SAP Concur blog shares how Stephanie Richards, T&E Administrator at Group 1001, uses Verify to automate expense audits. Previously spending 40 hours weekly manually reviewing all expense reports, Verify has freed up significant time, allowing her to focus on budgeting and forecasting.
SITA's Impact Report 2025 shows how the aviation industry is using technology, not concrete, to handle doubling passenger numbers. Borders clear in as little as 10 seconds, weather delays cut by 65%, and lost luggage down 90%. AI is moving into live operations, with SITA OptiFlight processing 2.9 million flights in 2025, saving 127,732 tons of fuel. The industry expects 8 billion passengers within 20-25 years, heading to 10 billion by 2050.
SAP Concur research shows nearly 7 in 10 travel managers say their budget doesn't reflect travel's importance. Leading travel managers are turning data into actionable stories for leadership and adopting AI tools to improve compliance and efficiency. 95% of business travelers are willing to use AI-enabled booking options, and SAP Concur adoption can reduce travel costs by 23%, speed bookings by 19.2%, and increase policy compliance by 28%.
SAP Concur emphasizes the importance of expense automation. Manual processes are inefficient and risky, while automated solutions streamline workflows, improve accuracy, provide real-time visibility, and enhance employee experience, helping businesses save time, reduce errors, and strengthen financial control.
An SAP Concur article notes that higher education institutions often face inefficiencies and compliance risks due to outdated T&E systems. A survey shows that 67% of U.S. business travelers in higher education feel business travel is key to career advancement, and 94% have experienced travel cutbacks. Modern T&E solutions can streamline processes, reduce costs, and improve faculty and staff experience.
This SAP Concur blog post emphasizes the importance of business agility and introduces the seven core principles of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). It states that agility enables companies to seize new opportunities, adapt to challenges, innovate, and improve efficiency. In spend management, agile strategies include renegotiating contracts, strategic sourcing, collaborative sourcing, supplier compliance, supply chain resilience, and more. The article also provides key metrics for measuring agility.
This SAP Concur blog discusses combining AI and human auditors to improve expense report audit efficiency. It notes that automated auditing can reduce the cost of expense report mistakes by 60% and cut audit time by up to 90%. It recommends auditing policy before manager approval to speed payment and reduce intervention.
SAP Concur released an AI whitepaper detailing nearly a decade of embedding AI in travel and expense solutions, citing survey data: 82% of finance leaders hope AI improves operational efficiency, 62% see it as essential for managing uncertainty, and only 11% of finance managers demonstrate digital competency. The article also outlines AI applications in cost estimation, receipt itemization, and mobile expense reporting.
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.
SAP Concur article emphasizes the importance of accounts payable (AP) automation. Businesses spend an average of 13 hours per week processing invoices; automation can reduce misplaced invoices by 22%, save 12 hours weekly, and save approximately $44,000 annually. It recommends cloud solutions integrated with ERP and mobile access.
IDC InfoBrief shows cloud-connected travel saves significant costs: 49% less time on travel planning, 70% less time on expense reports, 35% more compliance, and 54% fewer lost receipts. Average business can save $97,000 in invoicing/auditing, $122,000 in travel-related costs, and $728,000 in improved staff productivity annually.
This SAP Concur blog post emphasizes the importance of automated expense reporting for small businesses. Manual reports pass through many hands and often face delays due to missing receipts or errors. Automated systems like Concur Expense allow employees to photograph receipts, reducing errors and speeding up approval and reimbursement. Cloud technology makes reports accessible anytime.
SAP Concur blog cites research showing finance automation saves significant time. Vanson Bourne survey found 46% of UK finance leaders cite errors as top challenge, 68% lack confidence in T&E compliance. AMI-Partners research found invoice management solutions reduce task time by 16% on average, and expense/travel solutions by 15%.
In this SAP Concur podcast, Bennett Ulmer, Operations Analyst at Penn State, discusses optimizing IT financial processes. They used Concur Request to build a pre-approval process, streamlining spend management. Ulmer emphasizes collaboration between IT and business units and plans to integrate systems to avoid duplication. Automation reduced manual errors and improved efficiency.
This SAP Concur blog post guides businesses on justifying the investment in an automated expense management system. It poses questions about labor costs, data integrity, report generation time, visibility, opportunity costs, mobility, policy violation detection, cash flow, integration, and time savings. By evaluating these areas, companies can build a business case showing how automation improves efficiency, reduces errors, and yields long-term savings.
The article offers seven efficiency tips for SMBs: automate wherever possible, ensure reliable network uptime, support mobile productivity, enable collaboration, outsource non-core tasks, reduce email attachments, and keep technology simple. Automating travel, expense and invoice management is listed as the top efficiency booster.