Introduction – Why SAP Concur Licensing Deserves Oversight
SAP Concur is widely used for travel and expense management, yet its licensing model is one of the least understood in the SAP portfolio.
Unlike straightforward SaaS subscriptions, Concur blends per-user fees, transaction charges, and add-on modules in ways that can quickly inflate costs.
Without careful oversight, the true cost of SAP Concur rarely comes from the sticker price – it comes from how SAP defines “active users” and bills high volumes of expense reports and travel bookings behind the scenes.
CIOs and procurement leaders often discover surprise charges post-implementation, especially if they haven’t scrutinized contract definitions and usage terms. Read our overview article, SAP Cloud Licensing Models: Navigating SuccessFactors, Ariba, Concur & More.
Another challenge is timing. Concur contracts often run on different cycles than core SAP or HR systems, leading many customers to miss renewal notice windows. If your travel & expense subscription auto-renews without negotiation, you could be locked into steep uplifts or unwanted modules for another term.
In short, SAP Concur licensing deserves strategic oversight because vendor-friendly defaults – broad user definitions, uncapped transaction fees, and quiet renewal clauses – can turn a reasonable deal into an overpriced one.
The following guide breaks down Concur’s pricing model and offers actionable tactics to control costs and avoid common traps.
How the SAP Concur Licensing Model Works
Understanding SAP Concur’s pricing structure is the first step to managing it.
Concur isn’t sold as a simple “per seat” license – it’s a hybrid model that combines user-based and usage-based fees. Key components of the commercial framework include:
- Per User Licensing: Many SAP Concur agreements charge a fee per user account, often based on active users. This means you pay for each employee with access to Concur (for example, those who can log in or create an expense report). Without a precise definition of “active user”, you might be charged for all employees loaded into the system – even those who never submit expenses. This per-user subscription fee is typically monthly or annual, and in some cases, it’s only applied to users who actually file reports (depending on your contract terms).
- Per Transaction Fees: In addition to (or instead of) per-user charges, Concur applies fees for each transaction processed. Every expense report filed can incur a fee, and every travel booking made through Concur Travel can carry a booking fee. For instance, a company might pay a few dollars per expense report submitted, or a flat fee per trip booked. These transaction fees tie costs directly to usage volume: the more expense claims employees submit and the more trips they book, the higher the bill. This model aligns with usage but can lead to budget spikes if activity rises unexpectedly (for example, a surge in travel after a hiring wave or acquisition).
- Module-Based Pricing: SAP Concur is modular. You can subscribe to Concur Expense (expense reporting), Concur Travel (travel booking), Concur Invoice (vendor invoice processing), and others like Concur Audit (expense report auditing service). Each module is licensed separately with its own subscription or transaction fees. The more modules you enable, the more you pay. It’s important to right-size your module selection – only pay for the components you truly need. (For example, if your ERP already handles accounts payable, you might skip Concur Invoice to avoid overlapping functionality.)
- Integration and Service Add-Ons: Concur often charges extra for integrations or premium services. Connecting Concur to a third-party HR system or ERP might carry setup or interface fees. Add-ons like advanced analytics dashboards, Payment Manager (for automated reimbursements), or Audit Services (where Concur staff review receipts for policy compliance) come at additional cost. These services can be valuable but should be consciously chosen – they’re sometimes enabled by default during implementation or renewal, which can catch customers off guard with new fees.
Key cost drivers to watch in any Concur contract include the number of active users, the volume of expense reports and travel transactions, and the mix of modules/add-ons. Renewal terms are also critical – automatic price increases or missed cancellations can inflate long-term spend.
Example: A company licensed Concur for 10,000 employees, but found that only ~3,000 employees submit expense reports in a given month. Unless “active usage” is clearly defined in the contract, SAP will charge for all 10,000 users, resulting in 7,000 idle accounts being paid for unnecessarily. In summary, know exactly how SAP is counting users and transactions, and which services you’re paying for – these factors drive the majority of Concur’s costs.
Negotiation & Contract Management Tactics
To manage and control SAP Concur costs, you need to be proactive in contract negotiations and ongoing management.
Here are key tactics and levers that savvy organizations use:
- Define “Active User” Rigorously: Don’t accept a vague user definition. Insist that an active user is only someone who actually submits an expense report (or at least logs a claim) within a defined period (e.g,. within the last 90 days or quarter). This limits billing to real users of the system, not every employee with a login. By tightening the definition, you prevent paying for inactive employees or occasional travelers who haven’t filed anything recently. Make sure this definition is written into the contract to avoid any ambiguity.
