We've compiled answers to Frequently Asked Questions. If you have a question that hasn't been answered below, please reach out to erp.ask@gatech.edu.

General Program Information

What is ERP?

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a business process management software that allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage the business and automate many back-office functions related to technology, services, and human resources. At its core, ERP is a well-managed, centralized data repository that acquires and supplies information for its users.

In an effort to modernize the Institute’s infrastructure, Georgia Tech is taking advantage of new technologies available in Workday, an ERP platform. 

Why is Georgia Tech transitioning to a new cloud-based ERP?

Workday will provide a single, integrated view of the Institute's financials and will better facilitate the flow of information between departments. The platform will ultimately benefit the Institute by reducing administrative burden.

What are the advantages of moving to a cloud-based ERP?

  • Increased efficiency, productivity, and maintenance 
  • Reduction in custom built applications
  • Increased transparency of system-wide data
  • Real-time processing and reporting
  • Improved accuracy, consistency and security of data

What are some of the benefits of Workday?

Workday offers a user-friendly interface that is intuitive and easy to navigate. The system also provides business units real-time financial insights enhancing their respective decision-making capabilities.

What functions are currently included in the Financial Transformation?

  • Business Assets
  • Banking & Settlement
  • Budgets
  • Customer Accounts
  • Expenses
  • Financial Accounting
  • Grants Management
  • Procurement
  • Projects
  • Supplier Accounts

How often does Workday release updates and how are they addressed?

Workday releases updates twice a year, every March and September. These releases include updates to the software, functionality, and even user interface. These changes will be addressed in training and program communications.

What is the timeline for the Workday implementation?

The ERP is slated to go live in July of 2019.

How will a users experience in Workday feel different from PeopleSoft?

With Workday, users will be much more in the system. It will feel like you are working in Workday holistically, and not a piecemeal. Workday will continue to feel like it has the best functionality for years to come because updates are rolled out twice a year for all users. 

What will happen to PeopleSoft Financials after Workday goes live?

Once Workday goes live and the historical data is consolidated, the Institute will no longer use PeopleSoft Financials.

The cutover strategy is expected to occur at the end of June/ beginning of July. This will also vary by unit. For example, the Controller's Office will have access to PeopleSoft after go-live. The Program Team will work closely with Organizational Readiness, the Controller's Office, and other key groups across campus to communicate timing and processes in Spring 2019. For BuzzMart, functionality will be largely decommissioned at go-live.

Please note that although PeopleSoft Financials will sunset during the calendar year 2019, the Institute will continue to use the PeopleSoft Human Capital Management system. Georgia Tech HCM will migrate to OneUSG Connect as a part of the HR Transformation, going live in January 2020.

Will the implementation team provide training on Workday?

To help ensure end users acquire the knowledge and abilities to effectively utilize Workday, the implementation team will provide training as the go-live date approaches. Training will consist of structured learning (web-based training and instructor-led training), social learning, and experiential learning (quick reference guides, job aids, videos). To learn more about training, visit our training page.

How will the Institute inform faculty and staff of relevant ERP events and updates?

The Institute is committed to keeping faculty and staff informed about ERP news and updates. In order to do so, leadership will leverage the following vehicles to communicate updates:

  • ERP Project Website – updated every month
  • Campus Info Session – covering 5 business process areas, scheduled over the course of implementation. Watch recordings from the Workday Overview and FDM, and Expenses in Workday sessions
  • Departmental Emails – sent on an as needed basis
  • Faculty and staff meetings
  • Workday Buzz- Bi-monthly Newsletter covering program updates, subscribe here

Is Workday accessible?

Yes. Workday's accessibility functionality will enable you to:

  • Magnify text on a responsive interface that optimizes content based on your device's screen size.
  • View Workday with high color and contrast, improving legibility for all users.
  • Use compatible assistive technology like a screen reader for text-to-speech output.
  • Use keyboard support to navigate through Workday with a mouse.

The program team is working closely with OIT to ensure accessibility. Training materials will be tested against screen readers and closed captioning will be included in video materials.

Will everyone have access to the enterprise data warehouse (EDW)?

