Workday Success for Finance

In Workday, those with finance-related security roles are at the heart of finance functions and processes, including general accounting, budget planning and reconciliation, travel and expenses, procurement, and more. The 2025 Elevating Cougs conference offers those who perform finance tasks in Workday the opportunity to revisit and master finance basics, as well as discover new tools and features to help them navigate the challenges and changes they may face in their roles.

This year’s sessions cover a range of Workday finance topics, from 101-level courses devoted to the foundational concepts that drive financial functions at WSU, to the latest Workday functionality designed to help maximize efficiency and flexibility. The following sessions are tailored to finance professionals at any stage in their WSU careers:

• Basic 101- Finance & HCM: Understanding Basic Finance and HR Terms

How often do you hear a finance or HR related term in a meeting or read it in an email and wonder what it means? This session explains the common, and not so common, finance and HR terms used in Workday and by the central units.

• Basic 101- Finance: Understanding University Budgeting

WSU’s Budget Office and Modernization share the basics of university budgeting and explain the main sources of revenue at the university, how the funds are used, and the annual budget cycle. This session is beneficial for those employees who perform finance related actions in Workday and other WSU systems.

• Basic 101- Payment Processes: Suppliers and Expense Payees

Join us as we walk through the Supplier Invoice and Expense Report payment process in Workday. This presentation will provide information on what drives Payment Dates within these documents, all the way to Payment going the door and being released.

• Expense Protect

Expense Protect is a new feature launched in July 2025 that assists in identifying duplicated expenses for Expense Report documents in Workday. Join us to learn more about how this tool in Workday leverages Machine Learning, a type of A.I., to maximize Workday resources, reduce administrative burden, and detect errors with greater accuracy and efficiency.

• Accounting Center in Workday

Join Modernization’s Finance team for an engaging run-through of the new Accounting Center functionality in Workday as they share how it works and the benefits and enhancements to accounting journals it brings to WSU.

• The Power of Workday Hubs

Have you ever wondered what a Workday Hub is or what it does? In this engaging session, the Modernization team will share how hubs pull together related data and actions into one area, how to access them, and the benefits of using them.

• Navigating Grants Forecasting in Adaptive Planning

Did you know WSU pioneered the award-winning Grants Forecasting tool in Adaptive Planning? This tool is a university-wide grants forecasting tool enhancing support for research on a brand new level. It assists Grant Managers and Principal Investigators (PIs) across the WSU system in projecting future expenses and remaining balances on their grants. Learn more about this tool with Modernization’s Grants team as they demonstrate the Grants Forecasting tool in Adaptive Planning for Grant Managers, PIs, and AFOs.

• Bursar’s Office: Student Collections Procedures

Are you involved in student registration, enrollment, or finances? Join the Collections/Student Accounts team in the Bursar’s Office as they cover student account information, define registration holds, explain available payment options, and cover WSU collections processes.

Interested in learning more about what the 2025 conference has to offer? View a complete list of sessions and descriptions on the Elevating Cougs website.

Elevating Cougs will be held virtually on October 22-23, 2025. Register now to secure your spot and begin building your personal conference schedule.

Questions? Reach out to the conference organizers at hrs.training@wsu.edu.