November 2019 Expense Standard Edition Admin Summary
Initial Post
Release Note Summaries
Authentication
New SAP Concur Sign In Page (31 Oct)These changes are part of the SAP Concur continued commitment to maintaining secure authentication.
SAP Concur now has a new Sign In page, providing a new login experience for both direct SAP Concur username/password users and Single Sign-On (SSO) users. SSO users will start the SP-initiated SSO login process at www.concursolutions.com. This change was made on 31 October, 2019 (not in the scheduled monthly release). Initially, the new Sign In page is visible to only a small percentage of users. Availability will gradually increase throughout November 2019, until all SAP Concur users have the option to use the new Sign In page.
The new SAP Concur Sign In page features a two-step login process that provides enhanced security, meets current industry standards and provides a better login success rate.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This feature provides better security and a faster, convenient experience for users logging in to SAP Concur products and services.
**Ongoing** Deprecation of HMAC Initiates Migration to SSO Self-ServiceThese changes are part of the SAP Concur continued commitment to maintaining secure authentication.
SAP Concur will soon begin the deprecation process of removing Hash-Based Message Authentication Code (HMAC) as an SSO option. The replacement service for HMAC is SAML SSO, a self-service method of setup whereby client admins have access within SAP Concur to complete their SAML connections.
Clients currently using HMAC are encouraged to migrate to the SSO self-service tool as soon as it is released (targeted for Q1 2020). The new SSO self-service tool allows multiple portals (Identity Providers) to be added.
The HMAC deprecation includes two phases:
PHASE I:
Clients need to have an Identity Provider (IdP) or a custom SAML 2.0 solution.
Clients begin testing the new SSO self-service tool.
Clients prepare for onboarding new clients using the new SSO self-service tool, which is targeted for release in Q1 2020.
Once the SSO tool is available, customers will be notified via release notes about the official deprecation date of HMAC. As of the official deprecation date, no new clients can be onboarded using HMAC; new clients must be onboarded using the new SSO self-service tool.
Existing clients using HMAC need to be migrated using the new SSO self-service tool.
PHASE II:
Clients continue migrating existing HMAC clients to the new SSO self-service tool.
Shut down the HMAC service after everyone has migrated from HMAC to the new SSO self-service tool. Phase II is targeted to end mid-year 2020.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change provides better security and improved support for users logging in to SAP Concur products and services.
Expense Pay – Global
Funding Account Page ChangesSAP Concur has made the following changes on the Funding Account page:
The Account Currency field has been renamed Reimbursement Currency.
The Funding Type drop-down has been removed from the screen.
The Payment-Processing Partner field has been added to a new section of the page Payment-Processing Partner Details. The field displays available payment processing partners. If only one payment processing partner is available for the selected reimbursement currency, the partner is defaulted.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: These changes maintain readability and accuracy of the information displayed.
File Transfer Updates
New SAP Concur IP Address (EMEA) (23 Nov)This release note is intended for technical staff responsible for file transmissions with SAP Concur. For our customers and suppliers participating in data exchange through various secure file transfer protocols, SAP Concur is making changes that provide greater security for those file transfers.
SAP Concur will change the IP address for st-eu.concursolutions.com from 84.14.175.233 to 46.243.56.11 on 23 November, 2019 during the maintenance window in the region Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Clients whose file transfers protocols use the SAP Concur DNS endpoint (st-eu.concursolutions.com) to connect are not impacted by this change.
Clients who connect via IP address will need to connect to the SAP Concur DNS endpoint (st-eu.concursolutions.com) or the new IP address as of 23 November, 2019.
SAP Concur recommends connecting to DNS endpoint st-eu.concursolutions.com to avoid connection issues if the SAP Concur IP address changes.
This announcement pertains to the following file transfer DNS endpoint:
st-eu.concursolutions.com
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change provides greater security for file transfers.
Support Ending for Unsecure SSH Protocol Algorithms/Ciphers (14 Oct, 2019)This release note is intended for technical staff responsible for file transmissions with SAP Concur. For our customers and suppliers participating in data exchange through various secure file transfer protocols, SAP Concur made changes that provide greater security for those file transfers.
As of 8 AM PDT, 14 October, 2019, SAP Concur no longer supports the following unsecure SSH protocol algorithms/ciphers:
(key exchange) diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha1
(encryption) aes128-cbc
(encryption) aes192-cbc
(encryption) aes256-cbc
(message authentication code) hmac-md5
(message authentication code) hmac-sha1-96
(message authentication code) hmac-md5-96
This announcement pertains to the following file transfer DNS endpoints:
st.concursolutions.com
st-eu.concursolutions.com
st-cge.concursolutions.com
st-cge-dr.concursolutions.com
vs.concursolutions.com
vs.concurcdc.cn
If assistance is required, please contact SAP Concur support.
For more information, refer to the Shared: File Transfer for Customers and Vendors User Guide (English Only).
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: These changes provide greater security for file transfers.
Financial Integration
Customer/Classes Column Renamed Custom Fields ListsThe Customer/Classes column that appears on the Company Details page has been renamed Custom Fields Lists.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change makes the column heading more generic so that it better encompasses the different terms used by various accounting software products; for example, Intuit QuickBooks and Sage Accounting.
