The article emphasizes the need for government agencies to adopt modern AP software to address remote work and efficiency challenges. Automation captures, validates, and approves invoices, shortens processing times, avoids late fees, and integrates with travel and expense management for better visibility and fraud prevention.
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%.
SAP Concur published an article offering tips for small businesses to prepare for Small Business Saturday. In 2016, an estimated 112 million consumers reported shopping at small businesses on Small Business Saturday. Tips include preparing early, offering a special deal, automating back-end processes, paying vendors on time, and partnering with other small businesses. The article also promotes products like Concur Expense and Concur Invoice.
A SAP Concur blog offers four ways to simplify invoice management in the hybrid work era: automate invoice processing and connect with expense report and p-card processes; integrate with back-end ERP, finance, and accounting systems for accurate data and a single source of truth; flag errors and missing information before invoices reach AP to reduce exceptions; and automate payments through integrated, controlled processes via banking and financial service partners.
The SAP Concur blog states that accounts payable plays a critical role in managing spending and preparing for change, and a strong vendor invoice policy is key to building agility. It offers seven tips for policy design, including cross-departmental collaboration, standardizing invoice submission and payment methods, reviewing drafts, emphasizing benefits, ensuring accessibility, taking questions, and seeking process improvements. The policy should cover purpose, compliance expectations, delegation of authority and approval chains, periodic review, and operational subject areas.
A SAP Concur blog post offers six ways to optimize invoice processes during disruption. Citing a GBTA survey where 96% of businesses described COVID-19's impact as significant, it recommends accelerating invoice capture, approvals, and processes. Methods include: doing things digitally, eradicating duplication and fraud, on-the-go approval, automating policy adherence, keeping communication with suppliers, and spotting trends to adapt. The article also describes how Concur Invoice provides visibility, speeds up payments, and integrates travel and expense data.
A SAP Concur blog post discusses the value of automating the accounts payable (AP) process. Citing an AMI-Partners survey of 420 companies across five countries, it finds that automating invoicing delivers significant benefits: savings of more than $34,000 annually ($1,100 for every 100 invoices processed), a 16% reduction in time spent on invoice management, 54% of companies reporting improved analytics, and 46% finding increased employee satisfaction. The article emphasizes that AP solutions should go beyond automation to improve underlying processes and support mobile access.
A SAP Concur blog post examines the potential benefits of invoice management automation for small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs) in accounts payable (AP). Citing AMI-Partners, it notes the typical SMB works with 190 suppliers and vendors, generating 2,280 checks annually if one check per vendor per month; 42% of surveyed SMBs report invoice reconciliation errors; and accounting/finance staff spend 14% of their time each week processing invoices. The post states automated invoicing solutions yield average annual savings of US$34,000 and US$11 per invoice, and promotes Concur Invoice and its ROI calculator.
SAP Concur announced it was named a 2025 G2 Best Software Award winner on the Best Accounting and Finance Software list, its fifth consecutive year, based on nearly 6,000 reviews. Additionally, SAP Concur was recognized as a leader in G2's Summer 2025 Grid Reports across four categories: Expense Management, Travel Management, Invoice Management, and AP Automation, earning 43 leader awards including Small-Business, Mid-Market, and Enterprise segments. User reviews cite automated T&E management, reduced manual processes, improved compliance, and faster reimbursements.
A SAP Concur blog post notes that the nature of corporate spending has changed significantly over the past five to ten years and continues to evolve, making tracking and managing spending more complex. Citing IDC research, it says many organizations still have shortcomings: accounts payable teams cannot effectively direct spending if they only orchestrate manual processes; budget managers are not truly managing budgets if they only track what is spent; and finance managers cannot ensure payment terms and negotiated rates on every transaction without the right tools. IDC created a five-stage maturity model, from manual processes and spreadsheets at the lowest stage to integrated solutions an…
This SAP Concur blog post emphasizes combining accounts payable processes with fintech tools for successful spend management. It highlights how the pandemic drove companies to digitize invoice management, and introduces Concur Invoice integrated with payment provider solutions to automate end-to-end processes, offering control, data insights, spend maximization, security, and innovation without development costs.
An SAP Concur blog post states that in an uncertain business environment, automated spend management is crucial for companies to stay flexible and profitable. Citing an AMI Research survey, 59% of SMB financial decision-makers say automation improves spend visibility. The article recommends using mobile apps and automated workflows to approve invoices and manage expenses anytime, anywhere, and leveraging AI and machine learning for data accuracy, thereby enhancing compliance, controlling costs, and optimizing cash flow.
A SAP Concur blog post notes that if companies cannot fully capture employee expenses and invoice data, they risk making purchasing, budgeting, and forecasting decisions based on incomplete information. The article mentions that employees not in offices find it harder to follow spending protocols, and new spending categories like PPE, home office furniture, and internet connections add management complexity. It recommends automated solutions for spend visibility and offers six key spending questions for self-assessment.
A SAP Concur blog post discusses common budgeting and cash flow challenges for business owners, including surprise employee expenses, late payments, and travel spend control. It recommends expense report automation, invoice process automation, and automated travel solutions to improve financial visibility, avoid late fees, maintain credit scores, and better manage employee travel and duty of care. It cites Statista data that 43% of US business travel managers expect an increase in business travel this year.
A SAP Concur blog post notes that many accounts payable processes appear automated but still rely on faxes, scanned images, and manual steps. It describes four common scenarios: centralized vs. decentralized capture, semi-automated approval workflows, ERP module limitations, and insufficient payment optimization. True AP automation should be entirely paperless, with all invoices received electronically and all communication around approvals or matching issues in a single system. The article recommends assessing automation levels and considering specialized solutions.