- Tiered Usage Pricing: Establish clear volume bands for transactions and users in your contract. For example, negotiate a price that covers up to X reports/year, with a lower per-report fee once you exceed that threshold (or vice versa). Tiered pricing ensures you benefit from volume discounts as your usage grows, rather than paying a flat high fee for every report. It also adds cost predictability: you’ll know what happens if, say, expense reports increase by 20% next year. The contract should spell out thresholds at which pricing drops, so heavy usage actually lowers unit costs.
- Modularize Your Contracts: Wherever possible, separate the modules (Expense, Travel, Invoice, Audit, etc.) onto their own terms or at least separate line items. This gives you the flexibility to reduce or cut a specific module at renewal if it’s not delivering value. It also helps align each module’s renewal with its business owner. For instance, you might renew Concur Travel in tandem with your travel department’s needs and Concur Expense in line with finance’s needs, rather than locking all modules into one date. Avoid bundles that force you to keep paying for an underused module just because it’s tied into a larger contract.
- Strict Renewal Governance: Never let Concur auto-renew without scrutiny. Negotiate strong renewal terms upfront: require SAP to send a written renewal notice or obtain your confirmation at least 90 (or even 120) days before the term expires. Include a cap on any renewal price increase (for example, no more than a 5% uplift year-over-year, or better yet, price holds for multi-year terms). Early notice gives you a window to renegotiate or consider alternatives if the costs are set to jump. If your contract has a no-reduction clause (preventing you from lowering user counts at renewal), push to remove it or at least allow a percentage reduction so you’re not trapped paying for users you no longer have.
- Control Add-Ons and Extras: SAP Concur offers many add-on features, but don’t let them automatically increase your bill. Avoid the “checkbox” trap – ensure that modules like Audit Services, Analytics tools, or Payment integrations are opt-in only. If SAP “helpfully” activates a feature as a trial, clarify that it must remain free until you formally accept and budget for it. Every additional service should have a clear ROI justification on your side. For example, only pay for Concur’s audit module if your internal team truly lacks that capability and if the compliance gains outweigh the cost. In contracts, include a clause that no new modules or services will be billed without a signed order form or written approval from your side.
Checklist: Use this checklist to keep your Concur agreement under control from day one:
- Validate the Modules and User Counts: Immediately confirm which Concur modules you’re subscribed to and how “users” are defined in the contract. Ensure the list of enabled services matches what you actually need. Turn off any unneeded components to avoid surprise fees.
- Licensed vs Active Users: Check if your pricing is based on total licensed users or active users. If it’s the former, negotiate a switch to active-user-based billing or rigorously manage your user list. Regularly deactivate employees who leave or fail to file expenses to prevent paying for unused licenses.
- Audit Your Add-Ons: Take inventory of any extra services like Concur Travel, Audit Service, or Invoice processing. Are you using them fully? If not, consider removing them at renewal or consolidating functionality into one platform. Don’t pay for overlapping tools (e.g., two systems handling vendor invoices).
- Verify Renewal Terms & Escalations: Note your contract end date and any notice period. Calendar reminders well in advance of the notice deadline. Also, verify any built-in price escalator – for instance, 7% annual uplift if you do nothing. Try to negotiate those down or capped, and never let a renewal fly under the radar.
- Track Usage Quarterly: Don’t wait for the annual true-up to see how you’re using Concur. Set a quarterly review of Concur admin reports: how many active users this quarter? How many expense reports or trips? Compare this to your contract allowances. Regular utilization tracking lets you spot trends (like usage dropping or rising) in time to adjust your licensing or push for credits before a renewal crunch.
How to manage SAP Hybrid Licensing, SAP Hybrid Licensing: Combining On-Premise Entitlements with Cloud Subscriptions.
Common Pitfalls & SAP Licensing Tactics
Even well-managed Concur deployments can fall into expensive traps. Here are common pitfalls SAP often leverages – and how to fix them:
- Pitfall 1: “Active user” is defined too broadly. Some Concur contracts count every user account as active, including employees who haven’t filed an expense in ages. Fix: Redefine active users narrowly. For example, specify in the contract that only users who submit at least one expense report in the billing year (or quarter) count toward licensing. This way, dormant accounts won’t inflate your costs.
- Pitfall 2: Automatic license increases via HR feed. If Concur is synced with your HR system, every new hire might automatically be added as a billable user. This can quietly balloon your costs as headcount grows. Fix: Disable automatic user provisioning or cap the growth. Set a clause that the user count cannot increase more than, say, 5% per year without an amendment. Manage Concur user onboarding manually so you have control over who gets a license.
