In the interview with Götz Reinhardt, Managing Director EMEA of SAP-Concur

What if you could link your travel expense process from booking a business trip to reimbursing the travel expense report? SAP’s subsidiary offers such an end-to-end solution to its more than 46,000 customers worldwide. SAP Concur solutions stand for the consistent simplification and automation of everyday processes. More than 71 million business travelers use the smart tools for booking and settling their business trips. Equipped with the SAP Concur mobile app, employees can store their expenses on all their trips and easily transfer them to the travel expense report. By integrating data in near real time and using artificial intelligence to review all transactions, companies can see exactly what they are spending without worrying about missing items in the budget—even when working from home.

In an interview with Götz Reinhardt, Managing Director MEE of the SAP Concur organization, we discuss today the reduction of administrative tasks for future business trips, the scalability of IT solutions, competitive advantages through automation, and last but not least, the changes that Corona has brought—and will continue to bring—to business travel.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Mr. Reinhardt, travel costs are of considerable importance to many companies. How has all of this changed as a result of the Corona crisis? ...And perhaps more importantly, what do you think will change in the future regarding business travel?

Götz Reinhardt: Paradoxically, the Corona pandemic has made travel costs more visible. Many companies struggled with revenue losses in 2020 but are in a better position than expected. One reason for this is certainly that travel costs were very low last year. It should not be forgotten: In many companies, business travel is the second-largest cost block after wages and salaries. As business travel picks up again—and I am convinced it will—digital tools can actively support the management of this important cost block. At the same time, digitally linked processes help make business travel more transparent and thus safer. Companies and travelers will be very cautious about business travel in the future to protect themselves and others. At the same time, business travelers are well aware of the necessity and importance of business trips for building and maintaining business relationships. As soon as travel is possible again, employers should be prepared. They must promote responsible travel behavior and ensure the safety of their employees.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: In such uncertain times, many decision-makers want to secure cash flow and uncover hidden costs. How does SAP Concur help with this?

Götz Reinhardt: You are addressing an important topic. In our volatile economic environment, securing liquidity is one of the most important and sometimes most difficult tasks for companies. The current situation poses major challenges for German SMEs in particular.

Our SAP-Concur solutions help companies record employee-initiated expenses without gaps, uncover hidden costs, and thus control them as effectively as possible. Travel expenses such as train journeys, rental cars, and client dinners are particularly difficult to calculate. The coronavirus pandemic has also introduced a new dynamic to employee expenses: internet, telephone, office supplies, office equipment – even expenses for working from home are difficult for companies to manage. Our solution helps adapt expense policies to the changed work situation, identify expenses, and uncover savings potential.

Measures for expense control are only as good as the data they are based on. SAP-Concur solutions rely on data integration into the existing IT landscape – and this does not necessarily have to be SAP systems. This gives companies access to consolidated financial data and helps keep overall expenses under control.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Many larger SMEs are fully aware that digitalization must now be rapidly advanced in all areas. How important is the scalability of IT solutions you offer in this context?

Götz Reinhardt: The coronavirus pandemic acts like a magnifying glass on companies’ IT landscapes, exposing shortcomings and demanding progress. Digitalization ambitions are there – we experience this daily with our SME customers. The initial situation for digitalizing business travel management varies. For most companies, the effort, error-proneness, and lack of transparency in manual accounting processes are no longer acceptable. Our solution is modular and can be adapted to the respective situation. Individual tools can be implemented in the shortest possible time and subsequently expanded step by step into a digital end-to-end solution. Thanks to scalability, SAP-Concur solutions grow with the company and enable agile responses to change. One example: Currently, there are hardly any business trips. Many companies are now using Concur Expense to manage employee expenses during remote work. When the number of business trips increases again, the economy picks up, and the workforce grows, customers will expand the circle of users accordingly and integrate additional components such as business travel planning and booking with Concur Travel.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Travel expenses often lead to errors, and employees generally want to avoid dealing with this topic. What advantages does automation offer for the company and, of course, for each individual employee?

Götz Reinhardt: Errors in expense reports are usually not intentional, but rather due to manual transfer errors, duplicate receipts, or time pressure. Many employees avoid the administrative effort, collecting receipts and invoices for months before submitting their expense reports to their employer. Digitalization and automation of manual tasks relieve business travelers and finance teams of administrative work and create time for value-adding tasks. Those who already handle their expense reports on the go via a mobile app no longer leave receipts lying on their desk. Our customer Penta Hotels has reduced the time required to process an expense report from one hour to five minutes using SAP-Concur solutions. This is a huge relief for frequent travelers. Regardless of company size, employers should be aware: Introducing digital, user-friendly tools in the workplace is an investment in satisfied employees and thus in long-term business success.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Many companies are currently feeling economic strain and may be hesitant to make corresponding investments at the moment. What still speaks in favor of tackling the automation and digitalization of expense reporting in a professional manner right now?

Götz Reinhardt: The past few months have presented companies with economic challenges, no question. At the same time, the crisis has revealed weaknesses and thus potential for improvement, including in business travel management. Companies should now primarily see these necessary changes as an opportunity to put previous processes to the test, because the challenges and constant changes will remain. If companies manage to carry the experiences of the last few months into the future, they will be able to act financially, personnel-wise, organizationally, and ecologically much more flexibly and intelligently. Now is the right time to drive digital transformation in the company in order to emerge from the pandemic stronger and more resilient. In addition: The best time to transform business travel management is now – when travel volumes and additional employee workloads are low.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Thank you very much for this very exciting interview.