SAP Concur adoption: Step-by-step guide & best practices
Tracking and managing employee business travel and expenses can be a complex process. This is especially true with traditional methods, such as manual data entry and paper receipts.
You can replace these with digital solutions that use AI and machine learning to automatically capture and categorize travel requests, invoices, and expenses. These tools enhance financial transparency and provide companies with better control over their cash flow.
SAP Concur is an example of a cloud-native platform that automates travel, expense, and invoice workflows. But once businesses decide to automate, they face challenges in deployment and change management.
To help, this article will define what SAP Concur is and outline the steps and best practices needed for successful digital adoption.
What is SAP Concur adoption?
SAP Concur adoption is the process of getting employees to use SAP Concur for travel booking, expense management, and related tasks.
Driving Concur adoption goes far beyond deployment management. IT leaders must embed SAP Concur into their daily workflows, treating it as a strategic platform rather than a standalone tool. Actual adoption demands targeted training, real-world use cases, and early user buy-in.
Businesses can also benefit from SAP Concur’s AI capabilities. For instance, Concur Request Assistant streamlines the travel request process. Concur Verify automates policy compliance checks. Next, Concur Detect highlights anomalies early. Concur Tax Assurance strengthens financial accuracy. These tools shift finance teams toward more strategic, high-impact work.
More importantly, concur adoption is not just a technical milestone — it’s an operational shift that demands IT leadership. Leading the change will deliver faster adoption, stronger compliance, and a higher return on investment (ROI).
Why is SAP Concur adoption important?
Adopting SAP Concur enables businesses to control travel and expense spending, enhance compliance, and increase efficiency. Concur combines travel, expense, and invoice management into a single platform. With real-time visibility, businesses can track their spending and make more informed decisions.
Additionally, when you successfully adopt Concur, you can identify cost savings by recognizing spending trends and negotiating more favorable supplier deals. Concur’s mobile apps make it easy for employees to manage expenses on the go, improving their user experience. Leaders get detailed reports that show where to cut costs and where to invest.
Furthermore, the digital adoption of this tool reduces risks by minimizing policy violations and identifying errors early. With faster and more transparent processes, companies experience higher employee productivity and improved policy enforcement across their travel and expense programs.
7-Step SAP Concur adoption process
By taking a clear and careful approach to using SAP Concur, companies can maximize the benefits of the system. This helps improve efficiency, meet compliance needs, and boost overall business resilience.
Here’s a step-by-step roadmap breaking down the most important adoption steps:
- Define business outcomes and success metrics
A successful SAP Concur rollout starts when you align it with your company’s goals. Focus on making processes faster, cutting travel and expense costs, improving policy compliance, increasing visibility into spending, and boosting employee morale.
Set clear success metrics, like user activation rates, time to complete expense reports, error rates, and policy violations. Consider support ticket volume and user satisfaction scores.
Next, identify the source of the data, such as Concur reports, surveys, or other relevant systems. Choose how you will collect the data, whether through automated reports, manual tracking, or surveys. Track progress regularly, identify areas for improvement, and adjust your adoption strategy accordingly.
- Map current travel and expense workflows
Start mapping your current travel and expense workflows by documenting each step. Record how employees request travel, submit expenses, and get approvals. Track who approves each step and the information provided by employees. Find manual steps, missing data, or pain points that slow down the process.
Then, match SAP Concur’s features to your needs by reviewing how it handles bookings, expenses, and reporting. Build a new digital workflow that shows how Concur will replace or improve the current steps. Identify any policy changes, new user roles, and explain how employees will shift from the old process.
- Put together a cross-functional project team
Organizations should establish a steering committee comprising leaders from finance, IT, procurement, and other key teams before implementing the technical setup. This team must set clear goals, plan audits, and roll out timelines, whether by department or in phases.
Additionally, they should also drive a strong change management plan with clear communication, targeted training, and real-time support. These champions must clearly explain SAP Concur’s purpose and benefits from the start. Early success stories drive user adoption and help the organization realize ROI sooner..
- Plan technical integration in detail
Initiate technical integration for Concur adoption by identifying business needs and selecting the most suitable method, such as pre-built connectors, APIs, sFTP, or on-demand integrations. Define whether you need real-time updates, batch processing, or a hybrid approach. Review your hardware and software to confirm compatibility and plan for future growth.
Next, map your data fields clearly and set strong validation rules. Develop a comprehensive testing strategy to ensure data quality. Then, launch the integration, monitor system performance, and fine-tune as needed. Remember to document your API specs, data maps, and troubleshooting steps. Create a clear support plan to handle technical issues.
- Set up policies, workflows, and audit controls
Organizations should build strong policies, clear workflows, and solid IT audit controls to adopt SAP Concur well. They must define expense policies for meals, hotels, and travel, and set spending limits. Travel policies should list approved destinations and standards.
