Fiscal Transactions

Payroll Costing Allocations

Follow the Assign Costing Allocation guide in the SMPH Fiscal KnowledgeBase for the steps and Workday job aid to enter funding for new and existing employees, or to update the position restriction funding (formerly “default funding”), lump sums, or Temporary Work Allowance (TWA). Monitor costing allocations and position restriction funding using Workday Reports (XLSX).

Payroll Accounting Adjustments

• For FY26 and after payroll expense transfers, follow the Payroll Accounting Adjustment guide for process steps and Workday job aids.
• For FY25 or earlier payroll expense transfers, follow UW–Madison’s Pre-Workday Payroll Accounting Adjustments (DOCX) process. UW departments should send files to their SMPH Fiscal Accountant.

Purchasing

• Catalog orders are the recommended and fastest way to purchase goods. Using university contracts with established vendors provides pre-determined pricing, terms, and discounts — ensuring the best overall value for the university. Learn how to place catalog orders.
• Non-catalog orders are requisitions used to purchase goods or services that are not available through the university’s pre-negotiated “catalog” contracts. Learn how to place non-catalog orders.
• Purchases from UW Hospitals and Clinics or UW Medical Foundation are completed through the Internal Work Order process.
• Purchases under $5,000 from an external vendor use Direct Payment (DP) or Payment to Individual Report (PIR).
• Individual Purchasing Cards and Department Purchasing Cards (p-cards), and Shared Liability Cards allow purchases under $5,000. Learn how to request a card, submit the card receipts, and related topics.

Payments to Students

• There are multiple acceptable systems to process payments to students at UW–Madison. Choosing the correct method for each circumstance is essential to ensure accurate treatment and reporting for both the student and the university. Learn about methods of student payments.

Gifts

Refer to the SMPH Fiscal KB for information on how to deposit donations and process gifts at the university or gifts held at the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association (WFAA).

External Billing

To create a non-sponsored billing to external customers, including UW Health, for the sale of goods or services, follow the Customer Accounts process.

• UW Health – Medical School Transfers
• UW Health – Other
• All other External Entities

If you are billing for a sponsored project, contact RSP. For clinical trial billing, reach out to your department billing contact.

Internal Billing

To bill other university departments for sales of goods or services, follow the Internal Service Delivery process.

Signature Authority is the process for department financial staff to be authorized to sign various financial documents for processing. Please review SMPH Fiscal’s Department Signature Authority procedure to be setup with signature authority in your department.

System Access (Not listed in any categories above)

Contact information for Transactions Team is available on the Contact Us page.

• WISER (send to Heather Richter)
• Assetworks (send to Pat Timmerman)
• HRS Access (send request to centralhrops@med.wisc.edu) 
• UW Foundation Access (send request to Heather Richter)
• 90 Day Account Exception Plans (send to Heather Richter)

• SMPH reimburses travelers for expenses incurred while traveling on university business. UW–Madison and UW Health-funded travelers should use the Travel Guidance Tool to understand policies and prepare for reimbursement. Lack of policy awareness is not a justification for exceptions, per campus guidelines.
• Departments must have an approver to approve their department’s expense report. A site manager approver form must be sent to Carla Fischer in order to be set up as an approver, in addition to completing mandatory campus expense reimbursement approver training.

All documentation generated for UWF transfers (Check Requests, Accounting Transfers, Reinvestment Requests) is done through WFAA’s Gift and Fund Management website. To obtain access, please email Heather Richter with supervisor approval and department range for setup.

UWF Transfers to 233

Gift Deposit Routing Forms and Check Requests are generated by the department and submitted to the SMPH divisional fiscal office for approval and processing. These are to move funds to UWF-sponsored 233 accounts. Please reference the submission process below.

UWF Payment to vendors

UWF funds can be used to pay invoices for non-allowable costs on UW funding sources (ex. Alcohol and bar services). A Check Request is generated and routed with payment information (invoice, agenda, attendee list, etc.) to the SMPH divisional fiscal office for approval and processing. Please reference the submission process below.

Accounting Transfers

A request to move funds between UWF accounts is submitted utilizing an Accounting Transfer request. This is submitted to the SMPH divisional office for approval and processing. Please reference the submission process below.

Reinvestment Requests

Reinvestment Requests are done to move funds within a UWF account (ex. Expendable cash is put back into an endowment to generate more funds). Several accounts have different types of restrictions on reinvestment, so please be sure to work with UWF staff on allowability before submission. The reinvestment request is routed to the SMPH divisional fiscal office for approval and processing. Please reference the submission process below. 

Email smphfiscal@med.wisc.edu for current submission process instructions