Initial thoughts on the new Expense UI.

[mblades]

one of the reasons we like and utilize the icon for credit card, is it contains data, Airfare data, Auto Rental Data, now there are more clicks to view this data, rather than hovering over a symbol

[DCormier]

Normally it is easy for me to tell if an employee is abiding by company policy & booking through our TMC because the icons indicate the flight, car and hotel and the icons are attached to the expense. In the new UI how can I tell if there is a reservation linked to the expense for air, car and hotel? How can I drive compliance of using TMC for all bookings if I cannot tell if the reservation is linked with a quick glance. Might just be a training issue on my part. Would appreciate any insight.

[coryhaas]

My initial thoughts on the new UI, are that I like it. It seems to be more user friendly for people who are not finance minded, or used to item level details. I have done a preview of the new UI with all of our groups and only a few questions came up. Maybe they'll be released when it's live in September, either way, here they are in no particular order.

1. Will there be no ability to drag and drop?
2. Will you still be able to go into the receipt library and start building your report?
3. Where is the mileage calculator?
4. Why if there are attendees required does it not automatically add the user?
5. Will the approver and reviewer screens change?
6. The BIG question was - when will the Business Purpose be fixed in the app so you don't have to keep going back into every expense and add it? This has nothing to do with the new UI, but our employees REALLY want this fixed.

Is the plan to wait on the new UI to be turned on for everyone before you update the problem areas? Or are they being worked now and released each month?

[toriehigh]

Hello Fellow Concur Admins!

I for one am glad to see the end of the icons.  Although I find them useful, and can tell with a glance what is what, it has been incredibly painful to help my users to understand them.  Having actual words will be much easier for them.  I will, however, miss being able to hover over them to see the details.

The improved hotel itemizations are AMAZING.  Unfortunately, it's a bit late, as our users complained so vociferously about it after Concur implementation that management opted to remove the requirement entirely.

A couple of things I do NOT like...

1. The "view receipts in new window" is an incredibly helpful tool for any admin, so the lack of it in the new UI is a problem for me.  I use it all the time, and move the receipt window to my second monitor so that I can view the receipts while looking at expense lines.  Since the window stays open even after you exit the expense report, it makes it so easy to compare receipts on potential duplicate expenses.
2. Where is the option to add an approver to an expense report, or even see the approval flow?  Due to some oddities with how our HR system imports employee details into Concur, we have many employees who show one manager as their approver, but their actual expense approver is a different manager.  These people have to add the second manager to the flow for every report they submit.  Cumbersome, yes, but until we can get our HR system to play nice, it is the only option for us.

 So far, those are the only things I have a real issue with.  I was planning on rolling out the new UI to our company admins next week, but without the mass edit option for expense lines, I think I'll be holding off.

I've seen quite a few comments about this mythical fall release, when many unavailable features will become available.  Can anyone tell me what the date on that will be?

Thanks!

Torie Hightower

REI Concur Ninja

[SandraA]

The revised full availablity date is January.

[toriehigh]

Thanks, Sandra!  Where did you find that info?  I've been hunting high and low...

Thanks,

Torie Hightower

[coryhaas]

@AshleyB do you have an update on when the full availability will be released? We are trying to decide if we want to go live with the new UI on 9/17 or if we should wait until March 2019.

[Jody]

@coryhaas,

My sincere apologies for the delay in responding. Here is what I can offer your list at this time (and do please keep them coming):

1. Drag & drop. We are working on making this available, but it won't be in the initial release (General Availability).
   
   
2. Starting an expense report from the receipt library . Yes! This is available now.
   
   
3. Mileage calculator. Yes! This is available at the top of the expense pane.
   
   
4. Attendees. This is existing functionality that you (the Concur admin) can configure (to automatically add the user as an attendee). If you believe that you've configured it correctly and it's not happening, please submit a support case and we'll get you taken care of.
   
   
5. Approver/Reviewer screens. This initial effort is geared toward end users. We are working on designs to update the UI for Approvers.
   
   
6. Business Purpose in the app. Thanks for sharing your feedback. We'll pass this along to the mobile team.

We continue to release updates with each month's scheduled product release.

[Jody]

@toriehigh, glad to hear you like the improved itemizations! (What can we do to win your people back?!)

Now, as far as your concerns are concerned:

1. Viewing receipts in a new window is coming!
   
   
2. Viewing the approval flow is now on the Report Timeline.

Mythical fall release. (I love it - sounds like an album title or an awesome Spotify playlist.) There is a timeline in the Next Generation Expense User Interface FAQ. You can also speak with your Concur account manager.