Based on Analysys Mason research, the article discusses how finance automation helps businesses simplify processes and save costs. Survey shows automated travel and expense solutions improve response to business challenges, reduce administrative tasks, and save costs.
SAP Concur published spend management guidance for the energy and utilities sector, noting the pandemic forced rapid digitization and organizations should now assess those rushed fixes. The T&E spend violation rate skyrocketed 292% from 2019 to 2020. Fraud remains a serious problem, with utilities seeing a median fraud loss of $200K. It recommends finance and IT collaboration and digital spend management tools for near real-time spend and cash flow visibility. An IDC report found 90% of decision-makers see room to improve spend control.
SAP Concur published spend management guidance for state and local government organizations, noting the pandemic forced rapid digitization and organizations should now assess those rushed fixes. The T&E spend violation rate skyrocketed 292% from 2019 to 2020. Government fraud varies by level: national government 46% affected ($200,000 median loss), state government 27% ($56,000), local government 25% ($125,000). It recommends finance and IT collaboration and digital spend management tools. An IDC report found 90% of decision-makers see room to improve spend control.
SAP Concur article advises businesses to start digital transformation with finance automation. Evaluate current processes, identify paper and email use, and examine ERP systems. Travel and expense is a good starting point. Digital spend management saves finance staff 12-13 hours per week, and 72% of leaders say automation provides better spend visibility.
Forbes Insights and SAP surveyed 300 financial decision makers at SMBs in the United Kingdom and North America. The survey found 85% of respondents agree that process redesign featuring advanced technology is good for business, and 57% are increasing investments in tech and process automation. 82% report that advanced technology gives them more time to focus on value-adding activities, and 81% say it improves productivity, creativity, work-life balance, and overall job satisfaction.
A SAP Concur blog post argues that aerospace, defense, and government contracting organizations should assess the rushed digital fixes implemented during the pandemic. It cites data showing the T&E spend violation rate skyrocketed 292% from 2019 to 2020, and 90% of decision-makers say there is room to improve how they control spend. Organizations deploying an integrated spend management platform reported $777,000 in annual savings on business travel and expense reporting costs.
SAP Concur published a podcast conversation between Anshuman Singh, Director of Digital Product Management and Experience at American Airlines, and Jeanne Dion of SAP Concur, discussing how American Airlines integrated TripLink to offer business travelers a smoother and safer online booking experience. American Airlines received a 2020 SAP Concur Partner Innovation Award for integrating TripLink during the pandemic. The conversation also covers frictionless travel, mobile app adoption, biometrics, and the future of business travel post-pandemic.
SAP Concur announces six Innovation Award winners at Fusion: Siemens, Vodafone, CAF America, Bishop-Wisecarver, Serco, and Keppel Corporation, recognizing their innovation and business transformation using SAP Concur solutions.
At SAP Concur Fusion in Orlando, SAP Concur recognized six 2022 Innovation Award winners: Infineon, IDP Education, NTT DATA Philippines, Ocean Network Express, Dover Corporation and The Walt Disney Company. Their projects span travel-compliance risk engines, invoice capture, faster expense reimbursement, global policy consolidation and single-instance deployment.
A SAP Concur podcast conversation with Deloitte explores how accounts payable (AP) automation empowers employees and enhances strategic value. Deloitte specialist Oren Geshuri notes that AP has traditionally been viewed as a non-strategic area; automation does not eliminate people but frees AP teams from paper-based processes to focus on more strategic work. COVID-19 served as a litmus test for organizational survivability: organizations that had already automated could quickly shift to remote work, while those without automation struggled with paper invoices that couldn't be taken home. The discussion also covers talent retention, employee experience, and the impact of automation on overal…
An SAP Concur blog post announces that the U.S. Department of Defense awarded SAP Concur a prototype project agreement to modernize its Defense Travel System (DTS). The U.S. Department of Defense spends nine billion dollars annually on travel. Under the agreement, SAP Concur will deliver an end-to-end travel-as-a-service capability to improve the travel management experience, reduce costs, scale, meet efficiency objectives, and transform satisfaction and usability for government employees.
