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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Concept: Expense Item Attributes

Concept: Expense Item Attributes

You can add attributes on expense items so that payees provide additional information on expense reports and spend authorizations.
You can use configurable attributes to collect company-specific information. You can also use Workday-delivered attributes, some of which you create specific values for. Example: You create a list of airline companies for the
Airline
 attribute. See Reference: Expense Item Attribute Values.
You can also add attributes on rate tables and make these attributes available to payees. Workday uses the attribute information that payees provide to calculate reimbursement. Example: You add the
Destination Location
 attribute on your
Hotel
 expense item. When payees select a destination, Workday calculates reimbursement using location-based rates on the associated rate table.

Configurable Attributes

You can use the
Enable Configurable Expense Item Attributes
 task to customize up to 5 each of certain expense item attribute types, such as:
Attribute Type
Example
Boolean
You rename
Configurable Boolean 1
 to
Missing Receipt
so that payees can specify when expense reports don't include receipts.
Don't set configurable boolean attributes as required on expense transactions.
Date
You rename
Configurable Date 1
 to
Payment Date
 so that payees can specify the date on which they pay in advance for team events.
Date-type configurable attributes don't activate travel journal functionality on per diem expense items. To generate travel journals, use the Workday-delivered
Arrival Date
 and
Departure Date
 attributes.
Numeric
You rename
Configurable Numeric 1
 to
Number of Guests
 so that payees can specify how many nonworkers attend a team event.
Text
You rename
Configurable Text 1
 to
Tax ID
 so that payees can provide additional tax information.

Map Attributes

To populate data on expense transactions automatically, you can map some attributes to merchant code names and travel cities that originate from:
  • Credit card transactions.
  • Travel booking records.

Group Attributes

You can use the
Maintain Expense Item Attribute Groups
 task to group values for some expense item attributes. Workday then displays the grouped values on attribute prompts on expense transactions.
Examples:
  • You create a
    French Travel
     attribute group for the attributes that you want payees to select from when they travel to France.
  • Your company negotiates room rates with multiple hotel chains. You create a
    Preferred Company Hotels
     attribute group that payees can select from on their expense reports.

Delete Attributes

You can use the
Edit Expense Item
 task to delete attributes from existing expense items. On the task, clear the
Expense Report: Display to User
 and
Spend Authorization: Display to User
 check boxes, which remove attributes from future expense transactions. When you delete attributes, Workday doesn't remove attribute values from existing expense transactions.