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.
SAP Concur published a blog on November 25, 2024, offering best practices and checklists for expense audits. It cites data that 13% of misappropriation fraud comes from expense reimbursement schemes, with median losses of $50,000. It recommends auditing every expense or focusing on high-risk areas such as cash purchases and frequent travelers; auditing before approval; mandating corporate cards; and integrating AI for compliance checks. It also lists success stories from Uber, PETRONAS, Penn State University, and Chobani.
SAP Concur published an article on the development of Verify, its AI-powered expense audit tool. It cites ACFE data that organizations lose an estimated 5% of revenue to fraud annually, and a 2022 survey showing 89% of business travelers submitted at least one expense they weren't sure complied with company travel policy. SAP Concur introduced Policy Audit and Receipt Audit over a decade ago, which evolved into Intelligent Audit and then Verify. Verify can audit 100% of expense reports based on configurable rules, with a 24/7 team of auditors confirming when AI is unsure. The article also notes nearly one-third (32%) of occupational frauds are associated with a lack of internal controls.
SAP Concur discusses the use and challenges of data analytics in expense audits. The article says expense audits are essential to control spend and ensure financial health, and integrating data analytics is revolutionizing the task; studies indicate data analytics enhances audit quality by providing deeper insights and identifying potential risks more effectively. It also notes challenges: the need for specialized skills, longer hours spent on analysis, disruption to traditional audit processes, and increased employee workload, exacerbating CPA staffing shortages and raising stress among travel managers. SAP Concur research found 47% of global travel managers say their role is more stressfu…
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 introduces Verify, its AI-powered self-serve audit solution. In the past year, Verify performed over 38 million audit checks on expense reports submitted through Concur Expense, with an average of one third flagged monthly for organizational review. Verify added 10 new checks covering duplicate receipts, old dates, personal use of company cards, and more, and is now generally available for enterprise customers in the U.S. and Canada.
The article notes that as spending becomes increasingly decentralized and employees are empowered to make more spending decisions, corporate risk rises, and the burden of managing compliance, internal policy, fraud, and employee safety increases. SAP Concur solutions audit more than one million expense reports per month. Companies using SAP Concur solutions achieved 28% improvement in auditing-staff efficiency, 62% increase in the number of employees following T&E policies, 67% reduction in lost receipts, and $672,000 in savings on business travel per organization.
A SAP Concur blog post uses a fictional story to highlight the impact of expense fraud on businesses and introduces its Concur Audit service. Citing data from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the article notes that a typical organization loses up to 5% of its annual revenue to occupational fraud. It lists outlandish items employees have tried to expense (like wedding costs, spa trips, teeth whitening) and notes that even small violations (like mixing personal purchases into a meal) can add up. Concur Audit offers an unbiased audit service to check up to 100% of claims and receipts.
SAP Concur announced two new solution extensions delivered through its partner ecosystem: Concur Tax Assurance by VATBox and Concur Detect by Oversight. The former leverages AI and VAT/GST compliance knowledge to help organizations comply with global tax regulations and increase reclaim potential; the latter combines Oversight's spend management and risk mitigation expertise to analyze expenses before and after payment, spot suspicious spend patterns, and prioritize risk. The article cites the ACFE 2020 report stating the median loss from expense report fraud is $33,000.
SAP Concur blog highlights that employee T&E fraud can severely damage healthcare organizations' brand reputation. Nearly 20% of T&E expenses fall outside policy. Healthcare workers drive 1,700 miles annually on average, claim 20% more mileage than other industries, and over-estimate mileage by 15%. 58% of respondents are unsure if their company is at risk for global compliance. 33% still spend 76+ hours monthly auditing expense reports. Automation can reduce errors by up to 66% and cut auditing time by as much as 90%.
A SAP Concur blog post highlights that each fraud instance in the U.S. federal government costs an average of $194K. It notes that agencies have additional travel policies beyond the Federal Travel Regulations, which are difficult to communicate to field offices, leading to errors on travel vouchers. SAP Concur offers enhanced services where experts audit travel documents before final payment approval, helping to avoid embarrassing news coverage and congressional audits.
SAP Concur announced Verify, a new solution that uses AI and machine learning to evaluate 100% of expense reports and identify anomalies, helping auditors focus on potential problems. The article notes that the pandemic changed employee spending behavior, with SAP Concur data showing the proportion of expenses categorized as 'Other' increased by 58% from 2019 to 2020. Verify is planned to launch in Q3 2021.
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.