Concur Invoice Professional Edition Administration Help

October 2021 Invoice Professional Edition Admin Summary

Initial Post

Release Note Summaries

The items in this section are summaries of the release notes for this month. The Professional Edition release notes are accessible from What's New - Professional Edition.

Invoice Pay

Invoice Payment Processing Through Invoice Provider ACH Funding Accounts

As part of the new Invoice Provider ACH feature, funding accounts with Bambora/Worldline that have an Accepted status may now be activated, and approved invoices processed, for ACH payment by Bambora/Worldline. For Classic Invoice Pay ACH, funding accounts can remain active and open payment batches will continue to be processed for payment until 15 November, 2021. After this date, new invoice payments through Classic Invoice Pay ACH funding accounts will end.

Currently, USD ACH payments by Bambora/Worldline as the payment provider are supported.

For more information on the retirement of the Invoice Pay ACH feature, refer to the Invoice Pay Solutions FAQ (English Only).

For more information on moving invoice ACH payments from Invoice Pay ACH to the Invoice Provider ACH feature and Bambora/Worldline, refer to the SAP Concur Invoice Provider ACH migration (English Only) page.

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: To better serve clients, Invoice Provider ACH is replacing the Invoice Pay ACH feature as part of a transition of Invoice Pay to a payment provider solution for invoice payments.

New Invoice Payment Manager Funding Account Actions

The following actions have been added to the Actions list on the Invoice Pay Payment Manager > Funding Accounts page:

  • Activate Funding Account

  • Deactivate Funding Account

  • Move Batches to Active Funding Account

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: The new options make managing funding accounts easier and more efficient.

Invoice E-Bunsho Timestamp (Japan)

Invoice E-Bunsho Timestamp Enhancements

The View Image History list has been enhanced:

  • Images that are not timestamped are included on the list

  • Timestamped images are indicated with (T)

A warning message appears under the following circumstances:

  • When an image is Timestamped

  • When the invoice policy is change from a non-E-Bunsho compliant policy to an E-Bunsho compliant policy

  • When an invoice with an attached image is imported from Invoice Capture

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: These changes provide a history of each individual invoice, enable the user to see whether uploaded images were timestamped and alert users to confirm image requirements for E-Bunsho when images were uploaded under potentially noncompliant circumstances.

Purchase Order

Purchase Order Transmission File Size Limit

SAP Concur has implemented a 7 MB limit on the total size of the Purchase Order (PO) file transmitted to suppliers from SAP Concur. When supporting file attachments (images) are uploaded to purchase requests or purchase orders and included with the PO file transmitted to the supplier, the system will verify that the total size of the PO file is not greater than 7 MB. If a file being uploaded would cause the total size of the PO file to exceed 7 MB, the file will fail to upload, and a message will appear. The user can reduce the file size and try reuploading it.

If POs created before the change have attachments that exceed the limit, they will remain in a Pending Transmission status and users will receive a notification that the PO cannot be transmitted due to the size of the attachment. Users can remove the attached files and reupload images that meet the requirement to retransmit the PO.

As part of this change, on the Purchase Order Configuration page, the size limit of the file that can be uploaded as Supporting Documents has been updated. A single file that is 3 MB or less in size can be uploaded.

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: This change helps to ensure that the Concur Invoice email service supports PO transmission in all environments.

Authentication

CES SSO Decommissioned

These changes are part of the SAP Concur continued commitment to maintaining secure authentication.

SAP Concur will decommission Concur Expense Service (CES) SSO on 29 October, 2021.

SAP Concur now provides a Single Sign-On self-service option that enables client admins to set up their SAML v2 connections without involving an SAP Concur admin.

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: This change provides better security and improved support for users logging in to SAP Concur products and services.

New Company Request Token Self-Service Tool

A new Company Request Token self-service tool is now available to SAP Concur admins who have been assigned the Company Admin or Web Services Admin role.

The Company Request Token self-service tool enables clients to generate the Company Request Token that is required to request a JSON web token (JWT) when connecting to APIs on the SAP Concur platform.

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: The Company Request Token self-service tool enables clients to generate Company Request Tokens without contacting SAP Concur support. This tool also enables clients to generate a replacement Company Request Token without assistance from SAP Concur support if their Company Request Token expires or is lost.

