The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted global business travel, forcing TMCs to rethink pricing models, such as shifting from transaction fees to management fees. Travel costs are expected to rise due to supplier consolidation and health safety costs passed to consumers. Expense transparency becomes crucial, and travel budgets may be reduced.
SAP Concur issued a tax alert: the EU 8th VAT Directive allows EU-established businesses to recover VAT incurred in one of the 28 EU countries, with the 13th Directive covering non-EU businesses, and a September 30, 2018 deadline. Businesses registered in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain may be eligible if conditions are met. Eligible expenses vary by country and personal expenses are never eligible. The post advises completing country-specific forms, noting deadline exceptions such as the UK and Cyprus, using automated systems and planning ahead.
A SAP Concur blog post examines expense and tax issues arising from post-pandemic remote work. It cites United Airlines predicting the industry will not return to 2019 travel levels until 2024, and an FCM study predicting business travel may remain low until 2023. The author raises potential reimbursement costs such as home internet and office equipment, noting that $65 per month for 10,000 workers adds $650,000 in monthly costs, and for 100,000 workers $6.5 million monthly. The post also discusses tax risks from 'work from anywhere' arrangements and mentions a California utility tax effective November 1, 2020.
An SAP Concur blog post introduces how its customer community helps Travel, Expense, and Invoice (TE&I) professionals advance their careers. With over 80,000 members, the community offers various engagement opportunities such as online forums, user groups, leadership councils, and the annual Fusion conference, aiming to foster knowledge sharing, networking, and career growth.
SAP Concur published a summary of an Aberdeen webinar on how companies manage travel and expense (T&E) programs during uncertain times. Research shows best-in-class companies (top 20%) focus not only on cost reduction (31%) but also on spend control (27%), visibility improvement (28%), and eliminating manual processes (31%). 71% of organizations use pre-travel authorization, and 56% have an aggregated view of travel and expense. Companies experience a 48% ROI after implementing a new T&E solution.
SAP Concur outlines eight reasons to connect expense, travel, and invoice spend, including better visibility and control, improved decisions, efficiency, fewer late payments, stronger compliance, employee retention, more strategy time, and duty of care. Connecting data in one cloud-based location lets companies track employee spend in near real time.
A SAP Concur blog post for SMB finance leaders discusses spend management best practices for maintaining business resilience in uncertain economic conditions. Citing an Oxford Economics survey of small businesses, it notes many SMBs adopted some form of digitization, but some remain on manual paper processes or partial automation, leading to workflow roadblocks, spend visibility gaps, and compliance issues. Suggested building blocks of resilience include streamlined processes, clear policies, up-to-date spend visibility, employee support, and cost control. The post states automating expense and AP processes can deliver real-time spend views, eliminate paper receipts, auto-populate expense r…
In a SAP Concur podcast, Oversight's Mike Eberhard and Chris Juneau discuss how AI and machine learning help finance teams identify spending patterns. SAP Concur's Jeanne Dion says SaaS lets finance professionals implement technology quickly with a lighter IT lift, positioning them as more strategic partners. Juneau notes humans aren't ideally suited for pattern matching across vast data, and AI could be liberating for finance professionals. Dion points out that without AI, identifying fraudulent behavior can take up to 14 months. Eberhard sees back-office processes like expenses or payables as a perfect spot to automate, ignored for 20 years.
A SAP Concur blog post says managing employee spend across growing categories and payment methods leaves room for error and non-compliance, creating mistrust, misuse and wasted time. It cites an IDC report finding 30% of executives are concerned with compliance to spend management policies in order to make strategic business decisions. Based on SAP Concur customer data, the post lists 14 high-risk expense types out of 29, including airfare, car rentals, entertainment, lodging, meals, meetings and tradeshows, mileage reimbursement, office supplies, rent, rail and telecom/internet, and recommends running your own high-risk expense list to prioritize auditing.
The SAP Concur blog analyzes five differences in healthcare travel and expense management: less frequent but longer air travel, higher mileage expenses, a non-mandate culture, amplified fiduciary responsibility, and complex not-for-profit or religious affiliation rules. It cites a survey showing an average of 45% of hotel bookings are direct bookings and 64% of customers say physicians exceed budgets annually. These factors make expense visibility and compliance especially difficult for healthcare organizations.