In some capacity, yes. The EDW will mirror the security you have in Workday for financial information. For other facets, security is modeled based on the type of data and corresponding authority, i.e. student data access is largely guarded by FERPA.  

How will this transformation improve reporting?

The reports that exist today are static. With the EDW build out and LITE reporting, the suite and breadth of reports that are available will improve. End users will have the ability for ad hoc reporting and data query in a safe and secure environment. Building out the EDW will provide a centralized repository for data on campus, enabling the campus to make better-informed decisions.

How will the implementation team ensure faculty and staff have a voice during the ERP transformation?

The implementation team will include representatives across the Institute’s academic and staff units. Additionally, Nate Watkins has been appointed as the Academic & Research Lead. Watkins and the implementation team will play key roles in providing a voice for Workday’s end users during the transformation process.

The Organizational Readiness leads will conduct interviews, focus groups and surveys to ensure broad representation of input and feedback.

If you'd like to make suggestions or ask questions, please send an email to erp.ask@gatech.edu.

Workday Functionality

What kind of historical data can be accessed via Workday?

Two years of historical project ID data will be converted initially. It is still being determined how many additional years of history will be available in the EDW.

Will the PeopleSoft Chart of Accounts (CoA) be changing?

Yes, the Chart of Accounts will be replaced by the Foundation Data Model (FDM) in Workday. Workday utilizes a multi-dimensional model to capture attributes on transactions to support financial reporting. The worktags in Workday's FDM allow for a greater variety of classifications and reporting than in PeopleSoft. Learn more about the FDM.

How does my project ID translate to the Workday accounting structure?

A crosswalk tool will be published that will allow you to key-in the PeopleSoft project ID and see how it will map out to Workday.

Are there notifications for the Workday inbox?

By default, yes. But you can select which frequency you receive email notifications. There are also delegation features that can be accessed directly out of the Workday inbox.

What browsers are supported by Workday?

The browsers listed below represent browser technologies that automatically update. These browsers do not require manual IT installation for a browser update to occur. In order to benefit from the technology being introduced with each browser update, Workday will support and test their products only on the latest supported version that is automatically released by each of the browser technologies listed below. 

  • Google Chrome
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Apple Safari
  • Opera Browser
  • BlackBerry Browser

Microsoft Internet Explorer does not automatically update. Workday currently supports Version 11 of Internet Explorer. 

Will we be able to process journal entries online?

Journal entries and some import functionality will primarily be online through Workday. Security mapping is in process now to determine how this is rolled out and to whom.

Systems at Georgia Tech

How will this affect TechWorks?

TechWorks will continue to exist because it does a lot of other things that are not specifically linked to Workday. You will have a link to Workday in TechWorks, however, many of the quick links you currently use in TechWorks to go to a specific application will go away because that process will live in Workday.

How will this affect BuzzMart?

Requisitioning will now happen in Workday. Employees in Procurement & Business Services will still continue to work with the vendor (SciQuest/Jaegger) to assist with catalog info. Workday does not replace Buzzmart entirely; instead, we are using a sandwich model that will start the procurement process in Workday, punch out to BuzzMart, and come back to Workday to complete the requisition. 

How will this affect Concur?

PCard and expense report functionality is moving to Workday. Concur will live on from a travel booking perspective, but entering and processing spend authorizations or expense reports will live in Workday.

Expenses in Workday

Can we attach supporting documents to an expense report?

Yes, you are able to upload receipts and attach them directly to specific line items in the report. Delegation features allow this process to be allocated to another financial user as long as the correct security settings are in place.

Are you still required to complete a travel authority form for expense reporting?

Yes, the Travel Authority Request (TAR) will still live on, but the whole process will live in Workday. Workday refers to a TAR as a spend authorization. Spend Authorizations also have the ability to encumber funds.

Will there still be paper check requests?

Paper check requests will all be processed in Workday with two exceptions-- research participants and Georgia Tech Foundation. These exceptions are due largely to the sensitivity of information and frequency. We are working to roll out a more streamlined process for this.

Can expenses activities be delegated?

Yes, someone with the appropriate security role can create an expense report on someone's behalf. In the system, a user can switch accounts in Workday to access the system as that employee. Delegation will be available to manage non-worker expenses and travel as well.

