Moving Beyond Point-to-Point Concur Integrations

SAP Concur holds a central position in many organizations’ expense and invoice management processes. However, maximizing its value hinges on effective integration with core financial systems, primarily the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. My research indicates many companies initially rely on basic file transfers or simple point-to-point connections, which often prove brittle and inefficient as operations scale. Isn’t there a better way?

Strategic integration patterns provide a more robust, scalable, and maintainable approach to managing the flow of financial data between Concur and other enterprise systems. Moving beyond simple data dumps unlocks significant process efficiencies and improves financial data accuracy.

Pattern 1: Expense Report Data to ERP General Ledger

This is arguably the most common requirement: getting approved expense report data from Concur into the ERP’s general ledger.

  • Mechanism: While standard accounting extracts (SAE) files are common, leveraging Concur’s APIs (like the v4.0/expenses/expense-reports endpoint) offers more real-time capabilities and flexibility.
  • Data Mapping: Critical mapping involves translating Concur expense types and cost objects (cost centers, projects) to the ERP’s chart of accounts segments. This requires careful design and maintenance, often within the integration middleware.
  • Transformation: Data often needs transformation. For instance, handling different tax treatments or summarizing lines for GL posting requires logic built into the integration layer.
  • Error Handling: What happens if an employee’s cost center is inactive in the ERP? The integration must have robust error detection, logging, and notification processes to prevent posting failures.

Pattern 2: ERP Master Data Synchronization to Concur

Keeping Concur aligned with core ERP master data is essential for accurate coding and approvals.

  • Employee Data: Syncing employee records (new hires, terminations, changes in approvers or cost centers) from the HR/ERP system to Concur ensures expense reports route correctly. Concur’s Identity v4 API is typically used here.
  • Cost Objects: Pushing valid cost centers, projects, or other relevant dimensions from the ERP to Concur lists ensures users can only select valid codes.
  • Frequency: This sync often runs on a scheduled basis (e.g., nightly), balancing data freshness with system load. Incremental updates (delta processing) are more efficient than full data loads.

Pattern 3: Invoice Data Integration (Concur Invoice)

For organizations using Concur Invoice, integrating this data follows patterns similar to expense reports but focuses on the Accounts Payable (AP) process.

  • Mechanism: APIs (like Invoice Pay v4) allow fetching approved invoice data.
  • Data Flow: Integration typically creates AP vendor bills or invoice vouchers in the ERP, populating vendor details, invoice amounts, GL distributions, and payment terms.
  • Matching: Some integrations may incorporate logic for matching invoices to purchase orders within the ERP.

Key Integration Considerations

Developing robust Concur integrations requires attention to several factors:

  • Security: API authentication (OAuth 2.0 for newer APIs) and secure credential management are paramount.
  • Middleware/iPaaS: Using an Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) often provides pre-built connectors, transformation tools, and monitoring capabilities, preferable to custom point-to-point code.
  • Monitoring & Alerting: Proactive monitoring of integration jobs, with alerts for failures or data anomalies, is crucial for maintaining financial data integrity. As I noted when discussing SAP Concur expense reporting optimization, visibility is key.
  • Change Management: Updates to the ERP or Concur configurations require coordinated updates to the integration logic.

By adopting these structured integration patterns, organizations can move beyond basic data transfers to create efficient, reliable, and scalable financial workflows centered around SAP Concur.

What integration challenges have you faced with SAP Concur? Let’s discuss strategies on LinkedIn.