SAP Concur announced TripLink admin controls, letting travel managers choose how integrated travel suppliers are presented and whether direct bookings are allowed or discouraged. It also announced Concur Tax Assurance by VATBox, Concur Detect by Oversight, and COVID-19 travel guidance in TripIt.
SAP Concur was ranked the #1 Leader in four of G2's Summer 2020 Grid Reports: Travel Management, Expense Management, Invoice Management, and Travel & Expense Management. More than 5,000 users provided reviews, with users especially appreciating compliance and expense automation features. G2 Director of Market Research Kara Kennedy said high market presence and strong user satisfaction ratings drove the top rankings.
A SAP Concur blog post offers T&E reporting strategy advice for healthcare organizations, including assembling a cross-functional team, collecting departmental data needs, and designing dashboards and scorecards. It lists five reports: mileage monitoring, duplicate spend identification, credit card reconciliation, healthcare attendee spending and workflow aging. The post says 11% of T&E spend for SAP Concur healthcare customers was categorized as mileage in 2020, replacing airfare as the third-largest spend area. The attendee spending report helps ensure amounts stay within per-attendee limits and addresses Sunshine Act reporting requirements.
SAP Concur published a blog post explaining how integrating accounts payable (AP) processes with enterprise ERP systems addresses three primary issues: siloed information, disparate systems, and error-prone manual processes. Citing an IDC report, the article notes that technologies like cloud, machine learning, and advanced analytics are transforming AP management, and positions SAP as a leader in worldwide cloud and SaaS ERP AR and AP applications. The integration enables near real-time data synchronization between SAP Concur and SAP systems with no manual interaction, improving visibility, reducing risk, and enhancing compliance.
SAP Concur published a blog post discussing the financial risks and compliance issues of self-reported mileage reimbursement. The article notes that self-reported mileage relies on an honor system, making it prone to errors or exaggeration, which increases company costs and potential fraud. Without receipts, it is difficult to verify accuracy or ensure compliance with tax and regulatory requirements. The article recommends automated mileage tracking tools like Concur Drive to accurately capture distance and routes, reducing overstatement, improving audit readiness, and establishing a culture of compliance.
SAP Concur blog discusses fraud challenges during the pandemic, citing ACFE report: typical fraud lasts 14 months, costing $8,300 per month, and 5% of annual revenues lost to fraud. Recommendations include random audits, AI/ML use, and reviewing unusual spend.
A SAP Concur blog post discusses the importance of a healthy corporate travel program. It notes that travel management processes can impact everything from employee satisfaction to budgets, compliance, payroll, taxes, and traveler safety, so it is critical that companies have a healthy travel program. This means ensuring full visibility into travel and expense management processes and data, as well as mechanisms for managing complex and changing internal policies and external regulatory requirements. The article suggests companies assess their travel programs, including data utilization, travel processes, compliance, and employee satisfaction. SAP Concur offers an online travel program asse…
A SAP Concur blog introduces its receipt digitization feature. Many countries have strict legal and tax requirements for digital receipt images, such as France requiring integrity and authenticity, and Spain requiring official certification. SAP Concur automates the process: after taking a photo of a paper receipt with ExpenseIt, back-end processes ensure the image is digitized and managed according to local legal standards, displaying a blue 'certified' icon and automatically adding it to the expense report workflow.
SAP Concur published an article advising CFOs to focus on employee spend management. Citing SAP customer data, it notes that many companies saw their expense category 'Other' grow by 58% from 2019 to 2020. The article recommends CFOs ask their teams three questions: whether the travel and expense solution easily connects to other financial systems, whether it makes compliance easy for employees and managers, and whether it tracks rogue spend. It also cites an EIU research report stating almost 75% of US respondents reported an increase in rogue spending by employees.
SAP Concur blog highlights that increasing employee-initiated spend channels complicate compliance and fraud risks. ACFE data shows asset misappropriation occurs in over 86% of occupational fraud cases with a median loss of $100,000, while financial statement fraud accounts for 10% of cases but a median loss of $954,000. Travel and expense is a major fraud area, with schemes including mileage padding, fake expenses, and unused airline tickets. Proactive data monitoring can reduce fraud losses by 33%.
SAP Concur case study shows a U.S. state accounting office transformed its paper-based reimbursement process into an automated, integrated travel and spend management system using Concur Travel and Concur Expense. The state's 70,000 employees benefit from mobile receipt upload, automatic mileage reimbursement, and automatic per diem calculation. 86% of users found approving reports easy, with approval taking no more than three days. The state also gained greater visibility into hotel spend through enhanced reporting, supporting more informed negotiation decisions.
