Concur Invoice

Only users with access to distribute invoices and purchase requests can see the distribution functionality. Concur Invoice users who cannot distribute invoices cannot see either the Distribution button in the Itemisation Summary section or the distribution functionality in the Edit Line Item window.

For purchase request users, the Distribute button in the Request Items section and the distribution functionality on the Distributions tab on the Purchase Request page are hidden. Depending on the configuration, the Distributions tab (in the Edit Line Item window for invoice users and on the Purchase Request page for the purchase request user) might be hidden.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This feature simplifies the user interface for invoice and purchase request users who do not have the ability to use the distribution functionality.

Previously when a PO and an invoice were imported, copied down and matched, if the PO and invoice had different net payment terms, the system would honour the invoice over the PO. For example, if the net payment term was set to 10 days for the PO and 30 days for the invoice, the invoice net payment term of 30 days would be used, delaying the payment for the PO.

With this copy down behaviour change for POs and invoices, the PO takes precedence over the invoice coming in from the supplier to ensure POs are paid on time.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: The change in the way payment terms are handled provides clients with flexibility when POs are used and ensures suppliers can be paid on time.

Concur Invoice now includes an in-product survey that appears when clients submit an invoice.

This survey is powered by Qualtrics, an SAP company.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This feature provides clients with the opportunity to provide feedback on Concur Invoice to help improve the product.

Purchase Order

Users with the Purchase Order Processor role can now reopen closed purchase orders (POs).

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change enables the Purchase Order Processor to reopen a PO that was incorrectly closed so that it can be processed correctly.

Invoice Capture

Clients who use Concur-Managed Invoice Capture or dual support (Concur-Managed and Client-Managed Invoice Capture) now have the option to process their own invoice batches. In the All Batches window, clients can right-click an invoice batch and select Process Verification to open the invoice batch in the Verification window where they can process the invoices.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This feature enables clients who use Concur-Managed Invoice Capture or dual support (Concur-Managed and Client-Managed Invoice Capture) to process high-priority invoice batches.

Data Retention

The description of the Manage Holds & Purge Users data retention feature that appears on the Administration > Company > Data Retention page has been updated.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This update provides more accurate information about where a user with the Data Retention Administrator role can find the Hold User, Remove Hold and Purge User buttons.

Language Support

With this release, SAP Concur now supports the following language:

• Thai

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change enables users to configure the SAP Concur solutions UI text to display in Thai.

Authentication

These 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 Q2 2020). The new SSO self-service tool allows multiple portals (Identity Providers) to be added.

The HMAC deprecation includes two phases:

PHASE I:

• Clients must have an Identity Provider (IdP) or a custom SAML 2.0 solution.

• Clients begin testing the new SSO self-service tool.

• Travel Management Companies (TMCs) partners prepare for onboarding new SAP Concur clients using the new SSO self-service tool, which is targeted for release in Q2 2020.

• Once the SSO tool is available, clients 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

• Travel Management Companies (TMCs) partners continue migrating existing SAP Concur clients from the HMAC service 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.

On 31 October, 2019, SAP Concur introduced a new experience for users signing into SAP Concur.

Since introducing the new sign-in experience, users have been able to choose between signing in through the new Sign In page and reverting to the old sign-in experience. Beginning with the May release, the old sign-in experience is no longer available.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: The new sign-in experience provides better security and is faster and more convenient for users logging in to SAP Concur products and services. This change makes the sign-in experience uniform for all users.

File Transfer Updates

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 will begin 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 the end of 2020. 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

Beginning in May, users who connect to the US Data Centre through www.concursolutions.com will be redirected to us1.concursolutions.com.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This change makes the format of the URL for SAP Concur data centres consistent from one data centre to another. For example, users connecting to the EMEA data centre are redirected to eu1.concursolutions.com.

To ensure the ongoing security of our products and services, SAP Concur has issued a new concursolutions.com SSL certificate.

Any client who pinned an expired certificate must update to the new certificate. If the pinned certificate has not been updated, your organisation and users will experience disruption to SAP Concur products and services.

Clients who did not pin the certificate do not need to take any action as the new certificate is updated automatically. Most clients do not pin the certificate.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This update provides ongoing security for our products and services.

When a user signs into SAP Concur, if some products or services are unavailable, a modified version of the user’s Home page appears, providing access to the products and services that are up and running.

Prior to implementing this improvement, if a user attempted to sign in to SAP Concur when one or more products or services was not available, a 503 (service unavailable) message appeared, the user’s Home page could not be accessed, and the user had to wait until all services and products were available before signing in to SAP Concur.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This enhancement enables users to complete tasks that rely on the products and services that are up and running even when other products and services might be unavailable.

Concur Invoice

In a future release, clients will be able to export data from the Unsubmitted Invoices and Unsubmitted Purchase Orders views on the My Invoices page.

Business Purpose / Client Benefit: This feature provides clients with flexibility in how they work with invoice data.

Invoice Pay

SAP Concur is currently in the process of re-evaluating this change. With the next release, this information will be removed. If this change is considered again, information will appear in the release notes document.