Client Web Services

Self-Service Tool for Application Management

Beginning with the October release, clients who have SAP Concur Client Web Services can request access to a new application management self-service tool, OAuth 2.0 Application Management. This self-service tool is enabled by the Client Web Services team for SAP Concur Web Services clients who request it.

When enabled, the tool is available from the Authentication Administration page to admin users who have been assigned the Web Services Admin role.

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: The OAuth 2.0 Application Management tool enables clients to generate Client IDs (App IDs) and Client Secrets without contacting SAP Concur support.

Register Partner Application Page No Longer Active

On 21 August, the Register Partner Application page was deactivated.

With the October release, a new application management self-service tool will replace the Register Partner Application page.

For more information, refer to the Self-Service Tool for Application Management release note in these release notes.

Prior to the release of the new self-service tool, clients with SAP Concur Client Web Services can contact Client Web Services to register new applications.

Clients who do not have SAP Concur Client Web Services can still contact SAP Concur support to obtain an App ID as needed.

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: The Register Partner Application page was used to create OAuth 1.0 (legacy) applications. OAuth 1.0 was deprecated on 4 February 2017.

For more information about the deprecation of OAuth 1.0 and migration to OAuth 2.0, refer to the SAP Concur Developer Portal.

The new self-service tool for application management will enable clients to create OAuth 2.0 compliant applications.

File Transfer Updates

**Ongoing** Mandatory SFTP with SSH Key Authentication

This release note is intended for technical staff responsible for file transmissions with SAP Concur products. For SAP Concur clients and suppliers participating in data exchange through various secure file transfer protocols, SAP is making changes that provide greater security for those file transfers.

As of 10 April, 2021, non-SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) protocols and SFTP password authentication are not allowed to connect to SAP Concur for file transfers:

  • Non-SFTP file transfer accounts must switch to SFTP with SSH Key Authentication.

  • SFTP file transfer accounts that use password authentication must switch to SSH key authentication.

  • SFTP password reset requests require the client to provide an SSH key for authentication.

On 12 April 2021, SAP started disabling non-compliant file transfer connections. The process of disabling non-compliant accounts will continue throughout 2021. If you have multiple file transfer connections configured, this change applies to all of your file transfer connections.

This announcement pertains to the following file transfer DNS endpoints:

  • st.concursolutions.com

  • st-eu.concursolutions.com

  • vs.concursolutions.com

  • vs.concurcdc.cn

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: These changes provide greater security for file transfers.

Rotating PGP Key Available for File Transfers

Files transferred to SAP Concur products must be encrypted with the SAP Concur public PGP key, concursolutionsrotate.asc.

concursolutionsrotate.asc

  • Key file is available in client’s root folder

  • Key ID 40AC5D35

  • RSA 4096-bit signing and encryption subkey

  • Key expires every 2 years

  • Client is responsible for replacing the key before it expires

    • Next expiry date: 4 September 2022

    • SAP Concur plans to replace the current rotating public PGP key in the client’s root folder 90 days before the expiration date

The SAP Concur legacy PGP key (key ID D4D727C0) remains supported for existing clients but will be deprecated in the future.

SAP Concur strongly recommends that clients use the more secure rotating public PGP key for file transfers. To facilitate the use of the more secure rotating public PGP key for file transfers, SAP Concur added the key to existing client’s home folders on Friday 15 January 2021.

This announcement pertains to the following file transfer DNS endpoints:

  • st.concursolutions.com

  • mft-us.concursolutions.com

  • vs.concursolutions.com

  • st-eu.concursolutions.com

  • mft-eu.concursolutions.com

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: The rotating public PGP key provides greater security for file transfers.

**Ongoing** SAP Concur Legacy File Move Migration

This Release Note is intended for the technical staff responsible for file transmissions with SAP Concur. For our clients and suppliers participating in data exchange, SAP Concur is maintaining our file transfer subsystem to provide greater security for those file transfers.

SAP Concur is in the process of migrating entities that currently use a legacy process for moving files to a more efficient and secure file routing process that relies on APIs.

Clients whose entities are currently configured to use the legacy process will be migrated to the more efficient process sometime between now and 24 January 2022. After they are migrated to the more efficient process, clients will see the following improvement:

  • With the legacy process, clients had to wait for the file move schedule to run at a specified time. With the more efficient and secure API-based process, extracts and other outbound files from SAP Concur will be available within the existing overnight processing period shortly after the files are created.

