SAP Concur + NetSuite Integration

Why Integrate Concur with NetSuite?

Every finance team we talk to has the same complaint about expense management: the data lives in two places and someone has to move it manually.

Your employees submit expenses in Concur. Your accounting lives in NetSuite. And somewhere in between, an accountant spends hours every month keying in journal entries, matching receipts, and fixing coding errors.

It doesn't have to work this way.

What We Actually Build

We've implemented Concur-NetSuite integrations for companies ranging from 50-person startups to 2,000+ employee enterprises. The scope varies, but the core functionality stays consistent:

Expense Report Flow: When an expense report gets final approval in Concur, the integration picks it up. Depending on your accounting preferences, we create either a vendor bill (if you reimburse through AP) or direct journal entries. Line items map to your GL accounts based on Concur expense categories.

Employee Sync: New hires added to NetSuite automatically appear in Concur with correct department and subsidiary assignments. No more manual user provisioning or mismatched employee records.

Receipt Attachments: Those photos employees snap of their receipts? They transfer to NetSuite and attach to the corresponding transaction. When auditors ask for documentation, it's already there.

Multi-Subsidiary Handling: For companies with multiple NetSuite subsidiaries, we route expenses to the correct entity based on the employee's assignment. Currency conversion happens automatically using your NetSuite exchange rates.

The Technical Details

Most Concur integrations we build use the Concur API v4 with OAuth 2.0 authentication. Data flows through a middleware layer—either Celigo, a custom Node.js service, or n8n depending on your existing tech stack and budget.

We typically poll for approved reports every 15-30 minutes, though real-time webhooks are possible if you need faster processing. Error handling includes automatic retries for transient failures and Slack/email notifications for issues requiring manual attention.

Data Mapping Considerations:

The tricky part isn't the API connection—it's the mapping. Concur expense types don't match NetSuite accounts one-to-one. You might have 50 Concur categories that need to consolidate into 15 GL accounts. Plus department codes, class segments, project allocations.

We build a configuration layer that your finance team can modify without developer involvement. When you add a new expense category in Concur or restructure your chart of accounts, you shouldn't need to call us.

What Changes for Your Team

For Finance/Accounting: Month-end expense posting drops from 2-3 days to a few hours of review. You're validating pre-coded entries instead of creating them from scratch. The integration catches coding errors before they hit the GL.

For Employees: Nothing changes on their end. They keep using Concur the same way. Reimbursements happen faster because there's no processing backlog.

For IT: One less manual process to support. The integration runs unattended with monitoring and alerting. When something does break, error messages actually explain what went wrong.

Common Questions We Get

How do you handle expenses that span multiple GL accounts?

Allocation rules can split single expense line items across multiple accounts, departments, or classes. We configure these based on your existing Concur policies or build new logic as needed.

What about corporate card reconciliation?

Corporate card transactions imported into Concur flow through the same integration. The posting logic handles both out-of-pocket and card expenses, with different account mappings if you need them.

Can we customize the approval workflow?

The integration respects Concur's approval workflow—we only pick up fully approved reports. If you want additional NetSuite-side approvals before posting, we can add that layer, though most clients don't need it.

What happens when the integration fails?

Failures get logged with full context: which report, what error, what data was involved. Depending on the failure type, we retry automatically or alert your team. Nothing silently disappears.

How long does implementation take?

Most Concur integrations go live in 3-4 weeks. The first two weeks are mapping and configuration. Week three is testing with real data. Week four is go-live and monitoring. Complex multi-subsidiary setups might add a week or two.

Implementation Cost

We quote Concur integrations project-based after understanding your specific requirements. Ballpark range: $15,000-$35,000 depending on complexity. Factors that increase scope:

• Multiple subsidiaries with different chart of accounts
• Complex allocation rules
• Custom approval workflows
• Historical data migration
• Non-standard Concur configuration

Ongoing support runs $500-1,500/month depending on volume and SLA requirements.

Is This the Right Solution?

Concur-NetSuite integration makes sense if:

• You have 50+ employees submitting expenses regularly
• Month-end expense posting takes more than a day
• You're seeing frequent coding errors or audit findings
• Your finance team is drowning in manual data entry

It might be overkill if you have a small team with minimal travel expenses. In that case, manual posting or a simpler tool might be more cost-effective.

We're happy to talk through your situation and give you an honest recommendation—even if that means suggesting you don't need this integration yet.

Schedule a call to discuss your expense workflow