Since the acquisition of Concur by SAP, a lot has changed in the area of data exchange between the two system worlds. SAP is continuously investing in the integration of the travel planning, booking and expense reporting solution with its own systems. Thanks to native integrations, many scenarios can now be mapped seamlessly - provided the right conditions are in place. Despite the constant expansion of possibilities, companies still face a number of challenges.
Since the end of 2014, SAP has invested heavily in standardising the connection to its own solutions. The aim is to facilitate integration with non-SAP ERP systems in the future. Until now, Concur was mainly connected via SFTP flat files to upload and download data between the systems. As an alternative, Concur provided an API for data exchange via web services. Customers usually implemented the integration into their system landscape independently based on one of these technologies. SAP has now optimised this process with a simplified and standardised solution. SAP refers to this product as "SAP Integration with Concur Solutions", while at Concur it is simply known as "Native Connector to SAP".
Focus on the data flow
The integration ensures a smooth data flow on several levels. On the one hand, this concerns HR master data and, on the other, cost objects as well as disbursements, postings and status information. The HR master data, including organisational information, is essential for creating users in Concur. The system must also be able to identify line managers for workflow processing. Concur Travel, Request and Invoice also require additional information that is not traditionally stored in an HR system. It is therefore essential to look at the big picture. It should also be clarified which information is maintained by whom, as this depends heavily on the company's internal processes. For the correct account assignment of expenses, cost objects such as cost centres, internal orders and projects are transferred from the SAP system to Concur. At the end of the expense process, all relevant information such as G/L accounts, employee creditors, total amounts, payment types and VAT codes flow into the SAP financial system for payment. Finally, status information is transferred from the SAP ERP system back to Concur to provide employees with feedback on the payment process.
What are the requirements?
In order for the information flow to be successful, a number of requirements must be met. The SAP ERP system must have Unicode activated and the native integration wizard can be installed from version ECC 6.0. The interface in SAP can be configured at a later date. On the Concur side, the native integration must be ordered as an add-on. Existing Concur customers can handle this via Concur Support, while it is taken into account for new customers as part of the scoping process.
In addition, it must be defined in Concur for each employee group whether this population should run via the native integration, as the payment process and posting can take place in different ERP systems. For existing Concur customers with existing configurations, it should be noted that the native integration places specific requirements on the company hierarchy configured in Concur. For this reason, switching an existing Concur system to native integration should be checked by SAP beforehand.
What works and what doesn't?
Native integration transfers employee information from the SAP HCM system to Concur and account assignment objects are also sent from the SAP FI system to Concur. Payroll information flows from Concur back into SAP FI. The option to pay out expenses directly via the salary is currently under development. Integration with SAP HCM Payroll will therefore be possible in the near future and SuccessFactors Employee Central Integration is already available in the early adopter phase. However, many scenarios can already be mapped today with the existing integration options.
Challenges still exist in areas such as multiple hiring and foreign assignments, which are not fully covered by the native integration.
What's next?
SAP is continuously working on the development of integration into the diverse SAP system landscape. In particular, the strong focus on Concur in the area of travel and expense management shows that SAP is planning further breakthroughs in integration. Nevertheless, there are currently still requirements that cannot or can only partially be covered by native integration. It makes a significant difference whether the integration is built on an existing Concur landscape or as part of a new project. However, SAP will continue to work on solutions to optimise the integration process and cover new scenarios.
Author
Simon Wespi
Management