Next Generation (NextGen) Expense
**Ongoing** New User Interface for Concur Expense End UsersUpdate: In order to respond to and take advantage of feedback from customers, and to align with the SAP Concur commitment to ensure a smooth and successful transition, we are working on a revised deployment strategy for Next Generation Expense.
SAP Concur is dedicated to the consistent improvement of our products, not only the features they provide, but also the experience of using those features. How users interact with technology changes over time, along with needs and expectations. We are constantly listening to our customers and soliciting feedback on how we can improve the user experience.
NextGen Expense is the continued evolution of the SAP Concur user experience. It was built from extensive user research and data analytics that include 680 1:1 conversations, 58 usability studies, 3,000+ survey responses and 1.3B monthly user actions.
Customers will have the ability to preview and then opt in to NextGen Expense before the mandatory cutover.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: The result is the next generation of the Expense user interface designed to provide a modern, consistent and streamlined user experience. This technology not only provides an enhanced UI, but also allows SAP Concur to react more quickly to customer requests to meet changing needs as they happen.
Payment Types
Default Cash Payment Type Renamed Out-of-PocketOn the Compliance Controls – Compliance Rules page in Product Settings, the default value for the Rename the cash payment type to field has changed from Cash to Out-of-Pocket. The field Rename the cash payment type to will also be renamed Rename the Out-of-Pocket payment type to field. A new tooltip has been added to this field to clarify its use for admins.
Users will see the new default value, Out-of-Pocket, in the Payment Type list when creating an expense entry.
This change is for net new clients. For existing clients, the field name will change, but the default value, Cash, will remain the same.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change improves the user experience when classifying reimbursable expenses.
Product Settings
New Processor Approval Only WorkflowA new processor only approval workflow option is now the default workflow for processing expense claims. This workflow eliminates the manager approval step and now routes submitted expense claims directly to the processor.
Before, the default approval workflow routed submitted expense claims to an approving manager. Once the manager approved the expense claim, the claim was then sent to the processor for final approval.
Clients can still opt to include a manager approval step in their company's workflow. If a manager approval workflow is selected on the Approval Routing page, client admins will then see a message appear on this page notifying them that they now need to assign a user as the manager approver for each user record on the Users page.
This change is for net new clients only.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change simplifies the approval workflow process, removes duplicate approvals for smaller businesses and eases initial user administration setup.
Profile
Personal Credit Cards Page Renamed Expense Credit CardsWith this release, the Personal Credit Cards page in Profile settings is renamed Expense Credit Cards. The Personal Credit Cards link under Expense Settings in Profile settings is also renamed Expense Credit Cards.
This update is only a visible change and does not change any functionality. This update occurs for new and existing users.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change provides clarity for users when they are connecting company-issued credit cards that are not available in the normal corporate feed.
Quick Expense
**Ongoing** Quick Expense v3 RetirementEffective 31 March, 2020, the Quick Expense v3 API will be retired. We encourage all current users to migrate to Quick Expense v4 as soon as possible. Please note that after the API is in a retired state the API will be decommissioned in a future release.
Please refer to the deprecation policy for definitions and additional information.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This update will remove an outdated API.
Receipts
Receipt Digitalisation (Paper into Digital) (France)SAP Concur now allows the conversion of paper receipts into digital copies with legal value. Receipt Digitalisation enables SAP Concur customers to conform a paper receipt into a legal digital copy according to their country's regulatory or government authorities.
This feature is available to new and existing customers in France and those who have configurations in France. Additional countries will be included in future releases.
The release for France includes:
Enabling the conversion of paper receipts into digital copies with legal value
Viewing the "Certified" status of the digitised receipt in NextGen Expense
The Receipt Digitalisation feature may be turned on if your company is using the NextGen Expense user interface (UI); these users will see a certified icon. Users who are using the existing Concur Expense UI see no change and the feature is not in effect for them. Whether a customer is using the existing UI or NextGen Expense, the certified icon appears in the SAP Concur mobile app. In order to take full advantage of this feature, customers should use NextGen Expense. SAP Concur does not recommend that this is enabled unless you are using the NextGen Expense UI.
To capture legal copies of original paper receipts, clients must also be using the latest version of the SAP Concur mobile app and can use ExpenseIt with the mobile app, though ExpenseIt is not required. The user takes a picture of the paper receipt within the mobile app. Once the picture is taken, the digitalisation process is applied to the image. Once the process is complete, a stamp displays on the digitalised receipt in the mobile app confirming whether the receipt is certified.
Digitalised receipts display for users in NextGen Expense in Available Expenses, Available Receipts and in the expense list, like any other receipt.
Approvers and processors will view the "Certified" receipt status in the expense claim and expense list in the existing version of Concur Expense. A new icon displays for receipts that are certified.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This feature provides a paperless receipt option that adheres to requirements and regulations for France for paper into digital tax receipt processing and compliance.
Receipt Digitalisation (Paper into Digital) (Spain)SAP Concur now allows the conversion of paper receipts into digital copies with legal value. Receipt Digitalisation enables SAP Concur customers to conform a paper receipt into a legal digital copy according to their country's regulatory or government authorities.
