When it comes to managing your organization’s Workday system, preparing for year-end activities isn’t just a “nice-to-have”—it’s critical for ensuring smooth operations as you transition into the new year. From payroll processes to ensuring scheduled reports continue without interruption, proper preparation can save you from last-minute stress and unexpected delays. Based on my experience as a Workday consultant, I’ve identified some key insights, challenges to look out for, and practical tips to help you successfully prepare for year-end activities.
Why Prepping for Year-End Matters
Many organizations underestimate how much needs to happen to ensure a smooth transition between years. Here are just a few essential reasons why year-end preparation matters for Workday users:
- Business Continuity: Scheduled processes like automated reports, integrations, and time tracking need to be updated for the new year to prevent disruptions to daily operations.
- Compliance: Accurate configuration for government-mandated reporting, such as W-2 processing, ensures you stay compliant with strict deadlines.
- Stress Reduction: A proactive year-end plan eliminates reactive “fire drills” that cause unnecessary delays, stress, and team burnout.
When these processes fail, employees find themselves unable to request time off, team members don’t get vital reports, and payroll compliance deadlines become a scramble. This preparation isn’t just about ticking off boxes—it sets your business up for success.
Common Risks of Neglecting Year-End Prep
What happens if your systems aren’t ready? Here are the biggest risks we see businesses face when they don’t prepare:
- Missed Payroll Deadlines: For Workday Payroll users, W-2 forms must be filed and delivered by the government’s January 31 deadline. Without completing year-end configurations, businesses risk non-compliance, potential fines, and frustrated employees.
- Cross-Team Impact: Key data often feeds into other functions. If these fail, multiple departments—like finance or HR—might face disruptions in their work, which can cascade into broader operational inefficiencies.
- Disrupted Automations: Scheduled reports and integrations may stop running if schedules aren’t extended into the next year, resulting in missing data for those who rely on them.
- Unnecessary Urgency: Manual fixes on missed tasks in early January disrupt operations and increase workload, defeating the efficiency that solutions like Workday are designed to provide.
3 Tips for Successful Year-End Preparations
To help you manage this process more effectively, here are my top three tips for Workday users:
1. Create a Comprehensive Checklist
A checklist ensures you leave no stone unturned. Include all relevant modules like payroll, time tracking, and integrations. Some critical tasks to add to your checklist are:
- Time Tracking: Ensure new calendars are created and employees can request time off in the new year.
- Payroll and W2 Configurations: Update configurations and test processes thoroughly to avoid errors during government reporting.
- Scheduled Reports and Integrations: Use Workday’s tools (like “scheduled future processes”) to review all automated tasks and extend expiration dates to prevent failures.
2. Start Early
The earlier you start, the better. November and early December are ideal times to audit your systems, confirm everything is mapped correctly, and resolve outstanding issues. Once the holiday season begins, time feels scarce, making it harder to focus on these tasks. Aim to complete these processes before the year-end rush intensifies.
3. Test and Audit
Once your configurations are updated, run tests wherever possible. Even if everything looks good on paper, testing is critical. Test W2 mappings, scheduled reports, and time-off calendars to ensure accuracy. Auditing your systems will help you catch errors early and prevent unexpected problems down the road.
Avoiding Common Oversights
While year-end activities are important, it’s easy to overlook critical tasks. Some common mistakes include:
- Overlooking Data Mappings: For government reporting like W2s, make sure all data is correctly mapped so it appears in the right places.
- Neglecting Peripheral Processes: While payroll is the centerpiece, don’t forget about auxiliary systems like scheduled reports or time-off calendars—both of which play vital roles in daily operations.
- Last-Minute Fixes: Leaving everything to the last minute rarely ends well. Early preparation and thorough audits are your best defenses against errors.
Success Story: Turning Proactive Planning into Wins
Recently, I worked with a client who had always approached year-end tasks reactively. When issues arose, they would scramble to fix them mid-process, leading to inefficiencies and frustrated employees. Collaborating with their team, I introduced a tailored year-end checklist for their Workday system.
The result? Their finance and payroll teams reported the smoothest year-end close they’d experienced, with no disruptions or negative feedback. Not a single urgent ticket flooded their system, and their executives were delighted with the seamless transition into the new year.
Proactive preparation made a significant difference, saving time and lowering stress for everyone involved.
The Bigger Picture
Preparing for year-end isn’t just about ticking off tasks in Workday—it’s about ensuring smooth workflows, empowering your team, and maintaining your organization’s reputation. Whether you’re a seasoned Workday user or new to the system, proactive management will always yield better results.
If your organization needs support with these processes, partnering with Workday AMS partners, such as Syssero, can make all the difference. With expert Workday consultants by your side, tasks like payroll configuration, process auditing, and integrations become much easier to manage.
Need Help?
Contact us today to learn how we can help your team prepare for year-end.
Preparing now will save you time and resources later—so don’t wait. Optimize your Workday system today for future success!