Help! "Error: ACTION: Travel Authorization must be completed prior submitting a travel expense repor

[jgsimpso]

Hello,

I am new to SAP Concur, and our university recently adopted the system. I am preparing an expense report on behalf of a faculty member (not for myself) and have completed all required reimbursement information, including:

• Business purpose statements
• Required comments and justifications
• Receipt attachments
• Expense allocations

At this point, I am receiving the following error message when attempting to submit the report:

"ACTION: Travel Authorization must be completed prior submitting a travel expense report."

The information I have is:

• Expense Report Number: 1QSQ5F
• Travel Authorization Number: C3LF

My understanding is that Travel Authorization C3LF has already been approved. However, I cannot find any location within the Expense Report to associate or link the Travel Authorization to the report. There does not appear to be a field where I can enter the Travel Authorization number.

My questions are:

1. If the Travel Authorization is already approved, why would I still receive this error?
2. How do I verify whether the Expense Report is correctly linked to Travel Authorization C3LF?
3. If the Expense Report is not linked, where in Concur can that connection be made?
4. Are there any other common causes of this error?

I've attached a screenshot of the error message for reference. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I've spent quite a bit of time troubleshooting this and feel like I'm missing a simple step somewhere.

Feeling demoralized as I have spent too many hours on this one expenditure report. Please let me know if this is better suited to be posted in another Concur forum. Thank you!

[KevinD]

@jgsimpso if you open the report then click the Report Details link. From the drop down menu you should see an option for Manage Requests. That should do it for you. 

[samasuraj]

Hi @jgsimpso 

Topic: "Error: ACTION: Travel Authorization must be completed prior submitting a travel expense report

Please check the below. Hope this helps.

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The error indicates that Concur is not recognizing a completed Travel Authorization for the expense report. This can happen even when the authorization has been approved.

Please check the following:

1. Under Requests → Manage Requests, verify that Travel Authorization C3LF is approved and belongs to the faculty member.
2. Open Expense Report 1QSQ5F and select Report Details → Manage Linked Requests (or Manage Requests, depending on the interface).
3. If available, click Add Request, select C3LF, and choose Add to Report.
4. Confirm that the authorization appears in the report's linked requests, then try submitting again.

If the authorization does not appear: Ask your university's Concur Administrator to verify the request's status, report association eligibility, faculty member's account, delegate access, and applicable Travel Authorization validation rule.

Since the report is already completed, I would recommend checking the existing report's request association before creating another report.

Important: If your university manages Travel Authorizations outside Concur Request, the linking procedure may differ and must be confirmed with your university's Travel/Expense team.

Official reference: SAP Help – Adding Approved Requests to Expense Reports.

Thanks & Regards

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Samantha Prathikantam

SF_EC & ECP / SAP Concur Consultant