Washington State University is once again recognized for its continued leadership in modernizing financial and administrative operations through Workday.
On Oct. 12, representatives from WSU’s Modernization team accepted the “Finance for the Future” award during Workday’s annual Rising Higher Education Industry Innovation Awards. It is the second time the university has been honored for its use of the enterprise business platform.
“This year’s award underscores WSU’s leadership and continued focus on improving its business processes,” said Matt Skinner, vice president for Finance and Business Services. “Our team is not only advancing efficiency and innovation across the university but also helping shape the future of business technology in higher education.”
The award nomination highlights WSU’s leadership of an industry advisory committee focused on designing and implementing Workday tools across the sector.
Created as a hub for institutions to explore, develop, and implement solutions, the committee initially brought together representatives from five other institutions, including Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas. The group has since grown to more than 660 members nationwide, extending its role in supporting responsible technology adoption.
Additionally, WSU’s Modernization team has collaborated directly with Workday to test and develop new capabilities. That work is taking shape through new functions such as “Expense Protect,” to help expense approvers identify potential duplicate reimbursements.
“Workday Expense Protect boosts confidence in our travel expense processes, upholding WSU’s commitment to integrity and responsible financial stewardship,” said Gerik Kimble, executive director for Modernization. “The tool is designed to provide assurance to our units and travelers that duplicate expenses are not accidentally submitted.”
The feature compares new expense reports with submissions from the previous six months and flags possible duplicates based on the amount, date, and payee. By quickly reviewing thousands of reports, it can surface errors or issues that might otherwise take hours to identify.
The Modernization team has also introduced “Accounting Center,” which expands integration and reporting capabilities for university tuition revenue. Through its partnership with Workday and the international accounting firm Deloitte, WSU became one of the first higher education institutions to deploy the functionality. The project was made possible through collaboration and participation from Modernization, ITS, the Controller’s Office, the Bursar’s Office, Institutional Research, the Budget Office, and others.
“The Accounting Center project highlights WSU’s ability to innovate and think differently,” Kimble said. “By adapting Workday Accounting Center, a solution originally designed for corporate organizations, WSU is able to account for tuition revenue and waivers directly in Workday with greater visibility.”
These advances build on WSU’s transition to Workday in 2021, an effort that sought to modernize and streamline payroll, finance, human resources, and administrative processes across the university system. Previously, WSU relied on paper-based processes and computer-based Administrative Information Systems (AIS) developed in the 1970s, which carried a significant administrative burden.
Since launch, the enterprise system has played an integral role in developing a new institutional budget model and process by improving data transparency, point-in-time reporting, and financial planning.
“Over the last five years, WSU has fundamentally transformed its finance and business processes and is helping define what modern operations can look like at a modern land-grant university,” Skinner said.
“This award recognizes the sustained commitment of teams across the university to embrace innovation, adapt institutional processes, and build a strong foundation of financial and operational excellence that will continue to serve WSU well into the future.”
