How Workday Drives Public Confidence with Modern, Transparent Financial Systems

Canadians expect transparency in how their tax dollars are managed. But achieving that requires modern, real-time financial analysis and reporting— a challenge for many federal departments still relying on legacy software platforms.

“Every dollar counts and it is important for financial controllership to be based on real-time data,” said Edward Charter, Workday Canada’s Country Leader. “In the current environment data must be extracted from legacy systems to be analyzed creating time lags and technical debt.”

In one Workday study of U.S. government technology use, 47% of respondents said they experienced delays in updating critical financial data due to manual processes. That lag makes it difficult for agencies to know which numbers to trust, and can undermine confidence in government stewardship. In an era of fiscal scrutiny, public accountability, and near-instant service expectations, agencies need systems that deliver accurate and timely financial insights.

That’s where Workday comes in. By unifying finance, procurement, and budget planning, Workday provides a single source of truth for all financial data.

Agencies can now drill from high-level budget reports down to individual transactions in seconds, spotting trends and anomalies to address issues before they escalate.

“Our platform provides access and visibility to clear, consistent reporting,” said Charter. “Agencies can produce data on how every dollar is spent, which is critical to building public confidence.”

Workday’s ERP system doesn’t just improve visibility — it makes responsible management easier. The technology automates manual reporting tasks, provides real-time analysis, and integrates compliance rules directly into financial workflows.

“The government is under pressure to do more with less,” said Charter. “Workday’s platform helps drive efficiency and streamlines operations while maintaining accountability.”

One key area of accountability is accounting. Across Canadian federal agencies, thousands of hours of accountant time is likely needed to reconcile transactions each month to verify charges and confirm they are legitimate.

Traditionally, this process is manual and time-consuming. It is also prone to error, which can undermine confidence in financial oversight. Workday’s AI capabilities can now handle the bulk of this reconciliation work automatically and identify unusual journal entries for closer review.

“AI can say, ‘These five journal entries need a closer look,’” said Rowan Miranda, Government Industry Managing Director, at Workday. “It doesn’t mean something is necessarily fraudulent, but it saves huge amounts of time and promotes accuracy.”

Expenses are another area where Workday’s AI capabilities shine. With Workday ERP, agencies can now audit all expense reports, instantly flagging anomalies and policy violations before payments are processed.

“AI can assign a risk score to each report,” said Miranda. “It highlights the highest-risk transactions and helps agencies promote compliance and transparency while saving time.”

Automation tools also strengthen confidence in the payment process. “Once an invoice is approved and processed in the system, it automatically connects to the payment workflow,” said Miranda. “This helps get the right amounts paid to the right parties on time, and every transaction is fully auditable from invoice to payment.”

By combining automation, insights, and secure financial workflows, Workday ERP empowers Canadian federal agencies to manage taxpayer dollars responsibly and builds trust in the government’s financial stewardship.

“Financial stewardship isn’t just about process efficiency,” said Miranda. “It’s about sound resource allocation decisions, stronger accountability, and building public confidence that taxpayer dollars are utilized as intended in public budgets.”