague?
We are pleased to announce a new Workday feature: “Create Expense Report for Worker,” which will be rolled out next week to all individuals with the Cost Center Finance Specialist role.
What is changing?
This task is nearly identical to the standard expense report, with one significant improvement: the “Pay To” field is now an open field, allowing you to enter any active, non-student employee directly.
Why now?
You may recall we discussed this option during our initial Workday rollout. At the time, a lack of security filters was a “show-stopper.” Thanks to recent technical updates, we have successfully implemented the necessary security layers to ensure data privacy while providing the flexibility you need.
Key Benefits:
Direct Troubleshooting: All budget errors and warnings will now go back to the initiator (the person creating the report) rather than the Payee, allowing for faster corrections.
Seamless Workflow: You no longer need to “Switch Accounts” to process a report for someone else.
Enhanced Visibility: You can now view the full business process and tracking for these reports directly.
Strategic Delegation: This allows us to reserve formal delegations for out-of-office coverage, rather than using them for everyday administrative processing.
Next Steps:
We anticipate rolling this out early next week. Please be on the lookout for an official notification in the “Announcements” box on your Workday home page.
All budget errors for in-progress transactions – including supplier invoices, journal entries, expense reports, procurement card verifications, and internal service delivery charges – must be resolved immediately.
Resolution Process:
1. Investigate the Error Type:
Warnings: These are informational; you may submit the transaction.
Failures: These indicate insufficient funds. You cannot charge more budget than the remaining balance in your worktags. You should run your dashboard or budget reports to verify remaining balances and review your worktag usage (including fund). Fund should populate automatically as long as worktags are entered left to right.
2. Escalation Path: If users are unable to resolve the error yourself, first contact the Cabinet Area Fiscal Manager. If the Fiscal Manager requires further assistance, they should contact Financial Planning for unrestricted funds or Kim Savinelli for restricted funds.
3. No Unauthorized Overrides: Any request for a budget override submitted without prior authorization will be sent back to the user to follow the resolution process outlined above.
5. CURRENCY CONVERSION ON EXPENSE REPORT
While Workday does not capture daily currency exchange rates, you can utilize the “Currency”, “Currency Rate” and “Converted Amount” fields on the expense report as documentation of the reimbursement request. Support for the currency rate used is still required as an attachment.