SAP Concur blog highlights that businesses must continuously reinvent their processes to keep up with change. Using spend management as an example, the article recommends integrating corporate cards, personal cards, purchasing cards, and cash into a single digital process, and introducing pre-purchase approval and AI/machine learning to control spending before it occurs and ensure compliance.
IDC survey shows 85% of SMBs prioritize digital transformation, but only 26% have the capabilities. The article discusses challenges for IT leaders, including executive buy-in, cloud migration, workforce changes, and remote work security, and suggests automation as a solution.
An SAP Concur blog post notes that accounts payable (AP) teams still face many manual processes, such as tracking receipts, reviewing expense reports, and digging through paperwork. It cites a TechRepublic survey indicating that as much as 38% of the workforce plans to leave their current job in the next few months, meaning the 'Great Resignation' continues. The article recommends digitizing expense reports and AP processes to reduce processing time, increase efficiency, and improve accuracy, freeing finance and AP teams to focus on more strategic work such as monitoring broader spend strategy and reclaiming eligible value-added tax.
SAP Concur blog shares two customer cases: The Tech Interactive, a San Jose science museum, used Concur Expense and Concur Invoice to automate approval workflows, saving manual processing time and improving spend visibility; Wisconsin manufacturer WB Manufacturing, anticipating doubling sales in three years, deployed Concur Travel and Concur Expense in under three months, with sales team submitting expense reports after one day of training.
SAP Concur published an article citing IDC that the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of digital transformation for staying agile. The article argues that too many platforms and tools can lead to data silos, onerous reporting, and departments using non-standardized tools, hampering business agility. It recommends evaluating the current mix of spend management platforms and vendors to consider consolidation for business resiliency.
SAP and Oxford Economics surveyed 500 finance and IT leaders from SMBs on digital transformation and company culture. 47% saw their role grow in strategic importance over the past year; 57% anticipate an even greater role. 47% found the pandemic brought inefficient business processes to light. Fewer than half named the other as a key strategic partner. 27% are assessing whether spend management digitalization is permanent; 25% plan to revert to manual processes within two years. 42% of companies that digitalized expense management report increased productivity.
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 and Oxford Economics surveyed 500 IT and finance decision-makers at organizations with fewer than 1,000 employees globally. The survey found nearly 6 in 10 IT leaders report spending more time on manual processes than automation since the pandemic; nearly two-thirds say aligning growth strategy with executive leadership is a challenge; only 52% say they work effectively with finance; and just 36% say their organization has the financial visibility and data needed for decision-making, budgeting, and forecasting. Among companies that have digitalized key finance processes, nearly half report increased agility, collaboration, productivity, and spend visibility.
SAP Concur published an article emphasizing that in the economic volatility caused by the pandemic, businesses need to digitalize spend management to monitor costs and cash flow. The article notes that finance teams need deep insight into every aspect of company spend, and SAP Concur solutions integrate, automate, and make spend management processes accessible on any device. It also cites an AMI Partners study showing SAP Concur solutions lead to 25% greater cost savings on travel and expense management (US$40,000 per year) and 16% more time saved (122 hours per week) compared to major competitors, and 21% greater cost savings on invoice management ($42,000 per year) and 35% more time saved…
SAP Concur published a blog post discussing the impact of technology on the future of K-12 schools. The article notes that automating administrative tasks can free teachers and staff to focus on teaching. Smart expense management systems can help schools control budgets, improve efficiency, and enhance supplier relationships. Additionally, technology can strengthen compliance and reduce fraud risk. The article was written by Sasha Nunes, COO and co-founder of N&B Team Consulting.
SAP, in collaboration with Bain & Company, outlines six strategies for building business resilience through digital finance transformation: scenario planning, strengthening working capital, improving spend visibility, finding cost savings, eliminating low-value work, and planning for new ways of working. It emphasizes automating expense and invoice management and integrating with ERP systems to provide real-time data and analytics for cost control, cash flow optimization, and future planning.
