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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-07-10
Assign Asset Accounting Information

Assign Asset Accounting Information

  • Set up asset accounting. See Steps: Set Up Asset Accounting.
  • Configure the
    Asset Assign Accounting Event
     business process and security policy in these functional areas:
    • Business Asset Accounting
    • Business Asset Tracking
Upon asset registration, Workday creates the
Assign Asset Accounting Information
 task in My Tasks when:
  • You configure the
    Asset Assign Accounting Event
     business process.
  • Asset book rules populate an accounting treatment other than
    Expense
     on the asset.
This task enables you to manually change accounting information on capital assets:
  • Where the asset belongs.
  • The depreciable attributes in the primary book.
  • The residual value in the primary book.
For depreciable capital assets, you can change the depreciation profile and related attributes that Workday populates. You can also change the accounting treatment, spend category, location, and worktags for the asset.
For leased assets that you register from a supplier contract, you can modify
Asset Class
,
Asset Type
, and the accounting book information.
You can also select the
Business Asset
Change Accounting Information
 task from the related actions menu of an asset to:
  • Change assets that your asset book rule register as expensed assets to capital assets.
  • Update accounting treatment and information on capital assets.
You can change asset accounting information as long as:
  • You haven't processed any transfers or depreciation on the asset.
  • The asset status is
    Registered
    ,
    In Service
    , or
    Issued
    .
  1. Access the
    Assign Asset Accounting Information
     task in My Tasks.
  2. Complete the task:
    Option Description
    Spend Category
    Item
    To change the spend category, first change the item for the asset. Workday populates the spend category from the selected item.
    When
    Item
     is blank, you can select any spend category.
    You can't change the
    Item
     or
    Spend Category
     when the asset is from a supplier invoice line using a purchase item. Use the
    Reclassify Asset
     task to change the
    Item
     or
    Spend Category
     on this type of asset.
    For leased assets, you can't change the
    Item
     or
    Spend Category
    .
    Date Acquired
    The date when you acquire the asset. The document date automatically populates when the asset source is a receipt, supplier invoice, or supplier contract receipt line. It's the start of the useful life of an asset when the date placed in service option on the depreciation profile is
    Upon Acquisition
    .
    Cost
    Workday locks the cost after you submit it for approval and you can't change it until it's approved.
    You have to perform a cost adjustment to account for additional invoices or receipts.
    Accounting Treatment
    Drives how Workday accounts for an asset. You typically book expense assets to an income statement account and capital assets to a balance sheet account.
    Depreciation Profile
    Drives the
    Place In Service
     option and default values for the
    Depreciation Method
    ,
    Convention
    , and
    Useful Life
    . You can change these default values independently.
    Convention
    Workday uses the depreciation convention, along with the in-service date, to determine the depreciation start date of assets. The depreciation convention also impacts:
    • The depreciation start date for post-acquisition lifecycle events that use a depreciation adjustment option of
      Depreciation Convention
      .
    • The depreciation amount for the first and last periods of the asset useful life.
    Depreciation Adjustment Option
    Select the default depreciation adjustment option to populate on all post-acquisition lifecycle events that you perform on the asset.
    Asset Class
    Asset Type
    Business Use %
    You can specify these attributes to use for external reporting, where an asset tax class or property type is relevant. You can use the attributes in bonus depreciation rules. Workday populates values based on the specified spend category. However, the asset class or asset type you select on the
    Maintain Asset Shares
     task override the values you select here.
    Workday displays
    Asset Class
     and
    Asset Type
     in the
    Identification
     column because they apply across all company asset books.
    Coordinating Cost Center
    Workday populates the cost center from the
    Worktags
     prompt when it has a cost center worktag and you enable the functionality in your tenant.
    Select the
    Auto Populate Coordinating Cost Center
     check box in the
    Business Assets Options
     section on the
    Edit Tenant Setup - Financials
     task.
    Asset Coordinator
    Select the worker in possession of this asset.
    External Contract Number
    Workday populates the supplier contract number and start date from the contract when the business asset originates from a supplier contract line.
    External Contract Start/End Date
    The start and end dates of the supplier contract line for this asset. Workday requires contract dates for supplier contract-based assets.
    You can't modify the contract start date. You can optionally enter or modify the end date of the supplier contract or adjust the asset in service date.
    Location
    Identify the custodial information of where the asset belongs. Workday populates the
    Location
     from the value that you specify during asset registration.
    Worktags
    Use worktags as keywords to more easily classify and find transactions. Configure the allowed worktag types on the
    Maintain Worktag Usage
     task. When you select a worktag type that has related worktags, Workday automatically populates transactions with the related worktag values.
    When you enable optional worktag balancing on the
    Maintain Worktag Balancing Configuration
     task, Workday fully balances journal lines by optional balancing worktags. Journal lines automatically:
    • Inherit optional balancing worktags based on the worktag types selected.
    • Generate due to and due from entries to balance transactions.
    Supplier Invoice Line
    Identify the source of the spend booked to the ledger.
    If the asset registration occurs as part of the supplier invoice event, Workday automatically displays this value. If the source of the asset is the receipt event or manual registration, you can select the supplier invoice line.
    Asset Shares
    Displays the number of times you're sharing the asset costs. Click the number to drill down and view line detail about the shared cost.
Workday populates the accounting information that you enter on the asset in the primary asset book. For secondary asset books, Workday populates the accounting information from your asset book rules.
When the accounting treatment is depreciable capital, Workday creates a depreciation/amortization schedule with a depreciation/amortization line for each period.
If you reference a supplier invoice line, Workday creates accounting entries to move the spend booked to the ledger when both conditions are true:
  • The accounting treatment, spend category, location, or worktags on the asset differ from values on the supplier invoice line.
  • The accounting treatment on either the supplier invoice line or asset isn't
    Expense
    .
For lease contracts, Workday generates accounting from the supplier invoice.
To change depreciation information on assets in nonprimary asset books, use either the:
  • Change Accounting Information
     task for accounting books.
  • Change Asset Book Configuration
     task for nonaccounting books.
  • Update Asset Book Configuration
     web service operation for all nonprimary books.