Connect Workday to Expensify
Connect Workday to Expensify
Connect Workday to your Expensify workspace to automatically sync employees and approval workflows. After the initial setup, Expensify keeps your workspace up to date with daily employee syncs.
Once connected, the integration can:
- Add new employees to your Expensify workspace.
- Update approval workflows based on manager relationships in Workday.
- Remove terminated employees from the workspace.
- Automatically sync employee data every day.
Who can connect Workday to Expensify
To connect Workday, you must:
- Be a Workspace Admin on a Control workspace in Expensify.
- Be an administrator in Workday.
- Ensure every employee in Workday has a work email address.
- Have HR enabled under More features in the workspace.
Workday syncs employees to one Expensify workspace. If your organization uses multiple workspaces, choose the workspace you want to sync before connecting Workday.
How to connect Workday to Expensify
- In the navigation tabs (on the left on web, on the bottom on mobile), select Workspaces.
- Click the workspace you want to connect to Workday.
- In the left menu, select HR.
- Next to Workday, click Connect.
- In the connection window that opens, sign in with your Workday administrator account and authorize Expensify to access your Workday account.
- Wait for the initial connection to complete.
- After the connection is established, Workday displays a green status indicator.
- Click the green status indicator, then click Complete setup.
- Choose which Workday data to sync with this workspace, then click Save.
- Wait for the initial sync to complete.
Note: During the initial sync, you’ll see a Your connection is syncing message. The initial sync can take several minutes to complete, especially for larger Workday accounts, so keep the page open until the sync finishes.
What happens after you connect Workday to Expensify
After the initial sync finishes:
- The Workday connection displays the Last synced timestamp.
- Active employees in Workday are added to the workspace.
- Employees who don’t already have an Expensify account receive an email invitation to finish setting up their account.
- The Members tab displays synced employees.
- You can configure the workspace’s Approval mode and Final approver from the HR page.
Expensify also runs a daily auto-sync to keep employee data up to date:
- Employee information and manager relationships are updated to match Workday.
- Terminated employees in Workday are removed from the workspace automatically.
How to configure the approval mode for Workday
After the initial sync, choose how expense reports are routed for approval.
- Basic Approval — All employees submit reports to a single final approver.
- Manager Approval — Employees submit reports to their direct manager from Workday before the final approver.
- Custom Approval — Employees are synced from Workday, but approval workflows are managed manually in Expensify.
Changes to Approval mode and Final approver are made from the HR page.
What happens to approval workflows after connecting Workday
When Basic approval or Manager approval is selected:
- The Approvals setting under Workflows is locked on.
- The page displays Configure via Workday.
- Approval workflows must be managed from the Workday connection settings instead of the Workflows page.
When Custom approval is selected:
- Approval workflows remain editable in Workflows.
- You can manage approval routing manually in Expensify.
How to manually refresh the Workday sync
After connecting Workday, a daily auto-sync runs to keep your workspace members up to date with Workday. You can also refresh the sync manually.
To refresh the sync manually:
- In the navigation tabs (on the left on web, on the bottom on mobile), select Workspaces.
- Click the name of the workspace connected to Workday.
- In the left menu, click HR.
- Click Workday.
- Select the three dots (⋮), then click Sync now.
- Wait for the sync to complete. The sync results will display a summary of any changes.
Manual syncs are limited to two per day. If you’ve reached the limit, you’ll see You’ve reached your sync limit for the day.
How to disconnect Workday from Expensify
- In the navigation tabs (on the left on web, on the bottom on mobile), select Workspaces.
- Click the name of the workspace connected to Workday.
- In the left menu, click HR.
- Click Workday.
- Select the three dots (⋮), then click Disconnect.
- Confirm by clicking Disconnect again.
Disconnecting Workday stops future employee syncs and unlocks the Approvals setting so approval workflows can be managed in Expensify again. Existing workspace members remain in the workspace.
FAQ
Can I sync employees to different Expensify workspaces?
No. Workday syncs all employees to a single Expensify workspace. You must choose one workspace when connecting.
Why were some employees skipped during sync?
Employees may be skipped if they do not have a work email address in Workday, or if they are not active employees. The sync results panel will provide specific reasons for each skipped employee.
Will my employees receive a notification when synced?
Yes. Each synced employee that is newly invited to a workspace receives a welcome email at their work email address with account setup instructions.
Why is Workday connected but my employees haven’t synced?
Connecting Workday authorizes the integration. To start importing employees, click the green status indicator, select Complete setup, choose the data to sync, and click Save.
Why can’t I sync Workday again today?
Manual syncs are limited to two per day. If you’ve already synced twice, the next sync runs automatically the following day.
