The Workday Team presents a special edition newsletter especially for Cost Center Managers. Please read and ensure you are following these instructions particularly as reassignments for the spring semester are being processed.
Reminder and General Guidance
Costing Allocations control what cost center accounts are funding a worker position (base salary) and worker position earning (additional compensation) during a specific period (start date to end date). Putting an end date on a costing allocation does not prevent a worker from getting paid.
An active worker is paid based upon compensation dates for salaried workers and timesheets for hourly workers. Therefore, the best practice is to leave the last segment in a costing allocation without an end date to avoid inadvertently charging the stopgap cost center account. An end date should only be added to a costing allocation segment when the funding will change, (i.e. distribution of payment from cost center accounts changes or the cost center accounts are ending.)
Do’s and Dont’s
Do Not Erase Historical Costing Instructions
When extending a job or assigning costing allocations ad-hoc, do NOT delete or over-write historical costing allocation segments. There is evidence that cost center segments are getting overwritten and erroneously wiping out historical costing allocations and leaving gaps.
It is permissible to edit costing for a previous period (this will trigger a cost transfer); however, users should not remove previous date ranges from the costing allocation screen.
For example, when extending a student position who worked in the fall into the spring semester, the assign costing allocation step will display the previous semester’s costing allocations. Do not delete any rows here, instead either:
(1) Add a new costing allocation segment if the funding is changing and end the previous costing effective the date prior to the start of the new costing or;
(2) Blank out the end date from the current costing allocation to leave the funding open-ended using the same account that was funding the fall job.
Always Ensure that No Gaps in Dates Exist in the Costing Allocations
Costing allocations must be continuous without gaps between costing segments. Gaps between costing allocation segments or a gap between the position start date and a payroll run will result in accounting errors that can only be corrected manually by payroll. Cost Center Managers should always ensure that costing allocation segments are continuous from the position start date through the future open ended costing allocation. Note: Positions that were converted from legacy must have continuous costing allocations starting with 11/1/2018.
Funded By Manager
Remember to always ensure that the position’s organizational assignments indicate all equivalent Funded By organizations for the cost centers that will be used in the costing allocations. Without the equivalent Funded By organizations reflected, staffing transactions will not route to the appropriate roles.
Cost Center Manager Virtual Lab, Jan. 17, 2 pm to 3 PM
This Virtual Lab is targeted to Cost Center Managers and will focus on some best practices to avoid gaps in funding. The lab will cover how to do a transfer, making sure costing is correct, and correcting costing through a stand alone costing allocation. HR Roles are also welcome to attend to learn about transfers.
Attend online via Zoom at https://utexas.zoom.us/j/902879855
Related Materials:
Costing and Funding Process Overview
Assign Costing Allocations Instructional Guide
Guide to Workday Costing Allocations Errors & Corrections (a guide to preventing errors)