An SAP Concur blog post notes that remote and hybrid working is increasing the number and creativity of finance hacks, such as couriering invoices to remote employees for approval, using random audits to detect expense errors, and saving self-booked travel plans in calendar invites. While these workarounds may seem to keep spend data flowing, they drive increased operational costs, risks, and complexity, while decreasing spending visibility, control, and employee productivity. Survey data cited shows only 39% of U.S. companies say they have the right systems to adapt quickly to changing business needs, 43% of businesses with digitized invoice management saw increased agility and resiliency,…
A SAP Concur blog post cites GSMA's 2020 Mobile Economy report, which states that in 2020 5G will shift from hype to reality but primarily for businesses rather than consumers, and that GSMA expects 5G to be the first generation in mobile history to have a bigger impact on enterprise than consumers. The article argues that as 5G adoption goes mainstream, back-office workflows and processes will be further streamlined, including travel and expense (T&E) management. T&E transformation is increasingly seen as an opportunity to reduce operational costs and boost employee productivity and job satisfaction, with business leaders seeing opportunities to cut costs by implementing new technologies t…
SAP Concur published an article explaining the value of expense management automation. It states manual expense management takes a toll on productivity, employee happiness, and the bottom line, while automation can streamline operations, cut costs, and reduce time-wasting tasks. The article analyzes benefits for finance, IT, employees, and CEOs, and lists capabilities automated software should have, such as e-receipts, auto-populating expense reports, ERP integration, card reconciliation, secure data tracking, and mobile app management.
An SAP Concur blog post explains how invoice automation digitizes the vendor invoicing process to create faster, leaner, more cost-effective AP workflows. Data cited includes: 62% of organizations report financial losses from fraud in the last three years; invoice processing time decreased by 82% to 3.1 days per invoice; cost to process each invoice decreased by 80% to $2.78; invoice exceptions decreased by 59% to 9%. Only 51% of organizations say they can immediately recognize AP fraud, and 36% still report using no technologies to detect or prevent finance fraud. The article also lists capabilities to consider when evaluating automated AP solutions, including OCR capture, AI planning, das…
SAP Concur blog highlights that county finance departments face declining funding and rising service demand. Brookings Institute projects state and local income tax revenues to decline by 4.7% to 7.7% from 2020 to 2022, a loss of $22 billion to $40 billion. The article recommends cloud-based invoice management, automated expense reimbursement, and integrated card feeds to improve efficiency, potentially reducing invoice processing time by 75%, paying vendors 13% faster, and increasing AP staff efficiency by 45%.
A SAP Concur blog post discusses how finance and IT leaders can support business transformation in a hybrid work model. It recommends digitalizing first, especially spend management, by using cloud-based spend management technology to digitize receipts, invoices, reports, and approvals, saving time and consolidating spend data. Advanced analytics can help spot trends, identify waste, and negotiate better vendor contracts. The article also emphasizes adjusting office policies, investing in training and equipment, and considering consolidating office space for cost savings. System integration is crucial to ensure finance teams don't manually consolidate data.
A SAP Concur blog post cites a 2019 IDC survey of 800+ global executives. The survey found that for most companies, 40% to 45% of revenue goes toward spend; 90% of respondents reported room to improve spend control; 95% said they were likely to invest in intelligent spend management platforms in the next two years; and 60% were already talking with a technology vendor.
The article says disconnected systems cause fragmented data, weak spend visibility and workflow inefficiencies, and SAP Concur integration can connect travel, expense and invoice processes with the existing tech stack. Concur offers four approaches: on-demand integration, SFTP integration, pre-built connectors and managed integration services, with over 330 prebuilt connectors and a network of more than 1,200 solution and service partners.
