SAP Concur and The Wall Street Journal podcast explores how emerging technologies like AI are transforming corporate travel management. The article highlights trends like direct booking and user experience, and the risks of employees booking outside the corporate booking tool, such as cost overruns and compliance issues.
A survey by SAP Concur of 3,500 European business and finance leaders reveals complex challenges in VAT reclaim. 76% of companies reclaim VAT in up to 10 countries, but the pandemic has caused regulatory changes and reduced reclaimable amounts. Only 14% prioritized reclaiming outstanding VAT. The survey also found that four in ten companies process expense claims slower than before, and nearly half still rely on paper-based evidence.
The article states that inefficient, antiquated travel and spend management exposes organizations to substantial fraud and noncompliance risks. FCPA violations have resulted in penalties of $965M for a European telco, $800M for a multinational technology company, and $795M for a global telecom. ACFE found that companies using data monitoring and analysis technology had 52% lower losses and 58% faster detection. CenterPoint Energy used modern expense reporting to uncover a fraud scheme spanning over a decade.
A SAP Concur blog post states that the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) anti-bribery provisions prohibit giving anything of value to a foreign official to obtain or retain business, and enforcement actions often involve leisure activities such as travel, meals, gifts and entertainment. It says the definition of government official extends to employees of government departments or agencies, state-owned enterprises, healthcare providers and even third-party consultants helping plan hospitality events. It outlines five compliance steps: understanding your business network, implementing controls, maintaining clear records, building a comprehensive audit process and educating on clear polici…
SAP Concur blog outlines four best practices for higher education institutions returning to travel: 1) Create a cross-campus travel working group including risk management, finance, and academic stakeholders; 2) Consider mandating TMC use for itinerary transparency, supplier discounts, and compliance visibility; 3) Develop new travel approval guidelines including pre-trip approval and COVID-19 risk considerations; 4) Improve back-office efficiency using Concur Invoice to automate invoice processing and eliminate data silos.
SAP Concur published a blog post discussing how the public sector can control employee spend and combat fraud. The article notes that managing taxpayer dollars comes with heightened responsibility and public scrutiny, and the shift to remote work requires re-evaluating spend processes. Decentralized spending, manual processes, and poor data integration are key factors leading to errors or fraud. Automating spend processes helps agencies create built-in policies that flag inappropriate expenses before reimbursement, reducing mistakes and potential fraud.
SAP Concur notes that employees now book directly through dozens of travel sites and suppliers, often bypassing corporate booking tools, leaving companies unaware of where staff are, where they are going, how they travel, or what they spend. It suggests checking three things: whether the travel solution connects to existing systems, to supplier data, and to third-party applications. Combining travel and expense programs gives a more accurate spend view and supports supplier negotiations, policy enforcement, and more effective duty of care.
SAP Concur blog post highlights that fraud threatens all businesses, with typical organizations losing 5% of annual revenues to fraud each year. It recommends proactive steps including preapproval systems, audit rules, mandatory corporate card programs, and leveraging data sharing and trend identification to spot red flags.
The SAP Concur blog notes that many corporate travel and expense policies are too vague or outdated, leading to duplicate claims, questionable spending, and occasional fraud, while burdening finance teams. It recommends policies be concise, easy to find, and cover specific scenarios such as reimbursement requirements, who pays when multiple employees are present, and preferred suppliers and booking methods. It also promotes its expense policy template and builder tool.
SAP Concur blog discusses how AI can automate accounts payable processes to reduce costs, errors, and improve compliance. It notes the average cost to manually process a single supplier invoice is £9, while AI can automatically capture invoices, provide dashboard views, and flag issues. Businesses using Concur Invoice reported an 18% increase in policy compliance and a 46% improvement in staff productivity.
A SAP Concur blog post notes that U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions continue to focus on corporate hospitality spending. Recent cases involved gift cards, spa services, sightseeing tours, shopping excursions, national park excursions and sporting-event tickets. The FCPA treats employees of state-owned or state-controlled companies and foreign health care providers as 'foreign officials,' so providing things of value to them can trigger risk. The post advises companies to track hospitality expenditures and set oversight criteria, and cites government-commended remedial measures such as compliance oversight across a broad category of business expenditures and pre-a…
SAP Concur cites a Kelton Global survey of 162 financial decision-makers in state, city, and local government, highlighting transparency and compliance challenges in government expense management. The survey found that one in three respondents frequently spot errors in expense reports and invoice processing, and three in ten say the problem has worsened over the past 12 months. 73% of decision-makers admit maintaining compliance is a regular struggle. The article states automation can improve efficiency, citing data that full automation can reduce fraud, waste, and abuse by 38% and increase budget management efficiency by 40%.