SAP Concur published an article recommending that businesses automate accounts payable invoice management to avoid cash-flow problems and achieve business growth. It cites a white paper by AMI-Partners in partnership with Concur, stating that automation tools enable businesses to save $1,100 for every 100 invoices and reduce invoice processing time by 16% a week. The article also uses baseball and toothpaste analogies to emphasize the importance of precisely understanding cash flow and controlling costs.
SAP Concur blog states finance leaders can drive growth by providing real-time visibility, coaching on budgets, managing cash flow, and freeing finance staff. However, most finance departments still work manually, spending 60% to 70% of time gathering information. Without visibility and controls over discretionary spending like travel, expenses, and invoiced purchases, costs can spiral and fraud can occur. IT leaders can support intelligent finance by implementing automation that integrates travel, expense, and invoice management.
SAP Concur article outlines seven stages of business growth, from startup to international expansion, and references the Ansoff Matrix's four growth strategies. It emphasizes that manual processes become inefficient as businesses grow, and automated invoice management can help save money, improve efficiency, and support scaling.
SAP Concur joins American Express's 'Stand for Small' initiative, offering SMBs free trials of Concur Expense and Concur Invoice, helping them gain spend visibility and automate invoice processes.
SAP Concur blog cites a Forrester survey of nearly 400 decision makers: less than 45% were happy with travel and expense solution ease of use, and only 37% with invoicing. Automation, cloud, and mobile access improve efficiency; one company eliminated about 42% of human-engaged tasks and gained 46% efficiency.
SAP Concur's blog notes that state and local governments face declining tax revenues and remote-work pressures during the pandemic, with manual invoice processes exacerbating difficulties. An IDC white paper found that organizations using Concur Invoice achieved average annual benefits of $662,700 ($3,258 per 1,000 invoices) and a three-year ROI of 634%.
Citing an AMI-Partners survey, SAP Concur says SMBs that keep managing travel, expenses, and vendor invoices with spreadsheets or pen and paper lose time and money to inefficient processes, a problem that becomes clearer beyond 50 employees. The survey found SMBs using T&E automation save over US$31,000 per year, with Concur Expense users saving an average of $40,000; firms adopting vendor invoice management saved nearly $34,000 annually, and Concur Invoice users saved over $42,000.
A study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of SAP Concur found that 60% of companies face issues with manual processes and timeliness due to their current tools. Outdated legacy technology is a core cause of inefficient expense, travel, and invoice management. Additionally, there is a lack of alignment between IT and finance: 61% of firms say IT focuses more on usability and employee experience, while 64% say finance focuses more on reducing spending. A unified automation strategy improves satisfaction: 75% of companies with a unified strategy reported high satisfaction with travel and expense tools, compared to just 35% without.
A SAP Concur blog post cites an IDC white paper finding that eight interviewed businesses improved their AP processes with Concur Invoice: staff time on invoice processing fell 68%, employee compliance rose to nearly 100%, late payments to vendors dropped 67%, line-of-business productivity rose 11%, and IT staff time managing AP solutions fell 29%. The white paper also projects annual benefits of $775,401 per organization ($15,418 per 1,000 invoices) and a 505% ROI over five years.
The article notes manual invoice processes are costly and many financial decision makers are unaware. Outdated systems, inaccuracies, labor costs and decreased productivity are four key issues. ACFE estimates a typical organization loses 5% of revenue to fraud annually; AMI-Partners found implementing a vendor invoice management solution saves an average of $13 per invoice and $34,116 annually.
Based on invoice data from September 2015 to August 2016, SAP Concur says duplicate payments are a common and preventable error in accounts payable. Its SMB customers (up to 1,000 employees) process about 450 invoices in a busy month, with a 1.29% duplication rate—roughly six duplicate invoices monthly—and an average duplicate value of $2,034, implying about $12,000 in potential monthly outlay if paid in error. Concur Invoice matches invoice details to identify duplicates and can be configured to alert or automatically halt processing.
A SAP Concur blog post lists five reasons businesses should move past outdated invoice systems: better visibility, reduced costs, less paperwork, increased productivity, and user mobility. It states many CFOs and financial decision makers don't feel they have big-picture visibility into invoicing and office expenses; manual paper-based processes drive up labor costs, with businesses unknowingly throwing away thousands to millions of dollars each year on manual AP steps that could be automated; physical documents are subject to loss, fire, flood, and theft; and mobile and cloud solutions allow invoice processing and approvals via tablets and smartphones, reducing late payments.
A SAP Concur blog post details Concur Invoice features: automating the entire invoice management process from capture to pay, integrating with Concur Travel and Expense. Invoices can be submitted via email, fax, hard copy, or electronically. AI-powered OCR extracts data, validated and corrected by an auditor or invoice verifier. The system automatically matches invoices to POs and goods receipts, flags exceptions, and uses dynamic approval workflows. Concur Invoice Analytics provides real-time visibility into invoice status and spend. It cites Prison Fellowship, which saved minutes per invoice after using Concur Invoice.
A SAP Concur blog post briefly introduces its solutions: Concur Travel, Concur Expense, and Concur Invoice work seamlessly with each other and integrate with existing ERP, HR, accounting, and other business systems to create a single connected process for managing company spend, helping save time and money, negotiate better rates with suppliers, and create happier travelers. It also provides links to an end-to-end solution demo and self-guided demos.
A SAP Concur blog post states that processing a paper invoice costs $23 on average, while automation reduces the cost to $3.41 and cuts processing time by up to 75%. It lists five benefits of paying vendors on time: capturing maximum early-payment discounts and avoiding late-payment penalties and interest; building a positive reputation; receiving VIP service and pricing from vendors; preserving good credit; and gaining vendor flexibility during cash flow crunches. It also notes Concur Invoice gives suppliers a portal to view payment status and remittance information.