Do you still need to scan in receipts?

You will need to scan, but it won't be an entire file/package, you'll be able to attach to line items. You can also upload a photo or screenshot of your receipt from your mobile device.

How are per diems calculated?

Per diems from the DoD will be setup/loaded into the system for the cities similarly to how it works today. Per Diems can be handled by date (days in the city) and individual days.

What would happen if a spend authorization is created in June for a trip in July?

June expenses cannot be carried over into July due to policy. The funds for that FY will close and the process of connecting that spend authorization from one year to next is still being discussed. 

Can a finalized spend authorization be undone?

Checking the final box at the bottom of the spend authorization tells Workday to close that spend authorization. You do not have to check that box if you are not sure if the spend authorization is complete, it can be manually closed out later. There is no way to undo or back out once it is closed.

Will we have the ability to split expenses across funding sources (projects)?

Expenses can be split at the line level, but not the header level. There is an existing Brainstorm with Workday to also include the header level.

How will direct bill airfare be entered?

There will be an integration with Travel Inc that will bring in travel booking records. 

What are the delegation roles for expenses?

There are two roles in Workday regarding preparing and approving Spend Authorizations and/or Expense Reports. 

“Expense Preparer Role” -  If you are given this role you can prepare Spend authorizations and/or Expense Reports for your faculty, staff and students for as long as you have that role.  There is no 30 day time period associated with this role. 

“Delegation Role” – If you are given this role you can assign a delegate to approve  your Spend Authorizations and/or Expense Reports if you should be out of the office for vacation, sick leave, etc.  As policy we would like to limit this delegation period to 30 days.  There must be a start and an end date to this feature.

Will per diems be auto populated?

Per Diems will be populated on the Expense Report, on the Travel Journal, for each City and/or Country to which you are traveling.

What happens if the traveler forgets to do a spend authorization before travel?

If the traveler forgets to create a Spend Authorization prior to travel, they will not be able to create an Expense Report until they have gone into Workday and create a Spend Authorization for the trip (paper forms will no longer be utilized).  The Spend Authorizations will go through the Business Process approval steps.  Once the spend Authorization is approved (even after the fact) the traveler will be able to create the Expense Report for reimbursement of their expenses.

Grants Management in Workday

Will we have the ability to track different dollar amounts in regards to cost share?

Workday has the ability for us to set up a separate award line and grant for cost share funding source. You will also be able to view this rolled up to the award level.

Who will get notifications when working on grants between multiple department?

Notifications will go to the source cost center and the target cost center. Notifications can not go to individual cost center managers. Notifications are controlled by each business process. 

Will you be able to see the status of purchase orders of the invoice for subawards in Workday? 

Yes.  Just like any other purchase order, users with the appropriate security roles will be able to view purchase order status.  The OSP Subaward team will be utilizing Workday Financials directly to monitor subaward supplier contracts,purchase orders, and subrecipient supplier invoices.

Who will have the ability to add new collaborators?

The request can be made by the department (cost center) whom originally issued the award. The approval and addition of the new collaborator will be made by Grants & Contracts.  Users can request a new Award line/grant on their award using the Create Request function.  

Is there a plan to automatically link fringe and F&A to an amount?

Linkage of direct to indirect transactions may be something that can be implemented in a later version of Workday, but not now. The request for this feature is fairly new in Workday, so we will continue to provide feedback to see if we can help enhance this functionality. Flat rate fringe is a personal services expenditure like earnings and tuition remission.  These expenditures will be posted at the spend category level in Workday Financials.  Detailed accounting for earnings, fringe, and tuition remission will be available in PS HCM/Salary Planning and Distribution reports.

Will we be able to split department charges?

Yes, for requisitions, POs, journal entries, grant, etc. you will be able to split the charges. All cost center managers among different departments will have to approve it though.  Splits that are not performed on the original transactions will need to be completed via journal entry.

Will there be a Project Expense & Budget (PEB) report?

There are two replacement Workday Reports for the PEB report. The Sponsored Award Budget Expense Report (SABER) and Sponsored Transactions in Grants (STinG) are two Georgia Tech custom reports that will help campus to report on award and grant activity.