SAP Concur blog emphasizes that small businesses need year-round financial visibility, not just at year-end. It highlights common pitfalls: neglecting cash flow, not chasing late payments, assuming data accuracy, failing to review prices, and compliance risks. Automating financial processes reduces errors, improves compliance, and enhances cash flow management.
SAP Concur published an article analyzing an FCPA enforcement action announced by the DOJ and SEC in August 2020. Two employees of a health and personal care products company operating in China received approximately $775,000 in reimbursements over fewer than six months through fake meal and gift invoices to fund a bribery scheme. The company agreed to pay $123 million. The article also covers the DOJ's revised Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (ECCP), emphasizing that compliance personnel need sufficient data access for timely and effective monitoring.
The article notes that travel and expense (T&E) questions and complaints, expense report approvals, and monitoring of accounts payable processes are often caused by outdated, confusing, or non-existent policies. Growing businesses can change greatly in short periods, leaving policies outdated or even obsolete. It recommends reviewing and updating expense and AP policies at least once a year and after every relevant large change to the organization's business, because these policies govern how employees get reimbursed, how money flows through the company, and what will be paid or denied. Policy check-up points include: be clear and to the point, avoiding legalese and corporate jargon; ensure…
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.
A SAP Concur blog post notes that while organizations want to review 100% of expense reports to catch mistakes and fraud, auditing is time-consuming and expensive, so many avoid it. The article argues that skipping audits risks compliance fines, costs from human error and greed, and falling behind amid continuous change. It recommends combining intelligent technology with expert review and embedding intelligent spending reviews into expense processes to improve efficiency and support continuous improvement.
A SAP Concur blog post states that organizations with high mileage spend up to 10.6% of their travel budget on mileage-related expenses. A quarter of drivers understate their annual mileage by 6,000 miles or more, causing U.S. organizations $5.4 billion in losses annually. Enterprise organizations using SAP Concur solutions report that mileage spend averages 3.7% of total expensed spend. The article recommends optimizing mileage spend through automated mileage tracking, reviewing T&E policies, educating employees on tracking tools, and considering Concur FAVR.
SAP Concur published a blog post emphasizing the importance of digitalizing travel and expense (T&E) processes. The article notes that the financial services industry still relies on paper processes and manual expense reports, leading to delayed data, poor budget visibility, and negative impacts on employee satisfaction and talent recruitment. By automating T&E processes, companies can collect and connect spending data in real time, improve compliance, and enhance the employee experience. The article also covers digital features like mobile experience, e-receipts, and brand choice.
SAP Concur blog provides a three-step process for creating a risk management plan: identify potential risks, conduct risk analysis, and identify the fix. The article emphasizes involving the whole team and considering internal and external risks, such as supplier failure or loss of key customers.
SAP Concur states that managing cash flow is about clear visibility into where money goes. By automating expense and invoice processes, organizations can reduce manual errors, improve accuracy, and make more informed spending decisions. The post recommends automating expense management for near real-time spend visibility, eliminating manual entry, human error, and compliance blind spots; and automating expense audits and invoice-to-PO validation to control spend before money leaves accounts. SAP Concur says its cloud solutions connect spending data from suppliers and credit providers, automatically audit transactions, apply spending controls, check for duplicate invoices, and provide detail…
A SAP Concur blog post offers four expense-compliance tips for the highly regulated life sciences industry: monitor and audit expense reports, use automated controls to catch errors and fight fraud, use accumulated data to drive policy changes, and move away from manual spend processes. It cites figures including almost 20% of travel and expense spending falling outside policy, 89% of fraud cases involving asset misappropriation, and 42% of respondents still spending about 76 hours or more per month auditing expense reports. It also notes civil monetary penalties of up to $1 million for failing to report Open Payments in a timely manner.