The article notes that state and local governments face unique challenges modernizing legacy IT systems, including tight and scrutinized budgets, heightened citizen and employee expectations, and limited manpower, so innovation may not be a priority for every agency. Yet CIOs are recognizing the benefits of cloud-based SaaS spend management: significantly reduced upfront investment versus building expensive in-house systems, which are costly to maintain and often become antiquated within a few years. SaaS solutions can be quickly implemented and are continuously updated by third parties. With tighter budgets, governments need high transparency and control over taxpayer resources, and employ…
An SAP Concur blog post notes that the pandemic accelerated finance digital transformation and significantly shifted employee spending patterns. In 2020, SAP Concur customers saw a 58% increase in the 'Other' expense category, signaling reduced spend visibility. The article advises CPOs to address three questions: whether travel and expense data are connected, which channels employees use to spend company funds, and how to capture rogue spend outside traditional travel channels. It stresses that procurement executives should not focus solely on cost reduction when renegotiating travel supplier agreements, but must ensure key suppliers are adequately compensated for traveler health efforts.
In an SAP Concur podcast conversation, Bennett Ulmer, Operations Analyst and Manager of Analysis and Audit for Penn State University, shared how he leveraged an already successful travel and expense program to improve central IT processes. As one of the longest-running SAP Concur customers for more than 17 years, Penn State University expanded pre-approval functionality from travel to corporate card programs through cross-departmental collaboration and trust. The program integrates expense data with the financial ERP system. Ulmer emphasized the importance of using existing systems rather than buying new tools in budget-constrained higher education environments, and advised including IT and…
SAP Concur published an article explaining how the 'Intelligent Enterprise' concept applies to travel and expense management. It states that by collecting, normalizing, enriching, and connecting previously siloed data, companies can improve visibility, focus, and agility in spend control. Finance teams gain better control over spending, while HR, travel managers, and security officers can improve the employee travel and duty of care experience. The article emphasizes that bringing travel, expense, and invoice management systems together eliminates complex user experiences and accelerates value creation.
SAP Concur consultants interview Carina Soubiea from OSIsoft about global expansion and implementation. She shares lessons on timing, tracks, resources, and focus areas to help businesses prepare for cross-border growth.
A SAP Concur blog post argues that controlling spend and optimizing cash flow can help companies of all sizes be more resilient, but manual expense management processes make that elusive. It cites a 2020 Oxford Economics survey of 2,000 small and midsize businesses: almost all respondents plan to shift manual finance processes into the digital realm over the next few years; 45% expect to increase efficiency by minimizing error, risk, and cost, 43% expect to boost productivity via transformation and intelligent process automation, and 40% expect to free up employees for higher-level tasks. The post promotes Concur Expense features such as customizable expense policies, expense visibility, an…
A SAP Concur blog post introduces a travel and expense management maturity model developed with IDC, dividing corporate spend management into five stages: legacy applications, automated point solutions, connected platform ecosystem, integrated application suites, and intelligent/predictive processes. The post notes legacy systems relying on spreadsheets and non-integrated systems risk untimely expenses, inaccurate accruals, and non-compliant spend, while the final stage uses predictive processes, machine learning-based fraud detection, and near real-time data visibility to increase business agility and resilience.
SAP Concur Value Consultant Ryan Hamilton and Deloitte Specialist Master Oren Geshuri discuss the current state and future evolution of accounts payable (AP) automation in a podcast. The conversation focuses on employee experience and spend governance, noting that COVID-19 accelerated the digitization of AP processes and highlighting the strategic value of automation in improving efficiency, optimizing cash flow, and enhancing organizational resilience.
Bentley is a technology company serving engineering, architecture, and construction firms globally, with more than 3,000 employees across 50 countries; T&E is its second-largest controllable annual expense. The company initially managed T&E with spreadsheets and email, adopted an on-premise SAP solution in 2010, and moved to Concur's cloud solution in 2013, enabling automated approvals, e-receipts, automatic currency conversion, and mobile expense reporting, integrated with SAP ERP and SuccessFactors.
Portuguese plastic packaging company Logoplaste partnered with SAP Concur and Accenture to deploy a cloud-based expense and travel management solution across 18 countries. The project rolled out in two waves, starting with Portugal, USA, Canada, Brazil, UK, and Luxembourg, then expanding to 12 more countries. After implementation, the average time between expense preparation and payment is less than 11 days, and 11 countries use an exclusively digitized process. Over 1,000 users have submitted more than 1,000 expense reports, with a user rating of 4.3/5.