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-   -   Concur expense mgmt system (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz/297437-concur-expense-mgmt-system.html)

rwmiller56 Jan 17, 2014 10:22 am

We've been using Concur for about 2 years. It works fine, and I get reimbursements promptly made to my checking account, provided that my boss promptly approves the expense report :-)
I do NOT book my airfare through Concur, using the corporate AmEx account. I book it on my own, so I can use my own Mileage Plus credit card. I had knee surgery last year, and didn't fly much, so I lost my Premier Gold status with UA. Therefore, I now opt to book flights using my Premier Club card in order to get benefits such as Premier Access, free bags, etc. I'm careful that the flights I select meet the company cost guidelines (price is no more than $200 higher than the lowest fare). So far, all my flights have passed the Concur auditing process, and have been approved.

darthbimmer Jan 17, 2014 10:29 am


Originally Posted by mandolino (Post 22172562)
Is Concur expensive for <50 staff small companies?

I can't find price info on their website, but I'd like to sell our finance/accounting people on it as we have an extremely onerous expense reporting system at the moment.

Expensive is a relative term. How many person-hours does your company spend on expense reports that could be automated by a system like Concur? If your current system is onerous on the back end as well as the front, a commercial tool would likely be a savings.

Between my wife and I, we have worked at 3 small companies that bought Concur. One was approximately 100 WW, another was 100 NA only, and the third about 250 WW.

milepig Jan 17, 2014 11:48 am

We have CONCUR, linked with corporate purchasing cards, which in our case happens to be MasterCard.

After getting over the initial hump, I love the system. Things we charge on the corporate card are automatically linked in, and anything else I need reimbursed I can just enter manually. The ability to upload documentation - either scanned images or e-mail receipts is great.

I like the ability to begin an expense report as soon as a trip is known and to then add expenses to it as the occur over time before finalizing it when the trip is concluded.

There are wacky times where I just have to fudge something, like tax added to a hotel bill that doesn't penny balance when you break it out over the multi-day stay, but there is a way to adjust one of the days so you do balance. The system - at least our application - only has 3-4 boxes for hotel fees, so in a rare case where there are more taxes than lines (county, city, convention, etc.) I can just add a couple of them together and attach a note.

Not specifically CONCUR, but my company ties the reimbursement process to the payroll feed, so the next time the push out payroll I'll also get the reimbursement. Similarly, any money I owe them (non-reimbursable expenses from the corporate card) just get taken out of my next "check".

Some bills come through very clearly - airfare charges for one, others, like hotel bills take a bit of work.

The system also allows for proxies, so people with assistants can have them enter and reconcile the expenses for them.

We also have the ability to charge travel directly to our account line, avoiding the credit card completely, but only if we use the company travel agency, which I won't do since they're terrible.

Craig6z Jan 21, 2014 6:59 pm

I've been doing further research on vendors, and have been most impressed with Gorilla Expense. Principals are ex-Concur. Anyone used Gorilla's products?

Concur's solution for interfacing with SAGE/MAS90 is not elegant, and puts too much burden on the buyer. Gorilla seems to have better integration and testing.

Thanks Often1 about Chrome River. I've been in contact with the firm and am still considering them, but their sales person was somewhat vague and less than persuasive.

SheBangsTheDrums Jan 22, 2014 6:22 am

Been using it for about 6 months now and mostly very positive. I love being able to update an expense claim as im on the go. Means i no longer have to carry large amounts of receipts. Also, love being able to log an expense in the local currency and have it convert to sterling for me (you can also override the exchange rate if required).

Couple of small niggles; adding an email to an expense claim is a pain in the backside. Usually you have to copy to a word document, then pdf it, before uploading. Also, no app for the BlackBerry Z10 which means i have to use my personal iPhone to upload. Final niggle, the support is terrible for it. The response is usually quick but the information provided is sketchy and sometimes incomplete.

On the whole though i find it fine to use and an improvement over our previous manual submission method.

tev9999 Jan 22, 2014 7:00 am

I have been using it at my current and previous jobs without any major complaints. The interface is a bit clunky. Booking one flight but three hotels can be a bit confusing the first time you use it.

The flight search engine is also not the best - plus it is there to enforce corporate travel policy, so I don't really blame Concur for pushing me to take the two stop flight over the non-stop because it is $101 cheaper. For example, my last Mexico trip the non-stop flight was pretty expensive because I was within 14 days on the outbound (or it was just sold). As a DTW captive, I prefer Delta, but Concur pushed me to one-stop flights both ways. I was able to force a better price and routing by a multi-city trip through Chicago to pick up Aero Mexico, then got my non-stop return on Delta.

As for expenses, I love the ability to e-mail myself receipts and have them show up in my receipt store. Just snap a picture with your phone and send it to myinbox @ concursolutions.com and it will automatically be there when you go to do your expense report.

No complaints about payment of personal charges. Typically they are direct deposited in my bank account within 48 hours of manager approval of an expense report. I do find it odd the way they pay Amex. If you have 20 charges on one expense report, Concur makes 20 payments to Amex. If I had a $400 flight, $100 hotel, and $30 dinner, they post paymenst of $400, $100 and $30. Personal charges do not get paid that way - just one lump sum.

mandolino Jan 22, 2014 7:48 am


How many person-hours does your company spend on expense reports that could be automated by a system like Concur? If your current system is onerous on the back end as well as the front, a commercial tool would likely be a savings.
The accountants are in a different place, physically and mentally, to the road warriors, who are relatively few in number. They just don't "get it".

chrisboth Feb 19, 2014 11:05 am


Originally Posted by noemifmorlanes (Post 22171420)
Do you know any company providing consultancy services to implement Concur software?

Hello: I can assist if you PM me.

Chris Both

mandolino Feb 19, 2014 1:33 pm

I'm experimenting with Gorilla at the moment. I'll let you know how I get on.

suren89 Feb 3, 2016 10:45 pm

Is it possible to recover an deleted expense report in Concur?
 
Hi,

I am new to the Concur expense platform. While trying to remove an administrative expense, I accidentally deleted the month's expense report itself.

Is there any possible way through which I could restore the deleted report?


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