SAP Concur notes that paper-, email-, and spreadsheet-based travel and expense (T&E) management processes have always been inefficient, time-consuming, and error-prone, and are unworkable with offices closed. The article recommends automating T&E processes to save time and lower costs. IDC recently conducted a study of worldwide SaaS cloud-enabled T&E management solutions and provided a vendor selection guide. SAP Concur was named a leader in SMB global T&E management by IDC MarketScape.
The article highlights two trends disrupting spend management: increased employee purchasing power and stricter tax/compliance regulations. Direct employee bookings lead to invisible spend, while governments demand comprehensive tracking. Companies need modern technology to integrate data for control and compliance.
SAP Concur cites AMI-Partners research showing automated spend management improves cash flow, compliance, and efficiency. The survey shows 67% of businesses lack cash flow visibility, while automated solutions save time and improve compliance.
A SAP Concur blog Q&A with Connie Hoen, who has over 30 years of audit and compliance experience, discusses how companies can control employee spend during uncertainty. The article identifies global travel and expense policies, expense report audit programs, and reporting and analysis requirements as three impacted areas. It recommends assessing work-from-home expense policies, creating 'at home' expense types in expense software, re-evaluating receipt requirements, and training first-time expense submitters and approvers.
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 notes that in an environment of declining budgets and tight finances, businesses first think of cutting or controlling costs, but many lack a complete picture of their expenses. Too much spending is hidden, on personal credit cards, with too little oversight, and remote work has made it messier. The article recommends using tools to govern spending, capture every expense of every employee, automate invoices and auditing, and see finances in real time. It also offers a counterintuitive point: during cost control, make it easier for employees to spend, direct them to corporate cards and correct payment processes, making compliance the easiest and fastest option to obtai…
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 cites International Data Corporation (IDC) research analyzing the costs and benefits of switching to a cloud-based accounts payable solution. It lists five reasons: cloud AP solutions redefine how businesses engage with stakeholders, with average time to pay vendors accelerating by 51% and late payments cut by 67%; manual AP processes are slow, inefficient, fragmented, and prone to error, with one business reducing its error rate by 90% after automation; invoice management software provides a more accurate picture of finances; automation improves user productivity, with line-of-business employee productivity up to 11% and IT staff productivity gains equivalent to $23,…
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 podcast features Jorge Monge, T&E lead at Smith & Nephew, discussing the company's implementation of a Global Business Services (GBS) program across more than 40 countries using SAP Concur solutions to centralize and standardize processes. 80% of Smith & Nephew's volume comes from the U.S., and the GBS center is in Costa Rica. Monge emphasizes cultural factors and compliance challenges, requiring partnerships with the chief compliance officer, legal, and audit. The company deployed Concur Detect AI auditing tool, identifying anomalies no human could. The project returned over 20K productivity hours, benefiting over 9,000 employees globally, and won the GBS Giants Award in all c…
A SAP Concur blog post argues that business travel inherently carries risk and that companies have legal and moral duties to develop travel risk management (TRM) policies to fulfill duty-of-care obligations. It outlines four reasons: liability issues, increasing business travel, lower-impact risks and business risks.
SAP Concur blog notes many schools have invoice processing errors, leaving spend opaque. It recommends automating AP systems to reduce costs, improve efficiency, increase compliance, and mitigate risk. SAP Concur processed 12 million invoices for customers last year and prevented over $1.4 million in duplicate payments.
A SAP Concur blog post analyzes four major spend management challenges facing financial services firms: high compliance costs, fraud risks, outdated technology, and mobile work needs. Citing a Duff & Phelps survey, 24% of financial services executives expect compliance spending to exceed 5% of revenue by 2023. The article recommends automating expense reports, implementing corporate card programs, using data analytics, and adopting mobile solutions to address these challenges.
A SAP Concur blog post notes that state and local governments face tighter budgets and remote work challenges. A Wakefield study found 88% of agency respondents felt many back-end operations cannot be managed remotely. Lumen Technologies, a SAP Concur reseller partner, offers spend management solutions including Concur Travel, Concur Expense, and Concur Invoice to automate and connect the entire spend process, helping government agencies gain visibility, maintain compliance, and support remote work.
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…
A SAP Concur blog emphasizes the responsibility of the public sector in travel, expense, and invoice management, noting that manual processes and siloed data hinder fraud and compliance management. It recommends automated solutions using AI and machine learning to spot anomalies, and OCR and three-way matching for accuracy, to help public sector meet higher fiscal responsibility.
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…