A SAP Concur blog post argues that employee travel safety should extend to rideshare and other ground transportation. It cites a global survey: 77% of female travelers experienced harassment or mistreatment, 85% of LGBTQ+ travelers changed travel arrangements due to safety concerns, 54% of travelers say safety is not a top priority in their company's formal travel policy, and 67% say their company lacks technologies that make travel easier. The post recommends consolidating corporate card data with itinerary details, tracking employee locations, providing neighborhood safety information, and encouraging trip sharing when using rideshare.
SAP Concur partnered with Danish fintech company Cardlay to integrate Cardlay's virtual card technology into the SAP Concur platform. The partnership supports a 'bring your own bank' strategy, allowing customers to choose their preferred financial institution while benefiting from integrated virtual card management. With the integration, Concur Expense users gain pre-authorization of spend, mobile virtual cards, simplified approval workflows, and automated reconciliation. A phased launch is targeted for late 2021 in the UK, with global expansion expected in 2022.
This article outlines several methods for calculating business mileage, including the standard rate method, actual expense method, GPS apps, and traditional odometer readings. It highlights how the Drive app can automatically upload mileage data to Concur Expense and details the steps and best practices for mileage reimbursement calculation.
SAP Concur blog notes that state and local government finance departments face pressure from reduced funding, increased service demand, and fewer staff. It recommends automating, integrating, and digitizing AP processes to address remote work challenges and improve financial discipline.
A SAP Concur blog post notes that according to a J.P. Morgan study, company travel and expense (T&E) is the second largest expense behind payroll. Travel management companies (TMCs) can help companies optimize travel programs through service, savings, and visibility, including 24/7 support, policy enforcement, unused ticket management, and comprehensive reporting tools.
SAP Concur cites an Aberdeen survey of 606 finance leaders across 27 industries and six countries, finding best-in-class businesses capture 74% of company spend with digital expense and invoice management solutions (vs. 57% for others) and can access spend data when needed 80% of the time (vs. 61% for others). Best-in-class respondents reported 26.1% productivity improvement and 24.3% profitability improvement over the past two years, compared to -2.4% and -1.7% for others. Best-in-class companies are 31% more likely to use spend data to track and manage budgets and more likely to integrate expense and invoice management tools with budgeting, payroll, ERP, and financial systems.
A SAP Concur blog post discusses the challenges and opportunities for federal agencies in adopting mobile-first strategies. It cites a Frost and Sullivan study showing almost half of government employees are regularly in remote locations, 55% of agencies allow employees to use personal mobile devices, and the remaining 45% have issued devices. Providing the right tools can increase job satisfaction, speed up decisions, maintain compliance, and improve accuracy. The ConcurGov mobile app allows government employees to complete approximately 85% of travel and expense management needs on the go, including creating and editing vouchers, freeing approvers from office hours.
A SAP Concur blog post announces its Innovation Awards honor five companies each year, with nominations open from August 1 to September 15, 2017. Companies can submit a six-question questionnaire demonstrating value and impact from using Concur in cost savings, time efficiencies, and more. Winners will be recognized at Fusion 2018 in Seattle and star in a custom video story.
SAP Concur cites a global Oxford Economics survey with SAP and Concur of 1,500 finance executives, summarizing six traits distinguishing top financial performers: strong influence beyond finance, driving strategic growth initiatives, improving efficiency with automation, being very effective at core finance processes, collaborating regularly with business units, and working closely with governance, risk and compliance to handle regulatory change. The survey shows companies with 5-10% revenue growth are twice as likely as slower-growing companies to strongly agree automation improves finance function efficiency, and more than twice as likely to rate themselves 'very effective' at T&E expense…
The article says mileage reimbursement is a common travel and expense line item, and inaccurate or inefficient handling leads to overspending, employee frustration and compliance issues. SAP Concur's Concur Drive uses GPS to automatically log trips, calculate mileage and apply preset reimbursement rates. It offers three best practices: update policies, keep it accurate and make it mobile. Automated mileage tracking can save up to 21 hours per employee per year, and mobile mileage tracking tools can cut personal mileage expenses by 20%-30%.
A SAP Concur blog post cites the IDC presentation Enterprise Travel and Expense Software Maturity Model, outlining five stages of T&E maturity. It says 50% of the world has moved beyond legacy systems, 42% of survey respondents describe their financial apps as disconnected, and 59% prefer integrated suites over best-of-breed. The article recommends moving to cloud-based, intelligent automation.
