The Proof Is in the Pudding: A Recipe for Best-in-Class Automated Spend Management

On November 9^th it’s British Pudding Day and you know what they say about pudding – the proof is in it! Whether you love a sticky toffee pudding or an apple crumble, you need to taste it to know if it measures up to your expectations and, perhaps most importantly, what could be done to improve it. 

The proof of SAP Concur solutions, such as Concur Expense and Concur Travel, is in how successfully they help you achieve your business goals. From increasing productivity and strengthening compliance to improved spend visibility, you want to see clear results. If your spend management processes are the pudding, where’s the proof that you’re working towards being best-in-class? 

Automating your Travel and Expense (T&E) processes is a no-brainer in today’s world but automation alone is not enough to reach best-in-class. Our most successful customers have moved beyond disconnected, semi-automated business spend processes and have found smarter ways to handle new challenges around hybrid working, expense categories, p-cards, emerging fraud risks and sustainability.

If the proof is in the pudding, where do you sit on the menu? 

To emulate these success stories, you first need to identify where you are now. Together with IDC, we’ve created the IDC Travel and Expense (T&E) Software Maturity Model, which helps large organisations assess their T&E program maturity across five levels, pinpointing the technology and cultural elements as well as the business challenges and benefits of moving along the curve.

Let’s take a look at the five stages of T&E maturity and examine the proof of how SAP Concur solutions can help you move along it.

1. Legacy Applications – the only way is up

If you’re at stage one, you’re not alone – 50% of enterprises still use legacy applications worldwide. Your T&E system is based on outdated, on-premise legacy systems, mixing manual processes with clunky spreadsheets. Business growth is hindered by a lack of agility and flexibility in your budgeting and you run the risk of non-compliant spend and delayed reimbursement. 

The proof: With SAP Concur solutions you can move to the next stage of the maturity model and reduce the risks associated with non-compliant spend and reporting by minimising manual manipulation of data. 

2. Automated Point Solutions – struggles with silos

Automation is definitely a positive step forward – 83% of enterprise respondents are willing to pay a premium for automation technology. Partial automation, however, also has its pitfalls. Automated point solutions only allow you to manage one task or workflow in a disconnected fashion, resulting in siloed spend data and a lack of intelligent reporting, communication and visibility. Compliance and efficiency are also not as robust as they could be. 

The proof: SAP Concur solutions helps you evolve from older, clunky, rule-based automation to intelligent automation driven by machine learning to improve employee experience, process efficiency, productivity and compliance. 

3. Connected Platform Ecosystem – power of the partners

You can access spend data from suppliers, providers and partners, thanks to back-office point travel and expense solutions connected by APIs. This is a definite trend, with 80% of enterprises planning to overhaul their third-party relationships by 2024. At this stage, users still have the tedious task of navigating different systems. Fragmented spending challenges and new expense categories (e.g. home office supplies and PPE) create the additional risk of wasteful spending, budget overruns and fraud.

The proof: SAP Concur solutions will enable you to connect business applications with budget tracking and pre-approval functions, so you can proactively control spend before it happens. Reporting tools help you drive policy changes to enhance compliance. 

4. Integrated Application Suites – connected workflows

We’re almost at the pinnacle now, with integrated application suites tying together T&E, corporate card, ERP/financial systems and CRM for a more holistic view of spend. Today, integrated suites are the preferred choice of 59% of enterprise respondents compared to “best of breed” solutions. 

The proof: With SAP Concur solutions your finance team can leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) intelligent technology, to reduce processing time (e.g. improve audit efficiency or maximise VAT reclaim), improve organisation agility and establish business resilience.

5. Intelligent/Predictive Processes – finance transformation

If you’re here, congratulations, you’ve achieved finance transformation. You’ve made a smart investment –  84% of enterprise respondents are willing to pay a premium for AI/ ML technology. You can unleash the full power of AI to predict unplanned spend and forecast future invoices before they happen, leading to better strategic decisions, business agility, resilience and competitiveness. 

The proof:  Your business can make use of virtual assistants, predictive T&E budgeting and planning and ML-based fraud detection. You’ll also streamline reconciliation, auditing, matching, cash management and discounting – and perhaps eliminate expense reports altogether!

SAP Concur solutions:  Bake efficiency and compliance into spend management

As the last few years have shown us, travel and expense never stands still. Knowing where you are, and what innovations are available to take you further along the path to an intelligent enterprise, has never been more important. SAP Concur solutions evolve to meet not just today’s spend management demands but also tomorrow’s.

Find out about the IDC Maturity Model and where you sit within the 5 steps in our IDC Maturity Report and get ready to take the next step towards best-in-class with SAP Concur solutions.