Month: September 2025

From Concur to Workday – Managing Expenses

In this installment of Workday Words of the Week we’re previewing some terms that are related to Expenses in Workday. It’s important to note that Concur will continue to be used for booking travel, but expense tracking and reimbursements will be done in Workday.  

Remember to continue using Concur for expense tracking and reimbursements until Workday goes live.    

1. Spend Authorization – An online form that is used to get approval for planned expenses—like travel—before you spend the money. It confirms the purpose, estimated cost, and that it’s within policy, so you can be reimbursed later. Once approved, the spend authorization becomes the basis for related expense reports when the actual costs are submitted for reimbursement or payment.
2. Expense Report –An online form used to request reimbursement for business expenses. It includes expense details (date, amount, type), required receipts, and worktags* so costs are charged correctly. Once submitted, it routes for approval and is processed for payment.
3. Spend Category – A label that tells the system what type of good or service you’re buying—like office supplies, airfare, meals, etc.—so expenses are coded, tracked and reported correctly. Spend categories help Workday know how to account for and report a purchase, regardless of the supplier or payment method.
4. Expense Item –An expense item is a more detailed entry within a spend category. Where a spend category tells you what type of expense it is, an expense item tells you what the actual purchase is. For example, a monitor is an expense item that falls within the spend category of IT equipment.
5. Payment Election – How you choose to receive reimbursements, when necessary (e.g., direct deposit). This is set up in Workday by entering your bank routing number and account number (which is secured) in the Payment Elections form.

Refresher from Workday Words of the Week 1

*Worktag –A label you attach to a transaction within Workday—like an expense, purchase or spend authorization—to identify and categorize it for budgeting, reporting and accounting. Instead of using long account codes, you pick plain-language tags (e.g., Cost Center, Project, Fund, Spend Category) so transactions can be tracked. For most transactions, at least one Worktag is required.

Find out more about expenses in Workday by attending What’s Up with Workday on October 15, 2025, or October 22, 2025.

Change can feel uncertain, especially when it involves something as big as the systems we rely on to do our jobs every day. That’s why we sat down with Andrew Olinger, Clemson’s assistant athletic director for business operations, to hear about his firsthand experience with Workday. Before joining Clemson, Andrew worked at The Ohio State University during their Workday implementation, giving him a unique perspective on what the transition really feels like and what benefits it can bring. 

Looking back, Andrew recalls that while his day-to-day work did not dramatically shift, the move to Workday immediately made many things easier. “All our HR and Finance data was now in one place; I could schedule reports, and there was more detailed information,” he explained. Moving from multiple systems to one unified platform for HR and Finance was a game-changer for efficiency. 

He also noticed improvements in the look and feel of the system. “Workday was a much cleaner look, and once I got more comfortable, I found it much easier to navigate,” Andrew said. Features like keyword search took the frustration out of finding what he needed, and simple tasks, such as updating personal information, became much more intuitive. 

The benefits weren’t limited to his desktop. With the Workday mobile app, Andrew found he could take care of quick items on the go. “It made it much easier because I could use my phone for simple tasks when not at my desk,” he shared. (Note: Exact capabilities available on mobile devices for Clemson has not been finalized.)

Workday made financial reporting much more efficient.  Andrew described automation and streamlining as two of the system’s biggest strengths. “The ability to schedule different reports or easily search for them saved an immense amount of time. And not having to go to different systems for Procurement, HR, and Finance made tasks simpler and limited the number of tabs on my computer!” 

Another standout improvement was transparency in processes. In Ohio State’s old systems, it was often unclear where something stood in an approval flow. With Workday, Andrew saw “greater visibility in where tasks were in the process” and found reporting tools that made it easier to track requests and expenses. 

His advice to colleagues is both practical and reassuring: “Embrace the new system and change.” Andrew is encouraged by Clemson’s approach to the implementation so far. He pointed to simplified communication, opportunities for feedback, and the chance to involve his team as positive takeaways from Clemson’s rollout. 

Overall, Andrew’s experience at Ohio State highlights what we can look forward to: a more intuitive, efficient, and accessible system that brings our work into one place. And with training and support along the way, the Clemson community won’t be navigating the change alone. 

