Reimbursement (Non-Travel) Process: Tips and Tricks
Reimbursement to employees for purchases made with personal resources is not a standard purchasing method but may be permitted in rare circumstances.
Refer to the Procuring Goods and Services job aid in the ARC for procurement options that should be prioritized over use of personal resources when possible.
The following provide guidance and restrictions for making certain business purchases.
Process
Adherence to this process supports fiscal accountability, procurement guidelines and the timely processing of the expense report for reimbursement.
Workday Access for Expense Reports
* The payee should confirm other purchasing options are not available. Purchases made with personal resources without consideration of the university’s approved procurement methods and policies may be denied for reimbursement.
** Workday approvals route based on various parameters (for example, expense amount, spend category, worktags, etc.).
Frequently Asked Questions
Coming soon
Roles
Business Role | Business Responsibilities | Security Roles |
| Payee | The payee is responsible for submitting applicable expense report. Payee or EDES is responsible for ensuring the justification in the expense report clearly explains the business purpose and is reinforced by itemized receipts and support documentation. Payee is responsible for monitoring their own expense reports to ensure submission/approval. Payee must approve as self (if worker), if not entering their own expense report. | Employee as self – any employee can initiate an expense report for self |
| Expense Data Entry Specialist | The EDES is responsible for submitting applicable expense report. The EDES is responsible for ensuring the justification in the expense report clearly explains the business purpose and is reinforced by itemized receipts and support documentation. EDES is responsible for monitoring the expense reports entered on behalf of others to ensure submission/approval. | Expense Data Entry Specialist – if initiating an expense report on behalf of someone else |
| Cost Center Manager | Approval of all expense reports. Responsible for ensuring the expense has an appropriate business purpose, is within budget and is compliant with the parameters of all applicable policies. | Cost Center Manager |
| Travel, PCard & Expense Team | Monitor and track expense reports. | N/A |
| Department leader (UNIV) | Approve for business purposes when
| N/A |
| Other Approvers (Special Approvers, Program Manager, etc.) | Approves for business purpose on expense reports for applicable approval area | N/A |
Additional Approvers when SVP and Deans are traveling | Approves for business purpose for all SVPs and Deans | N/A |
| Service Center Rep & Lead (UNIV) | Reviews expense report for accuracy and compliance with university policies and takes appropriate action (approval, edit, send back). | Business Operations Center Representative - Rep Business Operations Center Representative - Lead |
Reports
The following reports can be used to provide oversight and perform analytics on Expense Reports. Reports can be scheduled to automatically run within Workday and notifications can be set to alert users that the report is available in Workday.
Key Reports | Description | Supports Process Steps |
| Find Expense Report Summary – OSU | This report provides Expense Report summary information such as Payee, Business Purpose, Reimbursement Amount, Company Paid (PCard) Amount, linked Spend Authorizations when applicable, and Business Process information. This report returns one line per unique Expense Report. | Workday Expense Reports |
| Find Expense Report Details – OSU | This report provides detailed Expense Report information from expense report lines and itemizations including funding details, expense item, Last 4 digits of PCard, and linked Spend Authorizations when applicable. This report returns one line for each unique Expense Report Line or Itemization. Expense Reports with no lines entered will not populate on this report | Workday Expense Reports |
| Expense Report Exceptions | This report returns approved Expense Reports that include either a Workday Validation Error or Warning (Policy Alert) or have a comment in the "Exception Reason (Service Center Use Only)" field. | Workday Expense Reports |
Full Inventory of Operational Reports - view the Expenses/Travel reports tab
Training and Practice Aids
Resource Type | Resource Name | Resource Description |
| Job Aid (ARC) | Procuring Goods and Services | This job aid is intended to inform users of standard methods used to procure goods and services. |
| Job Aid (ARC) | Create an Expense Report (Non-Travel) | This job aid contains instructions on creating an expense report to reimburse non-travel expenses. |