Describing the Primary Configuration Tools

Primary configuration tools are used to configure the items that are required for the Concur Request system to function properly. If you do not configure at least one item in all of these areas, your system may not function as desired, if at all.

List Management (Shared with Concur Expense and Concur Invoice)

The List Management functionality allows administrators to create, modify, or remove single and multiple-level lists used in Concur Expense, Concur Invoice, and Concur Request. Items within lists can be updated manually through various imports, SAP Concur APIs, and some third-party integrations.

Lists are used to track specific values that are needed for either reporting purposes or their accounting system, such as cost objects like cost centers or project codes.

With few exceptions, SAP Concur recommends prefixing all list names with an asterisk (*). This helps you to distinguish between lists unique to your site and common lists created by SAP Concur. One important exception is if you are integrating your SAP Concur site with an SAP ERP system, you cannot use the asterisk in the list name.

If you are creating lists that will only be used in Concur Request, SAP Concur recommends adding "*REQ_" to the prefix of the list name. This helps you differentiate between your lists used for Concur Request, Concur Expense, and Concur Invoice.

Forms and Fields

You use Forms and Fields to design the data entry forms used to capture the information needed by your company during the request creation and approval process.

There are five main types of forms you can create in Concur Request. The form types outline a type of hierarchy that allows data to flow from one form to another. This allows data on the user's profile to become the default data on their request header and the data on the header to be the default data on the segments and expenses.

• Employee: Used to capture information about each user. This form is shared across all SAP Concur services.
• Request Header: Used to capture high-level information about a request, such as the Request Name and Business Purpose. Like Concur Expense, the header form is used to capture the default cost object details (company, region, department, and so on) of a request.
• Request Entry: Used to capture the details of the Expected Expenses on a request.
• Request Segment (each segment will have its own form): Used to capture the details of travel itinerary related items on a request.
• Request Allocation: Like in Concur Expense, the allocation form is used to charge one or more items to different cost objects (cost centers, projects, and so on).

Feature Hierarchies

Feature hierarchies are hierarchical structures into which you can build some configurations. All hierarchies must have a previously configured source list (often a connected list) to create a hierarchical structure. The most common hierarchies are used to create Groups, Authorized Approvers, and Cost Object Approvers.

Caution

Please note that Feature Hierarchies can be quite complex and are difficult, if not impossible, to change once saved. SAP Concur recommends that customers do not configure Feature Hierarchies without checking with SAP Concur first.

Workflows

The workflow defines what happens to a request from when the user submits it, until it is fully approved. The workflow that a request follows is based on the policy used for that request.

Concur Request has similar workflow options to Concur Expense. Such as:

• 1-Up Workflow: Only the user's default manager is required to approve a request.
• Authorized Approvers: The request is routed to the proper approver(s) based on the total money on the request.
• Cost Object Approvers: The request is routed to the proper approver(s) based on the allocations on the request.

Request Policies

Policies in Concur Request serve the same purpose as they do in Concur Expense: They are an area where you define the settings that control how a request behaves during its lifecycle. Three of the main settings controlled by the policy are data entry requirements, the approval process, and available segments and expected expenses.

Request Groups

Request Groups in Concur Request serve the same purpose as they do in Concur Expense: They are an area where you define settings that control how a user experiences the Concur Request system.

You can define groups to fit a specific business purpose; however, they are most commonly defined by country. If a company is based only in one country, you might define groups by department or business unit instead.

Please note that groups used by Concur Request are the same as those used in Concur Expense. Therefore, if you need a new group in Concur Request, it must be configured in Concur Expense.

That's all of the primary configuration tools. In the next lesson, we will go deeper into the secondary configuration tools.