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This article walks you through the essential configuration steps for setting up Concur Expense — from adding users and setting up workflows to custom fields, mileage rates, and accounting. Links to the primary learning path and Help Portal guides are included throughout.
This article covers the foundational configuration tasks you'll need to complete to get Concur Expense live. Each section below links to the step-by-step video or documentation for that task, organized in a logical setup sequence. For the full structured admin learning path, start with the SAP Learning journey linked at the bottom.
Not sure which edition you have?
Several configuration steps below differ between Professional and Standard editions. If you're unsure which edition your organization uses, check your most recent invoice in the Billing Portal or contact your Customer Success Contact. Edition-specific steps are labeled below.
Step 1: Add Users to Your System
Before employees can submit expenses, they need user accounts in SAP Concur. For small numbers of users, you can add them manually. For larger organizations, the Employee Import process lets you bulk-create profiles using a spreadsheet template.
Workflows define the approval routing path an expense report follows before it is processed for payment. Setting up the right workflow ensures reports reach the right approvers without manual intervention.
For Professional Edition workflow configuration, refer to the Concur Expense Professional Edition Administration Guide on the SAP Help Portal .
Step 3: Configure Expense Types
Expense types are the categories employees assign to each line item in an expense report (e.g., Airfare, Hotel, Meals). Mapping them accurately to your chart of accounts is one of the most important configuration tasks.
For Professional Edition, refer to the Concur Expense: Account Codes Setup Guide and the Expense Types Setup Guide on the SAP Help Portal .
Step 4: Set Up Custom Fields
Custom fields let you capture additional data from employees when they submit expense reports — for example, project codes, cost centers, or department IDs. These fields are essential for accurate spend tracking and financial reporting.
If your employees submit mileage expenses, configure your organization's reimbursement rates rather than relying on SAP Concur defaults. This ensures consistency with your company policy.
For international or statutory mileage rate updates by country, see the quarterly rate change overviews in the Expert Corner.
Step 6: Handle Personal Expenses on Corporate Cards
If your organization uses a Company Billed Company Paid (CBCP) card program, personal charges on corporate cards can become difficult to track and recover. Concur Expense has a built-in mechanism — Cash Advance Balance Carry Forward — that automates the offset process and eliminates manual tracking.
Once your basic configuration is in place, the Admin Tips productivity series surfaces quick wins using features already in your solution — merchant code mapping, Expense Assistant, recurring expenses, and more.
The primary structured learning path for Expense Standard Edition administrators. 17.5 hours covering all essential configuration and management tasks.
I am our Community Strategy Retention & Demand Senior Manager here at SAP Concur, and have been with SAP Concur since 2017. Some of you may recognize me from the "original Community", the LinkedIn Client User Group, which I managed and moderated. I am thrilled that we now have this evolution of Community available and hope you are taking full advantage of our resources, groups, and forums. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns about our Community, or just to say hello!