This announcement pertains to the following file transfer DNS endpoints:

  • st.concursolutions.com

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: These changes provide greater security and efficiency for file transfers.

Miscellaneous

New IP Address Range For Callouts (25 Oct) (EMEA)

On 25 October, servers that support SAP Concur callouts in the EMEA datacentre will be upgraded. This maintenance includes migration of some services to new servers. When the migration occurs, the IP addresses associated with these services will change.

These servers support the following functionality:

  • Fetch Attendee Data Callout

  • Fetch List Item Callout

  • Event Notification Callout

  • Launch External URL Callout

  • Concur Salesforce Connector

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: The migration improves the stability and reliability of connections that pass these servers.

New Permission to Enable Preview of Fiori Light Theme

On 20 September, a new permission, SAP Fiori Theme Preview, was added to the list of permissions in Concur Travel Professional edition. When the SAP Fiori Theme Preview permission is assigned to a user, the user sees a new switch in the header of their SAP Concur site. They will also see a New Theme info bubble.

The switch enables the user to switch from the SAP Concur standard theme to the SAP Fiori Theme. The info bubble displays a brief message about the switch.

The new theme includes changes to visual elements such as fonts, colours and icons. In addition, some top-level tabs and menu items are relocated to the SAP Concur Home menu. These changes are site-wide and apply to all of the user’s SAP Concur products.

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: The SAP Fiori theme harmonises the look and feel of the SAP Concur UI with the look and feel of other SAP products, providing a more consistent user experience. The permission enables a client admin to allow designated users to preview and test the SAP Fiori theme.

**Ongoing ** SAP Concur Homepage Changes

In Q4, 2021, SAP Concur began redirecting clients to a new homepage. The appearance of the new homepage is identical to the previous SAP Concur homepage. The new homepage has enhanced functionality when services become temporarily unavailable.

The roll out of the new homepage is phased:

  • Phase 1: At the beginning of Q4, SAP Concur began redirecting Concur Expense, Concur Invoice and Concur Request clients in the US Datacentre to the new homepage.

  • Phase 2: In November 2021, SAP Concur will begin redirecting Concur Expense, Concur Invoice and Concur Request clients in the EU Datacentre to the new homepage.

  • Phase 3: In Q2 of 2022, SAP Concur will begin redirecting the remaining clients in the US and EU datacentres to the new homepage. The remaining clients include those with Concur Travel standalone or Concur Travel with Expense, Invoice and/or Request.

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: This change ensures that the SAP Concur homepage is available even when some services are unavailable and improves the consistency of the sign-in experience.

SAP Concur App Centre

Ability to Disable/Hide Enterprise Applications

With the October 2021 release, administrators will be able to control which Enterprise Applications are visible and/or active in their company’s SAP Concur App Centre. Prior to this release, administrators could disable and hide User Applications within the SAP Concur App Centre. This update expands that functionality to Enterprise Applications.

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: This update provides greater control to administrators over the apps that appear in their company’s SAP Concur App Centre.

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 might not list 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 listed in a consolidated document. Please review the additional Planned Changes admin summaries available in the October 2021 Shared Planned Changes Professional Edition Admin Summary.

Invoice Pay

**Planned Changes** Invoice Pay ACH Decommission

SAP Concur has been pursuing a multi-year effort to transition our portfolio of payment solutions to partner-enabled solutions. This is evidenced by our robust partner options for Invoice payments.

At this time, SAP Concur is accelerating the decommissioning of the Invoice Pay ACH feature of Concur Invoice as of 1 January 2022. As we move into the next phase of our pay strategy via partner solutions, this decommission will require clients using Invoice Pay ACH to enable alternative solutions as payments will not be made to suppliers after 15 November, 2021.

Business Purpose/Client Benefit: This change is part of a transition to partner-enabled solutions to support future product enhancements and richer integration.

Client Notifications

The items in this section provide reference material for all clients.

Accessibility Updates

SAP implements changes to better meet current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Information about accessibility-related changes made to SAP Concur solutions is published on a quarterly basis. You can review the quarterly updates on the Accessibility Updates (English only) page.

SAP Concur Non-Affiliated Subprocessors

The list of non-affiliated subprocessors is available here: SAP Concur list of Subprocessors (English Only)

Supported Browsers

Supported browsers are available with the other SAP Concur monthly release notes, accessible from What's New - Professional Edition