Workday is a leading provider of cloud applications for finance and is used in Universities across the world. Workday will provide one central financial system for the entire UCD community.
Please note: UCD Finance will never ask you to send your bank details over email.
General FAQs
The programme aims to transform finance in UCD by working with our colleagues to identify the services needed and to design and implement effective processes and modern collaborative ways of working to deliver those services. As part of the transformation programme, we will introduce a modern finance system that will allow us to meet those needs efficiently and to offer enhanced value-added services.
Click here to learn more about our new finance system and how this will improve our current ways of working.
On the morning of the 8th July 2025.
We are here to assist you. We know that questions will arise especially in the early days of processing financial transactions in Workday, and that’s why we have a comprehensive training offering, and a dedicated support team. If you have completed your training and reviewed the FAQ and your question persists, please contact the Finance Service Desk via (opens in a new window)finance.systems@ucd.ie
One of the benefits of Workday is to standardise processes across the organisation as much as possible. While some elements may function differently from eFinancials, it is designed and configured to support best practice. Any changes to Workday will only be made where absolutely essential to business operations.
We understand that this is an adjustment however Workday brings in improvements that support how UCD is growing. Rather than having Workday replicate previous ways of working, we are focused on helping everyone transition to the new processes which are designed for improved governance and efficiency.
It may take time to adapt to Workday but it is really important that we use the system as it has been designed. Over time with the right training and support, new processes will feel more familiar and natural.
It is a self-service resource providing articles and access to documents about the Finance Office services. It is the primary location for support articles, step guides, Frequently Asked Questions etc. about Workday. The KnowledgeBase is being added to continuously as new queries are raised or gaps identified.
Access & Approvals
- All UCD employees with an active UCD Connect account and Personnel number automatically have access to Workday.
- External Examiners with an active UCD Connect Account will also be automatically provisioned with a Workday Account.
- Persons outside of the above cohorts who require access to Workday to complete the responsibilities of their role can apply for a Workday Account via (opens in a new window)finance.systems@ucd.ie
- Graduate Research Students can submit a 'Systems Access Request' via the Campus menu in InfoHub.
- Other students and sponsored affiliates (V numbers) with a requirement for a Workday account can submit requests (authorised by the HOS/HOSI/HORI/Project Owner) to (opens in a new window)finance.sytems@ucd.ie
Access roles include:
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‘View Only’: Access to reports, profiles, and other informational screens.
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‘Initiation’: The ability to start business processes and tasks.
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‘Approval’: The ability to approve business processes and tasks.
Worktags act like tags, attaching labels to transactions to provide context and help identify the school, unit or project associated with the costs.
No, it is not possible for any individual to initiate and approve the same transaction.
No, it is not possible for any individual to initiate and approve the same transaction.
No, the employee claimant must initiate their own expense reports in Workday; this task cannot be delegated.
The transaction is automatically forwarded for approval to the tier approver/approvers based on the chosen 'worktag', such as a cost centre. It will not automatically go to your line manager.
No, students (including PhD students) cannot approve transactions unless they are also employees of UCD with an active UCD Connect Staff Account.
For more information, please view our detailed (opens in a new window)Access and Approval Guide.
Buying, Expenses and Payments
No, we have moved all expenses claims to an online process via Workday.
An expense report is terminology in Workday for an individual's expense claim.
For more information, please view our detailed (opens in a new window)Workday Expenses Detailed FAQs.
If your bank is located outside of Ireland, you will need to contact
(opens in a new window)finance.systems@ucd.ie
to have the default country and currency changed on your payment elections. Please include the country it needs to be changed to and the currency to be applied to your payment elections.
Once Finance Systems has updated your default country and currency you can enter your Payment Elections.
Once Finance Systems has updated your default country and currency you can enter your Payment Elections.