¶ Understanding and Managing SAP Concur’s Audit Process
In any organization, ensuring compliance and financial integrity is paramount, especially when managing travel and expense activities. SAP Concur, a leading travel and expense management solution, includes a robust audit process designed to help companies maintain control, detect anomalies, and ensure policy adherence. Understanding how to effectively manage SAP Concur’s audit capabilities can significantly reduce risks, improve compliance, and streamline internal controls.
This article provides an overview of SAP Concur’s audit process and best practices for managing it efficiently.
The audit process in SAP Concur involves reviewing submitted expense reports and travel bookings to verify accuracy, compliance with company policies, and detect potential fraud or errors. It typically includes automated checks, rule-based validations, and manual reviews performed by audit teams or managers.
SAP Concur allows organizations to define customizable audit rules that automatically flag expense reports or items for review based on criteria such as:
- Exceeding expense limits (e.g., per diem, lodging)
- Missing or invalid receipts
- Duplicate expense submissions
- Out-of-policy transactions (e.g., unauthorized vendors, travel classes)
- Unusual spending patterns or amounts
These rules help prioritize high-risk reports and reduce manual effort.
- Expense reports flagged by audit rules are routed to auditors or managers for detailed review.
- Auditors can approve, reject, or send reports back to employees for clarification or correction.
- SAP Concur supports multi-level audits and escalation paths depending on the complexity or amount involved.
SAP Concur integrates with compliance and risk management tools such as SAP Risk Management and SAP Enterprise Threat Detection, providing enhanced capabilities to detect fraud, monitor policy violations, and generate compliance reports.
¶ 4. Audit Logs and Reporting
- Detailed logs of audit actions are maintained for transparency and traceability.
- Audit reports provide insights into trends, common violations, and compliance rates.
- Historical data supports internal and external audits.
- Collaborate with finance, legal, and compliance teams to establish relevant audit criteria aligned with corporate policies.
- Balance strictness to catch violations without overwhelming auditors with false positives.
- Use SAP Concur’s Policy and Audit Rule configuration tools to implement your audit criteria.
- Regularly review and update rules to adapt to changing business needs or regulatory requirements.
¶ Step 3: Train Auditors and Employees
- Provide auditors with training on using SAP Concur’s audit tools and workflows.
- Educate employees on expense policies and the audit process to reduce non-compliant submissions.
¶ Step 4: Monitor and Optimize
- Utilize SAP Concur’s dashboards to track audit workloads, report turnaround times, and compliance metrics.
- Analyze audit outcomes to identify root causes of policy violations and areas for process improvement.
¶ Step 5: Document and Archive
- Maintain audit logs and evidence in compliance with legal and regulatory retention policies.
- Ensure data is accessible for internal reviews and external audits.
- Automate where possible: Use rule-based audits to reduce manual reviews and focus human effort on complex cases.
- Use data analytics: Leverage analytics to detect unusual spending patterns that might escape rule-based audits.
- Keep policies up to date: Regularly update expense policies and audit rules in response to evolving business or regulatory landscapes.
- Encourage transparency: Promote open communication between auditors and employees to resolve discrepancies quickly.
- Integrate systems: Combine audit data with broader compliance and risk management frameworks for a holistic approach.
Understanding and managing SAP Concur’s audit process is crucial for maintaining financial discipline, ensuring policy compliance, and mitigating fraud risks. By leveraging SAP Concur’s automated audit rules, workflows, and reporting capabilities, organizations can streamline audits, improve accuracy, and gain deeper insights into their travel and expense activities.
A well-executed audit process within SAP Concur not only protects company assets but also fosters a culture of accountability and transparency—key ingredients for sustainable business success.