Encumbrances
Workday Encumbrances
1. Encumbrances in Workday are now called:
a. Commitments: A financial promise to spend money in the future. It is tied to the worktags on the requisition.
b. Obligations: Financial liability incurred by a Purchase order that requires payment in the future. Tied to the worktags on the PO.
2. A Purchase Requisition creates a Commitment.
3. A Purchase Order creates an Obligation.
4. The Commitment is relieved when the Purchase Order is created, which creates the Obligation.
5. An Obligation is also created when a Purchase Order is created without a requisition.
6. The Obligation is relieved when the Purchase Order is paid in full, or when the Purchase Order is closed.
7. When the Obligation is relieved, the Actuals are realized.
8. For more information, contact the Financials team.
Contact Kelly Taylor at kelly_taylor@byu.edu or (801) 422-7015 if you need to remove an encumbrance for any reason.
Year End Encumbrances
Encumbrances become important to many at year end as they make their final purchases using their remaining university allocated budget. Two deadlines are provided at year end to assure the proper posting of your encumbrance.
- Requisitions in Workday. Allow about 10 days for purchasing personnel to source your order and for your department approver to approve the order.
- Catalog orders in Workday. These orders just need to be approved by your department approver before 5:00 pm on the last day of the year.
If you have any unusual year end encumbrance needs contact Joel Christensen in the Budget office at (801) 422-3693.