SAP Concur cites a May 2021 Oxford Economics survey of over 500 senior business leaders across seven countries, finding increasing agility is the top goal but culture change and digitizing manual operations remain challenges. Among businesses that digitized expense, invoice, and cash flow management, 43% cite increased agility and resiliency from digitizing AP, 42% cite increased productivity from digitizing expenses, and 35% cite increased functional collaboration from digitizing cash flow management. AMI-Partners research found SMBs saved $30K annually with automated expense solutions and $34K with invoice solutions; Concur customers saved $39K annually with each solution. ACFE estimates…
A SAP Concur blog post, citing IDC MarketScape research, outlines three business benefits of adopting an app-based travel and expense management solution. First, simplicity: employees can book and manage trips via mobile, with itinerary and credit card data consolidated, reducing paperwork and boosting productivity and engagement. Second, safety: the solution collects itinerary details from every booking channel and combines them with card transaction data to locate and reach employees in emergencies, fulfilling duty of care. Third, spending: full visibility into bookings and spend helps identify savings, track budgets, strengthen supplier negotiations, and support policy compliance, regula…
SAP Concur published an article citing 2017 Security Magazine data that more than one million people are in the air, over 400,000 of them traveling for business. Citing a 2018 SAP Concur customer survey, it notes 98% of organizations express confidence in their duty of care approach, yet nearly 25% don't store or regularly update employee contact information, more than 40% either don't capture every trip or are unsure, and almost 75% rely on the same booking tool to track employee location. The article argues finance leaders should coordinate HR, security, and travel management to fulfill duty of care.
A SAP Concur blog post cites an IDC study finding that companies automating accounts payable with a cloud-based solution gain greater visibility into accruals and spending, reduce invoice processing time and pay vendors faster. It also mentions a 505% first-year ROI for Concur Invoice customers.
The article examines barriers to adopting AP invoice automation in the financial services, insurance, and real estate (FIRE) industries. These sectors face common challenges including compliance, disruptive technology, mobile work, and fraud. Automating AP invoice processes can help businesses adapt, streamline operations, and free up capital. However, fear of change, presumed lack of IT expertise, fear of job loss, and security concerns hinder adoption. The article cites AMI-Partners research showing automation helps accounting/finance employees reduce invoice processing time by 16%.
A SAP Concur series article analyzes vehicle program risks for high-mileage drivers. Drivers logging more than 5,000 reimbursable miles annually create exposures including vicarious liability, tax issues, mileage fraud, volatile fuel prices and employee dissatisfaction. It compares three common approaches: flat car allowance (predictable but taxable and unrelated to actual mileage), cents-per-mile reimbursement (insufficient for low-mileage drivers, excessive for high-mileage drivers, with fraud potential), and fleet vehicles (company assumes 24-hour risk, with accident rates as high as three times the U.S. national average). A follow-up will cover the fixed and variable rate (FAVR) approac…
A SAP Concur blog post notes that hospitals and healthcare systems are using continuing medical education (CME) to attract talent and improve quality, but CME budget management faces three key problems: manual processes, limited visibility, and difficult control. The article suggests organizations rethink CME spend management and leverage automation tools to improve efficiency.
A SAP Concur blog post cites an Oxford Economics study: cost-conscious SMB finance leaders achieve better outcomes while keeping expansion costs in line. The study reports 93% of cost-conscious SMB executives agree they have the right platforms and systems to adapt to their growing organization, versus 79% of less cost-conscious executives. The post notes that as companies grow, discretionary expenses such as travel, expenses, marketing, and office supplies can add up quickly, and intelligent automated technologies can help finance leaders proactively control costs and optimize cash flow.
A SAP Concur blog post looks at how intelligent technology will affect travel and expense management: trips that book themselves, expense reports that write themselves, and data that analyzes itself. It cites data: 80% of business travelers rely on their phone to conduct business and 88% believe technology makes travel easier to navigate; 63% of business travel managers feel travelers' risk has increased and 52% fear it will rise more in the next year; 88% of CFOs point to T&E costs as a way to optimize working capital; and 49% of today's jobs will be affected by automation.
