Procurement Services Blog

Overview

The Supplier Administrator (SA) security role in Workday Finance provides the ability to create, modify, and delete supplier records within the University's enterprise supplier data. Because this role provides broad access to sensitive supplier information, the University has established governance controls to protect data integrity, reduce the risk of unauthorized access, prevent conflicts of interest, and help safeguard against fraud.

Overview

Supplier records in Workday Finance support purchasing and payment activities across the University. Because these records contain sensitive information—including legal business names, addresses, tax information, and banking/payment details—the University limits who can modify supplier information and monitors all changes to supplier records.

Effective Date: July 1, 2026

What Is Happening?

The University of Washington's customs broker, Expeditors International, is required to pay duties on behalf of UW to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) within seven days of a shipment's entry into the United States. To meet this federal requirement, Expeditors must receive complete and timely shipment information, including the applicable purchase order (PO) number.

We are pleased to announce an upcoming Workday enhancement that introduces improved Activity Comment functionality for Miscellaneous Payments (MPs) and Supplier Invoice Requests (SQs). This will be similar to the Activity Comment feature that is currently in production for Supplier Invoices and Supplier Invoice Adjustments.

Current Status:

Workday does not allow users to add notes or comments when a Miscellaneous Payment or Supplier Invoice Request is:

In collaboration with UW Information Technology (UW‑IT), a recent email security incident involving the suppliers@uw.edu account was fully contained at 2:00 PM on June 23, 2026. There is no ongoing risk from this account.

Procurement Services is taking the following actions:

What you need to know: 

Effective July 1, 2026, in compliance with new requirements enforced by the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA), the University will be implementing updated guidelines for ACH payments. These guidelines are meant to minimize exposure to ACH risk and protect the confidentiality of payee information. 

What’s Happening:

Starting June 15, 2026 – A new Field Advance assessment will be required to initiate a brand-new Field Advance. Field Advance “Spend Authorizations” will be approved once assessment scores have been reviewed by the Field Advance central office team. To pass the assessment, the requester and custodian must both obtain a passing score of 12 out of 12. 

The scores must be earned within the last year. For example, earn a minimum of 12 out of 12 on the assessment on August 3, 2026, and that score will be valid through August 2, 2027.

The University of Washington is pleased to highlight Supplier.io, our internal general business directory designed to support inclusive and strategic purchasing. This directory helps campus purchasers easily identify small, local, veteran-owned, and other diverse businesses that have registered and expressed interest in working with UW.

A new Workday Order From Connection, UWA ETHYL ALCOHOL, has been set up for Fisher Scientific Co LLC, to support placing orders for Decon Ethanol Alcohol items that are tax-exempt.