Overview
This article serves as a guide for approving Requests and Expense Reports in Concur.
Essential Information
- For guidance on how to edit documents as an Approver, please refer to KB0032252: How to edit and review Chart of Accounts (COA) information as an Approver.
- In order to receive permissions to approve Requests and Expense Reports, please refer to Blink and follow the Access Request Protocol in KB0032695: How to Request a Concur Approval Role.
- Approvers will see all expenses within a document unless expenses are allocated to multiple Financial Unit Approvers.
- When expenses on a single Expense Report are split-funded or allocated (KB0032337) (i.e. the expenses will be distributed to more than one chart string/Financial Unit):
- Financial Unit Approvers may not see all expenses on an Expense Report – only the allocated expenses that they are responsible for approving.
- Department Head and Special Entertainment Approvals will be routed based on the Financial Unit on the Header page, and they will see every expense entry on the report.
Next Steps
Accessing and Navigating the Approvals Module
1. Log in to Concur, using your Single Sign-On credentials.
2. As an approver, the Approvals module will display in Concur.
3. Click the Home dropdown and select Approvals.
4. In the Approvals Home section, two tabs display; Requests and Expense Reports, select the desired tab.
5. Both Requests and Expense Reports will display as a list.
6. Select the desired Request or Expense Report name.
7. The selected Request or Expense Report will display, review the document.
a. Approvers can edit the COA/POETAF information and Tax Exempt Codes if necessary
i. For updating COA/POETAF information, see KB0032252: How to edit and review Chart of Accounts (COA) information as an Approver.
ii. For updating Tax Exempt Codes, select the desired expense and update Tax Exempt Code if available.
b. Approvers can also change the name of the Expense Report to fit department naming conventions.
i. Select Details > Report Header OR click the Report Name (e.g. MH Event Expense Test 3.1)
ii. Edit name as desired
8. Once reviewed, there are 3 actions to select from:
9. Send Back to User: This will reject the document and send it back to the preparer to make adjustments.
a. When sending back the document, it's required to leave a Comment for the user that made the Request or Expense Report.
b. Enter the Comment and click OK.
10. Approve: This action will approve the document and send it to the next approval stage (if applicable).
11. Approve & Forward:
a. This feature is not available to Financial Unit Approvers.
b. This will approve the document and allow you to add another Approver to the Approval Flow for an extra layer of approval.
c. This action will not replace the designated approvers that already exist; Financial Unit Approver, Department Head, Entertainment Approver, etc.
d. In Approve & Forward Report, enter User-Added Approver and Comment and click Approve & Forward.
d. To leave a comment in the Audit Trail, select Details, and under Report, select Comments.
e. In the dialog box, enter the Comment and then select Save.
Adding a Supervisor Approver
1. Users and their Delegates may request to add a Supervisory Approver to their Concur profile in accordance with their department’s internal policy.
2. To view if there is a Supervisor default approver, log in to Concur, select the Profile icon at the top right-hand corner and select Profile Settings.
3. Select Request Approvers or Expense Approvers to check if there is a Supervisor approver name listed under the first Default approver field.
Request Approvers:
- The Default approver for your Requests field is reserved for the Supervisor Approver and the listed approver will be added to the approval workflow of every Request (e.g. for T&E Card Requests, Gift Card Requests).
- The Default approver 2 field is designated for the Procurement Card Team’s use only to assign the authorized Department Administrator to the cardholder/user.
Expense Approvers:
- The first Default approver field is reserved for the Supervisor Approver.
- If there is an approver listed in this field, the Supervisor will be added to the approval workflow of every Expense Report (e.g. for Procurement Card, Travel, Event Expenses).
4. To add, change, or remove the Supervisor approver from the user’s Profile, submit a Services & Support case to IPPS (*More Specifically: Concur Navigation, or Procurement Card as applicable) to request that the Supervisor Approver be updated, removed, or added to the employee payee's Concur profile.
a. Only IPPS with approval privileges can make changes to the Request/Expense Default Approvers.
Editing Workflow
- It is only possible to edit the approval workflow if you are an Approver and the document is awaiting your approval.
- Approval Flow is read from top to bottom, the first approver in an approval flow will always be at the top.
- There may be situations where Approvers would like an additional Approver outside the standard approval hierarchy to review and approve a Request or Expense Report.
- In the Approve & Forward function, you can add multiple Approvers in a precise order, without approving the document.
- Once the changes are complete, the Approver, can approve the document.
- For documents that require Department Head approval, the Financial Unit Approver has the option to select which Department Head a transaction is routed to, from the list of available Department Heads, see below:
- This is the same process as adding a Special Entertainment Approver.
- If Special Entertainment approval is required, the field appears in the approval flow but it is blank.
- The Department Head Approver is required to select a Special Entertainment Approver for the document via this method.
1. In Approvals for either a Request or Expense Report, select Details and then Approval Flow.
2. The Approval Flow dialog box displays.
3. If you need to add an approver before an approval step, then select the + symbol on the right, this will add a field where you can search for an approver.
4. If you need to add an approver after an approval step, then select the + symbol on the left, this will add a field where you can search for an approver.
5. In this example, add an approver before the Department Head, therefore we will select the + symbol on the right.
6. Search for the desired Approver - only users who have been given approval permissions in Concur will display.
a. You may add multiple Approvers using the (+) buttons as described above.
7. Once the desired Approver displays, select them.
8. Select Save Workflow in order to save your changes.
9. After saving the updated workflow, you may approve the document with this updated workflow by selecting Approve.
10. Once you approve the document, it will be routed to next approver in the workflow.
11. You are able to filter and view approved documents approved in the past by selecting Reports then View and the desired option.
Financial Unit Approver: Reviewing Expense Reports with Multiple Approvers/Allocations
1. Open the expense report requiring your review and approval.
2. Review the report information on the Header page for business purpose and summary.
3. Ensure the accuracy of expenses and proper completion of information within the Concur document (including any attachments).
4. Review the icons for each line item/expense entry to determine what is happening in the Expense Report.
5. Hover over the pie chart icon to view a breakdown of the different Chart of Accounts being used for a specific expense. .
6. The pop-up shows that the expense line was Allocated to two different Financial Units: 1000177 and 5000056.
NOTE: The Financial Unit approver will only be able to see the amount that was Allocated to them.
7. Once you have reviewed the Expense Report, you can click Approve.