A SAP Concur blog post provides an in-depth look at the concept of 'Duty of Care' in travel management. It defines it as an organization's legal obligation to protect employees from harm and details its application in travel scenarios, including risk assessment, risk avoidance, communication, and emergency preparedness. The article also discusses current challenges in travel risk management (like pandemics and extreme weather) and the role of technology (such as real-time data and cloud connectivity) in helping companies fulfill their duty of care.
Based on discussions with Accenture, SAP Concur team presents five predictions for corporate spend management: increased risk but better compliance, smarter spend governance, travel no longer a guessing game, improved employee experience, and confidence in growth. Data cited: spend violations increased 292% from 2019 to 2020, and 84% of companies have growth goals.
SAP Concur commissioned Wakefield Research to survey 100 U.S. finance managers and 1,000 U.S. business travelers in January 2022. 88% of finance managers said their company lost revenue over the past year because employees could not travel at pre-pandemic levels; 44% of travelers said their company needs more business travel to remain viable beyond 2022. 84% of finance managers said their company is less than completely prepared for a 2022 travel rebound, 98% saw more non-compliant expenses, and 89% of travelers admitted submitting questionable expenses averaging $3,397.
The pandemic has brought new spending categories and compliance challenges to higher education. 42% of finance and admin leaders struggle with new spending categories, and 41% are unsure how to manage unexpected expenses. CARES Act funding comes with compliance requirements; automated expense and invoice management provides real-time visibility and ensures compliance.
SAP Concur announced the availability of Concur Event Management by Groupize, a new solution extension that centralizes all aspects of meeting and event planning and management. It offers controls and compliance, duty of care, spend governance, and employee experience, and integrates with Concur Travel to simplify attendee registration and travel booking.
SAP Concur blog discusses three expense audit types: reactive, random, and 100% manual, citing an IDC report that Concur Invoice customers saw 46% more efficient invoice handling staff, 75% less invoice processing time, and 45% more efficient AP teams. It recommends optimizing audits by identifying exceptions, reducing exception trends, improving first-pass ratio, and increasing card adoption.
NEC deployed SAP Concur solutions to reduce travel and expense administration time by approximately 40%, achieving annual savings of ¥200 million (US$1.8 million). Employees can photograph receipts and submit via mobile app, with integration to TMCs, corporate credit cards, and GDS for booking. The e-Bunsho timestamp feature aids Japanese administrators in compliance. During a major earthquake in Taiwan, NEC used risk management features to confirm employee safety within hours, compared to two to three days previously.
SAP Concur published an article outlining four steps for financial services firms to manage compliance and fraud in travel and expense programs. It cites data: nearly 20% of T&E expenses fall outside policy; companies with anti-fraud controls experience 52% lower fraud instances and detect fraud 58% faster; 41% of respondents spend 50+ hours per month auditing expense reports. The article also references a FINRA action against a former Merrill Lynch broker and notes FCPA violations can carry up to $100,000 in criminal fines and 5 years imprisonment.
SAP Concur's blog notes that school districts using paper spreadsheets or hybrid systems to manage spending lack budget visibility, potentially leading to squandered resources, overworked personnel, and non-compliance. Automated systems can shorten reimbursement cycles, simplify compliance reporting, reduce fraud and waste, and help districts allocate resources more strategically.
A SAP Concur blog post cites data showing significant non-compliant corporate spend: 56% of organizations generally reimburse employees for out-of-policy spend, 52% of hotel and air bookings are made outside corporate channels, $19 billion of spend was labeled 'other' in 2019 by SAP Concur customers, and 20% of companies say they cannot recover VAT due to complex procedures. The post says employee spend is the second largest cost next to payroll, and notes that supplier-employee direct relationships, numerous booking channels, employees not waiting for formal processes, and COVID-19 and remote-work expenses falling outside policy make spend hard to track. It also cites ACFE data that during…
A SAP Concur blog post notes that travel-related expenses are often the second-largest line item on a business's budget behind payroll, so efficiencies here can deliver significant returns. It proposes four small T&E process changes that can be made in 2019: first, enable Expense Assistant to automatically create an expense report and fill it with incoming expenses, either monthly or by trip; second, use the Missing Receipt Declaration function to capture missing receipts with a signed affidavit and use the Missing Receipt Audit Report to catch repeat offenders; third, update the receipt policy to disallow submitting an e-receipt or travel reservation without card data, and vice versa, to r…
An SAP Concur blog post notes that employee-initiated spend has shifted from company control to employee control, causing havoc on managed travel and expense programs. It cites a Phocuswright study showing only 36% of surveyed travelers use their approved corporate booking tool to book hotels, airfare, and rental cars, resulting in significant 'invisible spend.' SAP Concur processed 238 million such transactions worth nearly $109 billion last year. The article advises CFOs to improve spend visibility to save costs, enhance compliance, mitigate fraud, and improve supplier negotiation positions.
