Workday Roll Forward Balance Tips Every Finance Team Needs
If you have ever opened up your balance sheet in Workday after year end and thought something looks off, you are definitely not alone.
There is one step that gets skipped more often than people think. It is called rolling forward balances. Seems simple, right? But in Workday, it is not as straightforward as other systems.
Let’s get into the real stuff.
What Rolling Forward Means in Workday
Your balance sheet tells the financial story from the beginning of time. So when you close out one year, that ending balance needs to become the beginning balance of the next. In Workday, that is a manual task called Roll Forward Year-End Balance.
But here is the thing. Workday does not roll forward everything in one sweep. You have to run the roll forward for each of the following:
- Your main fiscal schedule
- Any alternate fiscal schedules
- Translated balances
- Non-controlling interest if you have it
If you skip one of these, your beginning balances will not be right, and that throws off everything downstream in your reports.
Alternate Fiscal Schedules Might Be Rare But They Matter
Most companies stick to one fiscal calendar. But some need to report on both a fiscal year and a calendar year. One client of mine, for example, closes their books on September 30 but needs to report by calendar year for audit purposes.
That setup uses an alternate fiscal schedule in Workday. And yes, it means you must run the roll forward for each schedule separately.
You cannot assume one roll forward covers them all. It is a simple step to forget, but it has a big impact when left out.
Why Translated Balances Are Always a Good Idea
A lot of clients tell me they only use one currency, so they skip the translated balances. My advice is always the same. Run it anyway.
Translated balances are required if you have multiple currencies, but they are also the only fields in Workday reporting that pick up non-controlling interest.
Back when I was on the client side, we had everything running smoothly with regular Ledger Budget Balance fields. Then we acquired a company and added non-controlling interest. Suddenly, our reports made no sense.
After way too much time investigating, I found that the standard fields just do not calculate non-controlling interest. I ended up rewriting ninety reports. Ninety.
Since then, I always use the translated balance fields, no matter what. It is just safer that way.
What Is Non-Controlling Interest
Non-controlling interest shows up when you acquire or partially own another company. Say you own 80 percent of a subsidiary. The remaining 20 percent is considered non-controlling interest.
Even if your company does not deal with this now, it could in the future. If your reporting fields are not ready for it, you will be in for a surprise. Translated balance fields take care of it. That is why I recommend always including them.
You Can Run Roll Forward More Than Once
This is a common misunderstanding. Many people think you run Roll Beginning Balances once and you are done.
Not true. You can run it multiple times, as long as the period is still open. This is especially helpful if your year-end close takes a month or two, and you are posting adjusting journal entries along the way.
Every time you post adjustments, run the roll forward again. Workday will simply overwrite the previous data. It keeps your beginning balances current and correct.
When I was doing this in accounting, it sometimes took us until March to fully close the year. That meant rerunning the roll forward several times, and that was completely normal.
Common Mistakes I See with Clients
Here are the two big ones that come up the most:
- Forgetting to run the roll forward for alternate fiscal schedules
- Skipping the translated balances roll forward because they assume it does not apply
Both of these will throw your reports off. The numbers might look fine on the surface, but the underlying data will be wrong. That is the kind of thing that leads to audit issues or leadership asking tough questions you cannot easily answer.
My Best Practices for Rolling Forward in Workday
Use this checklist as your go to process each year:
- Run the Roll Forward Year-End Balance task for every fiscal schedule
- Always include translated balances
- Include non-controlling interest if it is relevant
- Re run the task after every set of adjusting entries
- Build reports using translated fields from the start
- Add these tasks to your close checklist so nothing gets missed
Final Thoughts
The concept of rolling forward balances is basic accounting. But Workday adds a layer of complexity that trips up even experienced teams.
You cannot assume Workday works the same as your old system. It requires intention and a few extra steps to make sure everything moves forward cleanly.
If there is one thing I hope you take away, it is this: always run the roll forward for every schedule, always include translated balances, and do not be afraid to rerun it as often as you need. Your future self will thank you.
You got this.
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