Reviewing and Navigating the Approval Options on an Individual Request

SAP Concur recommends that approvers review all aspects of the request before making their decision on whether to approve or not. This ensures that all relevant details of the request are reviewed prior to making an approval decision.

When reviewing a request, there are several areas with specific data to review. SAP Concur recommends reviewing all of these areas to ensure all details of the request are reviewed prior to making a decision on whether or not to approve.

The areas to review may differ based on your company's configuration and the options chosen when creating the request. The next few topics will cover some of the more common options available, including:

• Expected Expenses
• Request Details
• Print/Share
• Attachments

Let’s start with Expected Expenses.

The Expected Expenses area lists all expenses included in the request. You can select an expense to view the complete details of that item.

The Request Details dropdown lists several areas that contain high-level information about the request. The areas listed will vary based on your configuration and the options chosen when creating the request. Here, we'll review some of the more common options.

Request Header

This option allows the approver to review the header for this request. Depending on the configuration, the approver might be able to make changes to this data.

Request Timeline

This area allows approvers to see what approvals have already taken place and where the request goes if approved. Depending on the configuration, approvers may be able to edit the workflow by adding or removing approval steps for the request.

Audit Trail

This screen shows all past approvals and any broken audit rules. This information can help the approver decide whether or not to approve the request.

Allocation Summary

This screen shows how the request was allocated. This information can help the approver determine if they need to add more approvers to the workflow.

The Print/Share dropdown lets the approver print a paper copy of the request. To proceed, select the report that you want to print, in most cases there will only be one option.

Once a report is selected, there are options to print the report, save it as a PDF, or send it to another stakeholder in an e-mail.

The Attachments dropdown allows approvers to view any documents previously attached and attach more as needed. Within an expense report, attachments are generally receipts. Within a request, attachments might include authorizations sent to the user outside of the SAP Concur infrastructure; such as in an e-mail or screenshots from travel booking sites as evidence of cost estimates. As you can see in the following image, if the request has an attachment, a special icon appears.

When you choose the View Documents option, a popup appears displaying all the attachments.

Once you've reviewed all of the information on the request, you can decide what approval action you want to take. The actions available to you will vary based on your configuration and will appear as buttons on the right side of the screen.

Approve

This is the most common option and is used to indicate that you approve this request. When selecting the Approve button, you might be prompted to accept and confirm that you approve this request. After confirmation, the system indicates that you have approved the request, and then sends it to the next step defined in the approval process.

Edit Approval Flow

The Edit Approval Flow option allows you to view and edit the approval flow for this request, and to add steps to the approval process for this request.

Approve & Forward

The Approve & Forward option allows you to approve the request, and then select an additional approver to send it to. Use the User-Added Approver field to add the approver. You can use the Add Step link to add another approver after that. Once all of your changes are made, use the Save button to save your changes.

Send Back to Employee

The Send Back to Employee option sends the request back to the employee to be corrected and resubmitted or canceled. You are required to provide a comment with details of what they did wrong and what action they should take going forward. Once the comments are added select the Send Back button.

Note

If the user makes corrections to the request and resubmits it, it must go through the entire approval process again.

• Review all expected expenses, request details, print/share options, and attachments before making approval decisions.
• Use the Request Details area to check summary information, past actions, and allocation of funds.
• Attachments can include receipts or supporting documents; approvers can view and add files as needed.
• Approval options include Approve, Approve & Forward, Edit Approval Flow, or Send Back to Employee with comments.