A SAP Concur blog post cites an IDC white paper finding that eight interviewed businesses improved their AP processes with Concur Invoice: staff time on invoice processing fell 68%, employee compliance rose to nearly 100%, late payments to vendors dropped 67%, line-of-business productivity rose 11%, and IT staff time managing AP solutions fell 29%. The white paper also projects annual benefits of $775,401 per organization ($15,418 per 1,000 invoices) and a 505% ROI over five years.
This SAP Concur blog post lists six questions businesses should consider before expanding internationally: market advantages, regulatory hurdles, local needs, product fit, assumptions (like internet speed), and readiness to start over. It emphasizes that cloud-based tools can help small businesses handle tax and compliance, and suggests hiring local experts to navigate cultural and legal differences.
A SAP Concur blog post discusses expense fraud and compliance challenges for global businesses. It cites an Oversight Systems study finding that 37% of business travelers had at least one exception on their T&E reports, and estimates the typical organization loses 5% of annual revenues to fraud each year. It recommends distinguishing real fraud from unintentional mistakes, using corporate card programs, receipt requirements, and communication plans to reduce errors and focus on actual fraud. It also suggests zero-tolerance policies, third-party audits, and random checks.
A SAP Concur blog explains that T&E stands for travel and expense, a major operational cost. It says T&E expense management is considered the second-most difficult operating cost to control, 80% of organizations still rely on manual processes, and almost 20% of T&E expenses fall outside policy. Knowing real spend can help negotiate lower supplier prices, avoid duplicate or fraudulent expenses, and speed employee reimbursement.
An IDC study commissioned by SAP Concur interviewed seven organizations using SAP Concur solutions, with an average employee size of 1,906. IDC calculates an average benefit of $1.96 million per customer per year ($97,447 per 100 users) and a 650% ROI over three years. Benefits come from less time planning travel and completing reports, lower support staffing, better compliance and audit efficiency, and analytics-driven savings. The article also lists a five-stage TEM maturity model.
A SAP Concur blog cites customer cases saying mobile solutions let employees complete expense reports by taking photos. An IDC report found employees using modern T&E solutions cut travel booking time by 78% and expense report completion time by 60%, with 62% more employees compliant with policy. IDC calculates $1.96 million in average annual benefits per SAP Concur customer and a 650% three-year ROI. The article also says mobile apps can support duty of care by alerting employees to emergencies.
A SAP Concur blog says smaller universities and community colleges often waste time and resources on manual processes and lack spend visibility. It lists six benefits of automating AP, travel, and expense: eliminating paper, faster reimbursement, actionable data, adoption and compliance, traveler safety, and reduced fraud and waste. It cites a Kelton study saying manual-system institutions spend over five extra hours per expense report and over two extra hours per invoice, and a 2018 ACFE survey saying 18% of higher-ed fraud comes from expense reimbursement schemes.
A SAP Concur blog says companies devote an average of 10% of budget to employee travel and expense, and a formal policy provides reimbursement guidance and real-time budget visibility. It cites Oversight data saying 37% of business travelers had at least one exception on their expense reports and the typical company loses at least 5% of annual revenue to fraud. It lists key policy components including purpose, booking guidelines, reimbursable items, limits, documentation, approval workflow, company cards, tax compliance, and technology.
A SAP Concur blog describes four types of expense report fraud: mischaracterized expenses, falsified claims, inflated claims, and multiple claims. It cites ACFE data saying a typical organization loses 5% of annual revenue to fraud, averaging $8,300 per month; a May 2022 survey found 51% of businesses discovered more fraud since the pandemic and 71% expect fraud cases to increase over the next year. It recommends anti-fraud strategy, clear expense policy, mobile apps, and finance automation.
On May 19, 2016, the 'Fireside Chat' salon hosted by Jlunet was held in Beijing to discuss innovation opportunities in business travel. Guests from China Southern Airlines, CWT, and others focused on service, finance, technology, and big data. Topics included MICE potential, tech innovation reducing costs, and compliance risk control.