Practical Guidance for Navigating Workday with Confidence

This week’s focus: To tie in with September’s What’s Up Workday session, we are exploring key Workday terms related to navigation and Employee Self-Service.

• Employee Self-Service (ESS) – ESS lets you take care of many HR and payroll tasks yourself—anytime, anywhere without the need for extra forms or emails.  From a computer or mobile device, you can:
  • View/update personal details (address, phone, emergency contacts, pronouns)
  • Manage pay and tax information (view paystubs, update direct deposit, change withholdings)
  • Track time and request time off
  • View benefits
  • Complete training and compliance tasks
  • Review job details (title, compensation, employee ID, hire date, service dates) history, and performance

• Application – An application is an icon on your Workday home page that organizes related tasks, reports, and tools for a specific area, like Pay, Absence, Benefits, or Time.

• Inbox – Your Inbox is the place for tasks, approvals, and reviews that require your action—keeping work moving forward. Examples include:
  • Approvals (time-off requests, expense reports).
  • Reviews (compensation changes, evaluations).
  • Tasks (onboarding forms, personal info updates).
  • To-dos (reminders that may involve actions outside Workday).

• Notifications  – Notifications are “FYI” alerts letting you know something happened or was completed—like a time-off request being approved. Unlike Inbox items, they don’t require action.

• Worker  – In Workday, all employees—including faculty, staff, and student workers—are referred to as Workers.

• Worker Profile – Your Worker Profile is a central, real-time record of your personal, job, and organizational details—such as contact info, job title, manager, location, work history, compensation, benefits, and time-off balances (visible details depend on your security access).

In summary, understanding these Workday terms will help you navigate the system with confidence and take full advantage of its self-service features. Whether you’re checking your pay, requesting time off, or completing a task in your Inbox, knowing where to go—and what each feature does—will make your Workday experience smoother and more efficient.

Focusing on Business Processes: The Workday Work Horses

Last week, we introduced some foundational Workday terms. This week, we’re building on that knowledge by introducing one of the most important concepts in Workday: Business Processes. These are the behind-the-scenes steps that help Workday carry out tasks, like changing your address, approving time off, or making a purchase.

Before we dive into Business Processes, it is helpful to understand another term:

Functional Area – Think of a functional area as a category of related work.
Examples: Benefits, Compensation, Recruitment, Budget, Procurement, Expenses, etc. Each functional area includes certain processes, and the data needed to complete them.

Each functional area will have certain Business Processes (BPs). These are series of steps—such as reviews or approvals—that need to happen for a task to be completed in Workday.
Example: If you request time off, Workday automatically sends that request to the right person to approve it.

Most of the time, you’ll see business processes appear as tasks in your Workday Inbox, asking you to do something—approve, review, or complete a step.

When we talk about business processes, you may hear some of these key terms:

• Event – Another word for a business process in Workday.
  Examples: hiring event, name change event, benefits enrollment event.
• Initiation Step – The very first step in a process. This is when someone starts the process (“initiator”), and it moves forward to the next step—often an approval.
• Submit – Once you’ve entered the necessary details, you “submit” the process for approval, or directly to completion if no approval is needed.
• Approve – Many processes require approval. The approver reviews the request and clicks “approve” to move it forward.
• Send Back – If something isn’t right, the approver can send the process back to the initiator with comments on what to fix.
• Deny – An approver can deny the request entirely, which stops the process. To submit the process again, it must be restarted from scratch.
• Completion Step – The final step in the process, which makes the change official (like updating your address or budget).
• Error – If something is entered incorrectly or required data is missing, Workday will display an error message in red. Errors must be fixed before you can move forward.
• Alert – An alert, displayed in gold, warns you of something you might want to fix, but it won’t stop you from submitting the process.
• Rescind – In some cases, the person who started the process can take back the request, depending on where it is in the approval process.
• Business Process History – If you initiate or interact with a step in a business process, you can view the history and next steps in the process.  You can see who has completed what steps in a process and who is on deck for the steps that follow.

Why Business Processes Matter

Business processes are how Workday “gets the work done.” They replace paper forms, email chains and phone calls with an automated, trackable workflow. You’ll still have conversations about changes like hiring someone, adjusting pay, or approving expenses, but once the decision is made, Workday’s business processes make it happen quickly and efficiently.