Is there a way to track spending against what is currently awarded?

You will be able to track all this information in Workday using real-time reports, but salary spending detail at the employee level will not be shown in Workday. Salary information can be found in PS HCM/Salary Planning and Distribution reports.

Is it possible to have grants for external collaborators outside of Georgia Tech?

If the external collaboration is formal it should have a subaward contract, which would need to go through appropriate channels for contracting.  These subaward contracts would each have its own grant.  You can partition an award into grants as you see fit to manage the funding.

Will the system still be allowed to overrun an award?

Custom validations are built in to manage the awards, but doesn’t explicitly prevent users from overrunning.  Cost overrun awards or grants will not be set up in the Workday Grants system.  Overruns will eventually have to be moved off any grant/award.  Overruns will have be charged against departmental/cost center funding sources.

Financial Reporting

Can I have access to develop my own reports?

Reports in Workday are the basis of a lot of the functionality within the system. Therefore, the central project team and campus users will not be allowed to develop reports in production. For identified users, there will be the ability to develop reports in non-production tenant and request testing, approval, and migration to the production tenant.

Can I have access to the EDW?

For identified individuals, there will be access to financial data through the EDW. These individuals will need SQL and database skills to ensure data can be pulled properly. The EDW team will work with these individuals to develop a two way communication, so that reporting can continually be improved for all campus users.

How will I be able to request a report post go live?

The Program will have a defined governance process to request changes to the reports. This process will be developed and released in April 2019. The Reporting Team and Enterprise Data Management believe that reporting will really get going after launch. The team is committed to work with their customers to develop based on need and continually improve the reports and EDW.

Procurement

How many days before a PCard transaction needs to be verified?

If you do not verify your PCard transaction, the transaction will remain in a general ledger account and will not move to your account. The 10 day rule does not apply anymore and if you do not verify, the transaction will not go anywhere. You can verify immediately and there is no lag time. Procurement will be reviewing the required number of days that transactions need to be verified with Campus leaders, Internal Audit and DOAS. We will publish the timeframe that transactions need to be completely verified after securing feedback from these stakeholders.

How can I tell which transactions have not been validated? Will there by reporting for PCard validation?

Yes, you will be able to run a report to see transactions that have not been verified and transactions that are in the approval process for yourself (as a cardholder) or your department (as a PCard Cost Center Manager).

What is the shopper designation called in Workday?

The current Shopper role will go away. Every employee with access to Workday will have the ability to create procurement requisitions.

How does Workday communicate the PO to accounts payable?

Accounts Payable will use a process to link purchase orders to supplier invoices.

Do you still need to email the supplier invoice to accounts payable?

Yes, the email to ImageNow/Accounts Payable will still be required.

Can we name our carts within Workday?

The user will not be able to name a cart in Workday. Workday does have a worklet, My Requisitions, that will allow users to easily locate requisition that they created.

Is PCard monthly statement reporting still necessary?

The new process for reconciliation will be by transaction, not by statement. When the cardholder gets the notification of the transaction, the transaction may be verified it right away. No statement validation or sign off will be necessary.

How often are the transactions sent over from the bank?

An integration will send transactions from the bank to Workday daily.

Can you split accounting charges within Workday?

Yes, Workday allows you to split a transaction among multiple driver worktags. Requisition goods lines may be split by amount or quantity. Requisition services lines and PCardt transactions may be split by amount or percentage.

Can an employee as self (PeopleSoft Shopper) create and assign carts?

Anyone who has access to Workday may create a requisition. The person entering the requisition will enter a driver worktag that identifies the class, cost center, function and fund. Requisition approvals will be driven by the information in the driver worktag.

What will bill only requisitions look like?

The Bill Only requisition type will not dispatch a purchase order to a supplier. Bill Only requisitions are used commonly for contracted purchases where you don't know what the final bill is (e.g., catering). Procurement would like to emphasize that the Bill Only requisition is for special circumstances where a purchase order cannot be issued in advance of a purchase and the supplier invoice has been received. Procurement is not condoning people going out to purchase goods or services without getting a PO issued in advance.

