Harvard Travel Services Concur

Harvard University employs a comprehensive platform for managing travel arrangements, expenses, and bookings. The system, powered by Concur, streamlines processes for faculty, staff, and students. This integration allows for easy management of travel requests, reservations, and post-travel reporting, ensuring compliance with institutional policies.
Concur provides a centralized platform with several key features:
- Automated approval workflows for travel requests
- Integration with preferred suppliers for flights, hotels, and car rentals
- Real-time tracking and reporting of travel expenses
- Easy submission of receipts and documentation through mobile apps
Important Information: All travel bookings must be made through the Concur platform to ensure they comply with Harvard’s travel policies and guidelines.
The system also helps in monitoring budgets and spending for individual departments. The following benefits are crucial for optimizing travel-related expenditures:
- Cost visibility for both travelers and administrators
- Reduction in out-of-pocket expenses
- Faster reimbursement processing
In addition, Concur ensures that Harvard's travel program remains compliant with both university policies and federal regulations.
Managing Expenses and Receipts through Concur Integration
Efficient management of travel-related expenses is essential for organizations, and Concur offers a seamless solution for automating this process. By integrating with Harvard Travel Services, Concur helps streamline the submission and tracking of travel expenses, ensuring accuracy and compliance with institutional policies. The platform enables users to capture receipts in real-time, automatically linking them to the corresponding expense report.
Through Concur's integration, employees can simplify the reimbursement process and ensure that all expenses are categorized appropriately. With advanced features such as receipt scanning, expense classification, and approval workflows, the system minimizes errors and improves overall financial oversight for the institution.
Key Benefits of Expense Management in Concur
- Real-time Receipt Capture: Users can easily upload receipts using a mobile app, ensuring no expense goes unrecorded.
- Automatic Expense Categorization: The system automatically categorizes expenses based on predefined rules, reducing manual input and errors.
- Integration with Financial Systems: Concur seamlessly integrates with Harvard’s financial systems for streamlined reporting and analysis.
- Approval Workflows: Automated workflows ensure that expenses are reviewed and approved by the correct individuals before processing.
Steps for Managing Expenses in Concur
- Capture receipts using the Concur mobile app or email.
- Automatically link receipts to corresponding expenses and add necessary details.
- Submit the expense report for review through the approval workflow.
- Once approved, the expenses are processed for reimbursement.
Note: Concur provides an easy-to-use dashboard that helps track the status of expenses and reports in real time, enhancing transparency and reducing processing delays.
Expense Report Overview
Expense Type | Amount | Status |
---|---|---|
Airfare | $500.00 | Approved |
Hotel | $250.00 | Pending |
Meals | $75.00 | Approved |
Tracking and Reporting Corporate Travel with Concur Insights
Managing corporate travel effectively requires a robust system that allows for tracking expenses, identifying trends, and ensuring compliance. Concur Insights provides an advanced reporting platform designed to help companies gain valuable insights into their travel activities. By centralizing data, organizations can monitor their travel programs, optimize spending, and make informed decisions.
One of the key features of Concur Insights is its ability to provide real-time tracking and detailed reports on employee travel behavior. With customizable dashboards and data visualizations, companies can quickly assess spending patterns, uncover inefficiencies, and identify potential savings. The platform ensures transparency, allowing managers to see a comprehensive view of travel expenditures.
Key Benefits of Concur Insights
- Real-time monitoring: Track expenses as they occur to maintain up-to-date visibility into corporate travel costs.
- Customizable dashboards: Create personalized views of travel data for specific needs, allowing for easy access to critical information.
- Comprehensive reporting: Generate detailed reports on travel expenditures, trends, and policy compliance.
- Improved decision-making: Use insights to identify savings opportunities and improve the overall travel strategy.
Types of Reports Available
- Expense Trend Analysis: Visualize spending patterns over time to spot increases in cost or inefficiencies.
- Policy Compliance Reports: Ensure employees are adhering to travel policies, with insights on non-compliant transactions.
- Travel Volume Reports: Identify the most frequent travel destinations and the associated costs to optimize future bookings.