A SAP Concur blog post argues manual and spreadsheet-driven processes are costly and inefficient at any scale, with an even bigger impact on resource-constrained SMBs. It cites data: 26% use spreadsheets to manage expenses, 49% of small businesses still use handwritten records to track spend, accounting and finance staff spend 14% of their time each week processing invoices, 50% of SMBs say manual processes hinder cash flow visibility, 42% report invoice reconciliation errors, and 75% of finance leaders say their business often exceeds expense, travel, and invoice budgets. It groups reasons SMBs haven't automated into four categories and cites AMI-Partners data showing automation yields ave…
SAP Concur held the Spike Global Hackathon finals on January 30, 2018, where 12 teams from around the world out of over 100 competed. Projects ranged from visualization tools using machine learning to predict expense and travel trends, to bot assistants that speed up expense processes. To date, internal hackathons at SAP Concur have generated over 200 hacks, some of which have been integrated into internal toolchains and customer products. Team Constructors won with an event-based batch job approach, achieving 50% less instance utilization.
An SAP Concur blog post highlights that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in unused tickets from canceled trips, posing significant challenges for corporate travel management. The article analyzes hurdles such as identifying unused tickets, dealing with multiple TMCs, and allocating funds. It proposes four best practices: using air contracts with preferred carriers, mandating TMC usage, consolidating TMCs, and implementing a corporate card policy to help organizations recoup costs and enhance control.
A SAP Concur blog post describes how the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Mass., closed in mid-March during COVID-19 and needed to offer a museum experience online. PEM's decision three years earlier to digitize back-office operations using SAP Concur solutions for travel, expense, and invoice processes reduced administrative burdens and made vendor onboarding and payment faster and easier. Valerie Blatt, who heads SAP Concur global SMB, said that without automated processes and data visibility, organizations cannot pinpoint discount or cost-saving opportunities. She noted that more SMBs are turning to automation software to protect cash flow, improve efficiency, and control costs.
SAP Concur published a blog post discussing the impact of expense and AP automation on finance staff. The article notes that automation can reduce repetitive manual tasks, allowing finance staff to focus on higher-value work such as strategic analysis and vendor negotiations. It cites a World Economic Forum projection that by 2025, automation will disrupt 85 million jobs while creating 97 million new ones. The article also covers benefits in compliance, accuracy, cost control, and business insights, citing cases from companies like Alkermes, Plymouth Rock Assurance, and CareerBuilder.
SAP Concur announced it was named a G2 leader for summer 2019 in Travel Management, Expense Management, and Travel and Expense categories, with more than 4,000 users ranking it #1. G2 Market Research Director Kara Kennedy said SAP Concur earned its Leader position by demonstrating a large market presence and receiving high satisfaction ratings, with users especially appreciating its receipt capture, employee reimbursement, and bank/credit card integration features.
SAP Concur describes continuous accounting, where transactions enter the system as they occur rather than at period end. This improves productivity, real-time visibility, and accuracy. Research shows an integrated, automated expense, travel, and invoice solution saves the average finance employee about 500 hours a year.
Fortune 500 engineering firm Illinois Tool Works (ITW) adopted SAP Concur's integrated travel and expense solutions. Previously, ITW spent $3 million annually to serve only U.S. employees; after implementing SAP Concur, costs were reduced by $1 million and services expanded to 33 countries. Cathy Sharpe, Director of the Global Travel and Expense Group at ITW, noted that SAP Concur helped achieve significant cost savings and global reach.
SAP Concur blog post discusses the challenges of expense management in a hybrid work environment and provides a checklist to help businesses assess whether their expense management processes meet remote work demands. It recommends automating expense management from data capture to reporting and analytics, and paying attention to new spending categories, approval times, and employee feedback.
SAP Concur announced that Concur Travel & Expense has again been named a Top-Rated Expense Management Software in both the Expense Management and Travel Management categories by TrustRadius. The TrustRadius Top Rated Awards are based entirely on customer feedback and have become the industry standard for unbiased recognition of B2B technology products since 2016. Each month, about 500,000 B2B technology buyers use more than 220,000 verified reviews and ratings to make purchasing decisions. The 800+ reviews from verified users highlight features like positive user experience, budget visibility, mobile receipt capture, and time savings. Megan Headley, VP of Research at TrustRadius, noted that…