Will project budgets be loaded into Workday and is there some sort of fail-safe to keep us from overspending on that project?

The budgets that are currently administered in Onebudget will get interfaced to Workday. For project and grant related budgets, those will be entered directly into Workday. There is no systematic check on the budget. You will need to check the budget to actuals report.

How will check requests be processed?

The Supplier Invoice request is taking the place of a manual check request form (except for research participants).

What attachments are required in order to process Pcard transactions?

The same attachments are required in Workday as in Concur. At a minimum, a receipt. Refer to the GT PCard Plan and training documents for a definition of the documents required for PCard transactions.

Will we be able to communicate back and forth within the system regarding each requisition?

Yes, you can directly comment to a Workday user with the '@' key followed by their name. They will receive an alert for this.

Will the docusign approval process still be needed before making a PCard transaction with Workday?

Yes, this process will not change.

Can requisition reviewers make changes to a req if they see an error?

After the requisition is created it flows to an RQ Reviewer. The person that initiated the requisition and the RQ Reviewer are the only people who may edit the requisition before it reaches Procurement. If other approvers in the workflow, e.g., the Cost Center Manager(s), Driver Worktag Manager(s) or optional approvers find an error they will need to send the requisition back to either the person that initiated the requisition or the RQ Reviewer.

How many approvers are allowed in the Workday PCard verification process?

This depends on the driver worktag selected. An approver may add an Ad Hoc Approver if an additional approval is required.

Gifts

What is the Gift worktag?

The Gift worktag identifies external contributions received from donors for a specific purpose as identified by the donor. The worktag is used to manage Georgia Tech Foundation (GTF), Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC), and Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation (GTARC) restricted funds. The Gift worktag will allow campus users to more easily manage and approve spend for these funds.

How can I see available Gift balances in Workday?

There are several reports in Workday that will allow you to view balances on specific worktags in Workday, but the Expense Budgetary Balance- GTCR report (displays budget minus obligations minus commitment minus actuals = current year available balance) will allow you to drill down into transaction level detail. This report is a replacement for the PeopleSoft 38 Expense Ledger Report. This replaces the PEB for Restricted Gift reporting. Gifts will no longer be reported alongside Grants, as done in the PEB report.

How can I request changes or request new Gift worktags?

Changes and request to Gift worktags will be made via the ServiceNow Financial Services portal, accessed via service.gatech.edu. These actions include:

  • Request New
  • Request Change
  • Inactivate Listing

The request will be routed to the Controller's Office and should be met within 48 business hours. The response for the request will come back through ServiceNow as well.

Where can I find the restrictions for a Gift?

Gift restrictions can be found in the restrictions tabs and in the attachments to the gift in Workday. Users can run the "Find Gifts" report to generate this detail.

How often will Georgia Tech Foundation send Gift information to Workday?

Gift data will be updated daily in Workday.

Can Gift budget be transferred across units on campus?

To transfer budget from a restricted gift, either the gift worktag, designated worktag, or grant worktag can be used. A designated worktag will be used if the gift is to be transmitted to a unit that will control and manage their part of the gift. The grant worktag will be used for grant cost share.

Training

What resources will be available to end users?

End users will have access to the following resources, depending on what functions they perform in their departments:          

  • Web-Based Training (WBT): On demand, independent learning hosted online
  • Seminars: The SAME content as the WBT, presented in-person with Q&A time
  • Job-Aids/ Quick Reference Guides: On demand, process walkthroughs
  • Instructor-led Training (ILT): Classroom training for central office users & financial managers

End users will also have Workday Peers across campus to help them answer questions or help troubleshoot in certain areas or processes. We will encourage users to reach out to these Peers for one-on-one support in addition to accessing our on-demand learning and reference materials.

How can I find the list of available courses?

The training course catalog is the hub for training details. Here you can see a list of the training topics and what WBTs, ILTs, Seminars, and Job Aids are available for each topic and access the material:

  • Web-based - Navigates to the WBT hosted on GTHR's training site
  • Seminar* - Navigates to seminar registration on OSP's Training site
  • Instructor-led* - Navigates to ILT registration on OSP's Training site
  • Access Slides - Opens a PDF version of the training slides

* For Seminars and ILTs, YOU MUST LOG INTO THE OSP TRAINING SYSTEM before navigating to the individual course link.

