SAP Concur Customers, Are You Ready for 2020?

If you’re like many SAP Concur customers, you’re deep into planning for 2020. But while you’re likely focused on making larger-scale decisions, such as budget allocation and long-term strategy, it’s easy to forget about the small changes you can make today that will have a big impact on your business down the road.

That’s especially true when it comes to your business processes. Process improvements are easily overlooked yet can make a lasting impression. And changes to your travel and spend management processes are no exception. As travel-related expenses are the often the second-largest line item on a business’s budget behind payroll, efficiencies here can give you a big bang for your buck.

Here are four small changes to your T&E process you can make in 2019 to bring greater rewards going into the new year:

1.    Make it (even) easier for employees to submit expense reports with Expense Assistant
Enable Expense Assistant for your users to automatically create an expense report and fill it with incoming expenses. Calendar-based Expense Assistant creates one monthly report or adds expenses to an existing report, whereas Trip-based Expense Assistant creates a trip report and adds expenses based on the trip start and end dates. This feature reduces the time it takes for employees to complete expense reports, making sure they start 2020 off happy and productive.

2.    Better track noncompliant behavior with the Missing Receipt Declaration
Ensure you’re capturing missing receipts with a signed affidavit using the Missing Receipt Declaration function in Concur Expense. This function allows you to benefit from the Missing Receipt Audit Report (folder: Expense), so you can catch repeat offenders and promote changes to behavior, like adoption of the SAP Concur mobile app for digital receipt capture. Improved visibility here can lead to better policy compliance and decreases the chance of fraud, waste, and abuse.  

3.    Update your receipt policy for a more accurate view into spending
Don’t allow the submission of an e-receipt or travel reservation without card data, and vice versa. This makes sure that dollars spent are tied to an actual policy-compliant purchase, reduces the chance of paying for duplicate expenses, and provides greater visibility into overall spend. 

4.    Boost employee satisfaction and adoption through user feedback
Who better to tell you what small changes your T&E process could benefit from than your own users? The SAP Concur Satisfaction Rating allows users the option to anonymously share their thoughts about their current SAP Concur experience. Make sure your organization has this turned on and monitor the User Rating Summary (Administration Folder) to adjust policies, configurations, or training. You get the information you need to make sure your tools are effective, and your employees have a chance to help improve the way they work in the new year – a win, win. 

Planning for the new year doesn’t have to be overwhelming for your business. When it comes to T&E, take these small steps now to make 2020 your best year yet.

Want to learn even more ways you can set your business up for success? View our collection of tips and tricks.