This feature is available to new and existing customers in Spain, and those who have configurations in Spain. Additional countries will be included in future releases.
The release for Spain includes:
Offering a solution audited and homologated by the Spanish tax authority, Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria (AEAT)
Enabling the conversion of paper receipts into digital copies with legal value
Viewing the "Certified" status of the digitised receipt in NextGen Expense
For more information regarding homologated software, refer to the AEAT (Spanish and English only) website. The homologation document for digitalisation is only available in Spanish.
The Receipt Digitalisation feature may be turned on if your company is using the NextGen Expense user interface (UI); these users will see a certified icon. Users who are using the existing Concur Expense UI see no change and the feature is not in effect for them. Whether a customer is using the existing UI or NextGen Expense, the certified icon appears in the SAP Concur mobile app. In order to take full advantage of this feature, customers should use NextGen Expense. SAP Concur does not recommend that this is enabled unless you are using the NextGen Expense UI.
To capture legal copies of original paper receipts, clients must also be using the latest version of the SAP Concur mobile app and can use ExpenseIt with the mobile app, though ExpenseIt is not required. The user takes a picture of the paper receipt within the mobile app. Once the picture is taken, the digitalisation process is applied to the image. Once the process is complete, a stamp displays on the digitalised receipt in the mobile app confirming whether the receipt is certified.
Digitalised receipts display for users in NextGen Expense in Available Expenses, Available Receipts and in the expense list, like any other receipt.
Approvers and processors will view the "Certified" receipt status in the expense claim and expense list in the existing version of Concur Expense. A new icon displays for receipts that are certified.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This feature provides a paperless receipt option that adheres to requirements and regulations for Spain for paper into digital tax receipt processing and compliance.
Planned Change Summaries
The items in this section are summaries of the changes targeted for future releases. SAP Concur reserves the right to postpone implementation of – or completely remove – any enhancement/change mentioned here.
IMPORTANT: These Planned Changes may not be all of the upcoming enhancements and modifications that affect this SAP Concur product or service. The Planned Changes that apply to multiple SAP Concur products and/or services are in a consolidated document. Please review the additional Planned Changes admin summaries available in the November 2019 Shared Planned Changes Standard Edition Admin Summary.
Authentication
**Planned Changes** Single Sign-On (SSO) Self-Service Option Date Change – STATUS UPDATEThis feature is no longer targeted for October 2019 and is not targeted for the current release. This Release Note has been moved to the Shared Planned Changes Release Notes (English only).
Company Cards
**Planned Changes** Amex Business Card Connection (US)SAP Concur will soon offer an American Express (Amex) business card connection. The Amex Business Card direct connect feature will allow customers to connect Amex business credit cards while in Concur Expense.
The Amex Business Card feature provides the following functionality:
Provides an automatic daily refresh of transactions from Amex to SAP Concur (Concur Expense users do not need to sign into Amex to refresh transactions)
Offers compatibility with SAP Concur Expense Assistant
Allows the primary card holder to manage transactions without having to view all supplemental card transactions
Supports Delegate and Proxy capabilities on transactions
Provides transaction currency handling for foreign transactions
Includes viewing available transactions
Includes Concur Analytics for Standard reporting (including unsubmitted transactions)
This feature is targeted for December 2019. Additional countries will be included in future releases.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This feature provides SAP Concur customers with a business card connector.
File Transfer Updates
**Planned Changes** Source IP Checking (EMEA) – STATUS UPDATEThis feature is no longer targeted for October 2019 and is not targeted for the current release. This Release Note has been moved to the Shared Planned Changes Release Notes (English only).
Miscellaneous
**Planned Changes** Custom Fields in Combined ExpensesUsers often combine two expense-related items, such as a card transaction with a manually created expense entry. During the merge process, most fields are either copied or ignored based on precedence rules, to ensure that the most important information persists.
Currently – for custom fields – this process may cause unexpected results if the two items (in this case, card transaction and expense) use different expense entry forms. The result might be that the custom field data on the manually created expense entry is deleted, when the desired result would be for it to persist.
Targeted for the January release, this process will change. Data in custom fields will persist:
Regardless of whether the combining items use the same expense entry forms
If the data types (list, text, etc.) are the same
Initially, this change will apply only to custom fields that are of the List or Text data type. Over time, other data types will be included.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change will save time for users who may have to re-enter data in custom fields.
**Planned Changes** Discontinue Workflow Emails for Inactive UsersCurrently, Concur Expense sends workflow emails (for example, about status changes) to all users, including inactive users.
Targeted for the December release, Concur Expense will no longer send workflow emails to inactive users.
Business Purpose / Client Benefit: Inactive users cannot access Concur Expense so it is likely that receiving Expense workflow emails is not necessary.
Client Notifications
SAP Concur Non-Affiliated Subprocessors
The list of non-affiliated subprocessors is available here: SAP Concur list of Subprocessors (English Only)
Monthly Browser Certifications
Monthly browser certifications, both current and planned, are available with the other SAP Concur monthly release notes, accessible from What's New - Standard Edition