How do I register for in-person training and seminars?

Instructor-led training and seminar registration is managed on the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) training site. You can follow along with this Quick Reference Guide for Registering or Canceling Workday Financials Training.

You must log into the OSP Training System before registering for the course or else you will get an error.

Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email from training@osp.gatech.edu. Please do not reply to this email, instead if you have questions you can reach out to erp.training@gatech.edu with any Workday Financials training questions.

How do I change or cancel training registration?

Users can self-manage the cancellation or rescheduling of their registrations within the OSP Training site. This Quick Reference Guide walks through step-by-step how to cancel your registration. If you need to change registration, you will follow the steps to cancel your existing date and re-register for a different date.

Once your cancellation goes through successfully, you will receive a confirmation email from training@osp.gatech.edu confirming the cancellation. Please manually delete the calendar invite in your Outlook if you previously downloaded it and added it to your calendar.

Please reach out to erp.training@gatech.edu with any questions regarding Workday Financials Training.

Is there a deadline to register for training?

Each session will close registration one business day (21 hours) prior to the start of the session. For example, a training session scheduled for 9:00am will close registration at 12:00pm the business day prior. A training session scheduled for 1:00pm will close registration at 4:00pm the business day prior.

As class capacity is limited for each course, we encourage you to register as soon as possible to secure a spot.

How do Georgia Tech affiliates or contractors complete training?

Affiliates can register for in-person training just like anyone else, but they will not be able to view any of the web-based training in GTHR's training site, Brightspace.

Please reach out to erp.training@gatech.edu for instructions on how to access the web-based materials as an affiliate.

Is there a waitlist for training?

If the in-person training session is full, you can add yourself to the waitlist. When you register for a session that is full, you will receive an email confirmation to alert you if you've been moved off the waitlist and given a place in the class.

You may receive an email reminder of the upcoming course, but this is different from the email confirming you are off the waitlist. If you do not receive an email explicitly saying that you have been moved off the waitlist and into the class, you will not have a spot in the class.

Where is training? Are there parking options?

Training is scheduled all across campus. The ERP team does not validate or provide parking, employees are expected to adhere to campus parking rules. If you need to drive to training, please reference Georgia Tech's Parking & Transportation Services parking maps and zones.

For classes at 755 Marietta (ERP), the parking lot is designated as Area W04. Only cars with a W04 pass should park in this lot. There are two reserved spaces designated by a reserved sign in the lot and unauthorized vehicles that park in these spaces could get towed. You can, however, park at the W06 designated lots with any valid Georgia Tech parking pass. This includes the lots at Ivan Allen and EIS next door.

Do I need to bring anything to training?

Bring a note pad and pen if you would like to take notes.

There are also some special considerations for those taking the Financial Accounting Instructor-led training:

  • The training course will include hands on exercises where you will reference certain job aids. You can review the job aids here, but we don't encourage printing these job aids as we continue to enhance the content. The online version will always be the most up to date.
  • Be prepared to use Duo to authenticate into Workday. Be sure to bring your mobile device, token, or have access to whatever device you use for two-factor authentication.
  • Bring layers- the ERP Training Room gets cold.
  • Most courses are from 9:00am-1:00pm. You will receive a few breaks throughout the course, but there is not a lunch hour. Feel free to bring snacks and use the refrigerators. 

What are the Workday security roles?

There are 14 different roles used to categorize the level of access end users have within Workday. View the Workday Security Roles matrix to see the descriptions of each role. End users eligible for the Accountant role have already received communications from the ERP Training mailbox. 

If you are not sure what Workday security roles you will have, please contact your supervisor or manager. Alternatively, you can reach out to the Workday Financials Security Team at erp.ask@gatech.edu.

I attended a course but my history in RosterTech (the OSP training registration site) still shows the class with a status of "pending".

Attendance during Workday Financials training courses is being tracked outside of RosterTech. You will never see a status of Completed in RosterTech for these courses.