Additionally, create workflows that guide the approval process for various expenses and user roles. They must involve multiple approvers to prevent fraud. Workflow rules can automate approvals or send alerts when needed.
More importantly, establish audit rules to detect violations, maintain comprehensive audit trails, and monitor spending trends. They should also manage user roles carefully, control access, and regularly update policies.
- Pilot deployment and conduct testing before going live
To prevent disruptions before going live, pilot the SAP Concur deployment with a small group of individuals who enjoy using new digital tools. Provide training through onsite sessions or Concur’s online resources. Ensure managers are part of the pilot to encourage adoption. Support the pilot group with guides and videos. Their feedback will guide the broader rollout and improve employee training, materials, and communication strategies.
Organizations should conduct thorough technical, QA, and UAT testing during this stage. Teams must use real-world test scripts to uncover issues early. They should mix automated testing with real user involvement to spot usability issues.
- Full rollout with change management strategy
Strong technical setups alone do not guarantee success. Organizations must lead with a change management strategy from the start of SAP Concur adoption. Teams should build a clear communication plan that speaks to travelers, managers, and other user groups.
Real-world examples make training more effective than manuals. For instance, when an employee uses the Concur Request Assistant to expedite approvals and minimize errors, teams should acknowledge their success during meetings. Leaders should also establish a regular feedback loop to collect user insights.
What are the best practices to enable long-term SAP Concur adoption?
Companies need to follow best practices for the long-term use of SAP Concur. These practices keep the system effective, help users get the most out of it, and reduce frustration. In this way, companies can boost productivity and implement business transformation.
Here are the best practices that allow better adoption of the platform:
Compel leaders to promote the adoption during rollout and beyond
To get leaders to support Concur adoption from the start and beyond, focus on showing the system’s value. Explain clearly how Concur saves time, cuts costs, improves compliance, and makes work easier for both employees and the company. Tailor the message by showing each leader how Concur solves problems in their specific department.
Encourage leaders to build a culture where employees share their experiences with Concur. Employees should understand that they will receive support to help them adapt to this new system.
Address resistance and change fatigue earlier
To address resistance and change fatigue during SAP Concur adoption, focus on clear communication, employee involvement, and strong support. Explain Concur’s benefits, involve users in planning, and provide relevant training. Offer ongoing help through a help desk and FAQs. Encourage peer support by creating opportunities for users to assist one another.
Involve the compliance team in the adoption process
It’s important to get feedback from the compliance team before proceeding with adoption. They review policies to align with company rules, reduce high-risk spending, and help prevent fraud by tracking expenses and identifying potential issues. Concur also boosts efficiency through process automation and reporting. Staying compliant protects the company’s reputation and helps avoid fines or lawsuits.
Focus on developing a program for end-user training
Develop a comprehensive and engaging SAP Concur training program that accommodates diverse learning styles. Introduce the system early, teach basic and advanced features, and tailor content to user roles. Offer online courses, workshops, and in-app support. Gather feedback, encourage collaborative learning, and track adoption and training completion rates to ensure effective implementation.
Adopt real-time analytics and dashboards to demonstrate impact
Create clear dashboards and visualizations to show the impact of Concur adoption. Track adoption rates, policy compliance, cost savings, and time savings. Use Spendtelligence for deeper insights.
In addition, associated AI tools like Concur Detect can alert you of suspicious activity. You can also set alerts to notify leaders about big changes in spending patterns or unusual trends.
Establish a feedback and monitoring loop
Set up a system to collect user feedback through surveys, ratings, and conversations. Run user acceptance testing (UAT) with real examples to catch problems early. Analyze feedback to improve policies, training, and system features. Then, update training and workflows as needed. Use the SAP Concur Community for extra resources and peer support.
Make SAP Concur adoption an enterprise IT success story
Successful SAP Concur adoption requires strategic planning, execution, and ongoing support for users. Organizations that prioritize adoption strategies and user experience ensure long-term success in expense management. By focusing on user needs, businesses can transform travel and expense processes.
Real-time insights, embedded compliance, and continuous feedback loops drive success and maximize ROI. Treat Concur as a strategic platform, not just a tool, to control costs and improve the employee experience. With the exemplary commitment, SAP Concur adoption will become a key driver of your digital transformation.
FAQs
The challenges of using SAP Concur include keeping up with rapidly changing technology, ensuring it integrates seamlessly with existing systems, and managing complex travel rules and employee needs.
Effective change management is crucial for leveraging SAP Concur successfully. A clear plan helps employees understand what to expect, clarifies everyone’s role, and demonstrates the company’s commitment. This leads to better user adoption and more engagement.