"Concur Insights empowers companies to make data-driven decisions that reduce costs, improve policy adherence, and optimize travel programs."
Sample Travel Data Report
Employee | Destination | Expenses | Compliance |
---|---|---|---|
John Doe | New York | $1,200 | Compliant |
Jane Smith | Chicago | $950 | Non-Compliant |
David Lee | Los Angeles | $1,100 | Compliant |
How to Ensure Travel Policy Adherence in Concur
In managing travel expenses and bookings, ensuring adherence to the company's travel policies is critical. Concur offers a streamlined way for organizations to track and enforce travel guidelines, but users must remain vigilant in maintaining compliance at every step. With the proper setup, both travelers and approvers can follow the rules without unnecessary complications.
Compliance is not just about avoiding policy breaches; it's about maintaining efficiency and transparency throughout the entire travel process. This can be achieved through automated checks, approval workflows, and clear communication between employees and the travel team.
Steps to Follow for Effective Policy Compliance
- Pre-Trip Authorization: Ensure that all travel requests are submitted through the system before booking. This allows for a detailed review of policies related to expenses, transportation, and lodging.
- Policy Enforcement During Booking: Set parameters in Concur that automatically flag non-compliant bookings. This could include restrictions on hotel prices, flight classes, or car rental choices.
- Post-Trip Review: Implement a review step where approvers can assess receipts, ensuring that expenses align with the company's guidelines.
Key Policy Enforcement Features in Concur
- Integrated Travel Policy Settings: Concur allows the integration of custom policies that automatically guide employees during the booking process.
- Expense Reporting Automation: Once travel is complete, Concur automatically checks whether reported expenses are within allowable limits, streamlining the approval process.
- Real-Time Notifications: Travelers receive alerts if they attempt to book non-compliant services, making it easier to adjust before finalizing the arrangements.
Important Compliance Tips
Ensure all team members are properly trained on travel policies. Regularly update the travel guidelines in Concur to reflect any changes in company or government regulations.
Tracking and Monitoring Compliance with Concur
Feature | Benefit |
---|---|
Customizable Approval Workflows | Allows organizations to ensure compliance by directing trip requests through the proper channels before approval. |
Expense Limits and Restrictions | Prevents over-budget bookings and expenses by setting automatic limits in Concur. |
Real-Time Data Monitoring | Allows travel managers to continuously monitor trip progress and intervene as necessary to ensure policy adherence. |
Enhancing Efficiency with Automated Approval Processes in Concur
Automating approval workflows within Concur significantly reduces the time spent on manual approvals, allowing organizations to streamline their travel and expense management. With automated workflows, approval routing is set up based on predefined criteria, ensuring that the right person is notified at the right time, all while adhering to company policies. This leads to faster decision-making and fewer delays in processing travel requests or expense claims.
Furthermore, automating approval workflows minimizes the risk of errors, such as misrouting or missed approvals. This results in a more efficient system where employees spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on their core responsibilities. Let’s explore some of the key benefits of implementing automated approval workflows in Concur.
Key Benefits of Automated Approval Workflows
- Time Savings: Automated workflows ensure that approvals are processed quickly and efficiently, reducing the need for manual intervention.
- Consistency and Compliance: Predefined rules ensure that all requests follow company policies, ensuring consistency in approvals and compliance with regulations.
- Real-time Tracking: Approvals can be tracked in real-time, allowing managers to monitor progress and intervene when necessary.
- Improved Accuracy: Automated processes reduce human errors that can occur during manual approval stages, improving the overall accuracy of travel and expense management.
"Automating approval workflows not only saves time but also enhances the accuracy and consistency of our processes, ensuring that every request is handled according to our policies."
Approval Workflow Process Example
Step | Action |
---|---|
1. Request Submission | Employee submits travel or expense request in Concur. |
2. Automated Routing | Request is automatically routed to the designated approver based on predefined rules. |
3. Approval Notification | Approver receives notification and can approve or reject the request directly in Concur. |
4. Final Processing | Once approved, the request is processed automatically for payment or booking. |
By automating these approval stages, organizations can eliminate bottlenecks and ensure a faster, more accurate approval process, benefiting both employees and managers.