Many customers opt not to use the Request Processor tool as part of their approval process. This is for two primary reasons:
- If travel is involved, approvals may be time-sensitive, and time delays can impact travel pricing.
- Accounting review happens in the expense reporting process, so there is no need for any additional reviews beyond management.
Still, the Request Processor tool is a valuable tool that lets administrators view and review all requests that have been submitted and approve requests when needed.
The good news is the Request Processor tool is very similar to the Expense Processor tool, so there isn't anything new to learn, so let's quickly review the primary functions.
Ad-hoc Searches
Quick searches can be performed by selecting one or more fields to search by from dropdown lists.
Examples can include searching for all requests submitted by a specific person, searching for all requests greater than a specified monetary amount, all requests with a specific Approval Time Limit, or any other combination of values from the two dropdown lists.
Custom Queries
You can use the Create/Manage Queries button to create and edit custom searches that you must run regularly.
You use the Run Query button to run a previously created query.
The name of the previously run query is displayed at the top of the screen.
Please note that these queries are unique to each user and cannot be shared.
Group Filters
Like all of the other SAP Concur Services, Concur Request allows for the configuration of groups. These groups are used to make different functionality and rules available to different sets of users. In Concur Request, these groups are often created by country/region or business unit.
The results of any ad-hoc search or query can easily be filtered by these groups by selecting the Group button.
List Settings
You can use ad-hoc searches and queries to control the data that appears in the tool. To control the attributes of that data (the columns), select the List Settings button to add and remove the columns you desire.
Columns can be dragged to different locations so they appear in the order you prefer.
Send to Excel
Once you have the data you desire, filtered by the proper group, and show the columns you need, you can use the Send to Excel button at the bottom of the screen to export the results into a Microsoft Excel file.
Please note that this feature generates an .xls file, not an .xlsx file.
Personal Preferences
Each user can use the Preferences button to set some default options of system behavior.
The Default Query dropdown allows you to define what query runs automatically upon accessing the tool.
The Rows in list dropdown allows you to define how many results appear on each page.
If the Open next request in list after workflow change option is activated, the system will automatically open the next request in the queue when the current request is approved or sent back for corrections.
You just saw how to use the Request Processor tool.