- Pitfall 3: Add-on modules “bundled” after renewal. SAP might enable new features (like an Audit service, a fancy reporting module, or regional add-ons) during a contract cycle or renewal, assuming you’ll keep them. Later, they show up as extra charges. Fix: Require explicit, written consent for any new module activation. If something wasn’t in your original order form or contract scope, you shouldn’t be billed for it unless you signed for it. Review your billing statements after renewal to catch any sneaky additions, and dispute anything unauthorized.
- Pitfall 4: No usage transparency before renewal. Many customers go into a Concur renewal negotiation blind – they haven’t seen detailed usage data, so SAP’s high renewal quote goes unchallenged. Fix: Proactively request usage reports well ahead of renewal (this can even be written into the contract). By having data on active users, report counts, and unused licenses, you can push back on price or adjust volumes. Also consider a clause that SAP will meet to review usage at least annually, so there are no surprises.
- Pitfall 5: Overlapping functionality with ERP or finance systems. Companies sometimes pay for Concur modules that replicate what they already own elsewhere. For example, Concur Invoice handles accounts payable, but you might have SAP Ariba or another AP system doing the same job. Fix: Scope check before renewing. Identify features in Concur that duplicate your ERP capabilities. If there is an overlap, either drop that Concur module or negotiate a reduced price for it (since it’s not mission-critical). Always align your Concur footprint with actual needs – don’t pay twice for similar tools.
Optimization Levers
Beyond avoiding pitfalls, leverage these options to optimize your SAP Concur spend and contractual flexibility:
- Usage-Based True-Up: Structure your deal so you pay for what you use, not what you forecast. For instance, negotiate a year-end true-up mechanism for user counts or report volume. If you end up with fewer active users than anticipated, you shouldn’t be stuck paying the full original quote – ask to true-down the fees or carry credits forward. The goal is to right-size cost to actual usage, ensuring you’re not continuously overbuying capacity “just in case.”
- Tiered User Bands: Secure volume discounts as you scale. If your Concur deployment is growing, make sure the contract includes banded pricing that lowers the per-user or per-report fee at higher usage tiers. For example, the price per expense report could drop by 20% once you exceed 50,000 reports/year. Similarly, per-user fees might reduce when you surpass a certain user count. This way, success (in terms of adoption) doesn’t punish your budget – it actually yields better unit pricing. Always negotiate that higher volumes = cheaper average rates.
- Cross-Module Discounts: If you plan to use multiple Concur modules (e.g., Expense + Travel or Expense + Invoice), use that as a bargaining chip. Bundling modules in one negotiation can warrant a package discount. Push SAP for a better deal on the combined suite – for example, “We’ll adopt Concur Invoice along with Expense, but expect a 15–20% discount on the incremental module.” SAP often values bigger footprint deals, so leverage that to cut per-module costs. Just ensure bundled pricing is transparent, so you know the cost breakdown of each component (in case you later drop one).
- Usage Flexibility: Business needs change, and your Concur contract should accommodate that. Negotiate flexible terms, such as the ability to adjust user counts or transaction commitments annually, with minimal fuss. For instance, include a clause allowing you to reduce or increase the licensed user count by up to 10% each year without penalty. This protects you if your employee base shrinks or if travel slows down. An example clause might state: “Customer may adjust active user quantities by ±10% at each anniversary without repricing.” Such flexibility prevents overpayment in down cycles and expensive change orders when you need to scale up.
- Credit Recovery: If you discover you’ve been overpaying for underused licenses, don’t leave that money on the table. Ask SAP for credits or adjustments. For example, if you paid for 1,000 users but only 700 were active, request a credit for the 300 unused in the next billing period or an extension of service to cover them. While not guaranteed, successful enterprise negotiators often secure credit notes or service extensions when usage falls short. It not only recoups value but also pressures SAP to propose more realistic license counts in the future. The message: you expect to pay for real value delivered, not shelfware.
Integration & Renewal Considerations
Managing Concur in the context of your broader IT and SAP landscape brings additional considerations:
- Separate Contract Cycles: Concur often operates on its own contract, distinct from your main SAP ERP or HR systems. This means its renewal might not align with other major software timelines. The risk is that you’re focused on, say, an SAP S/4HANA renewal, and the Concur contract quietly auto-renews a month later without negotiation. To prevent this, synchronize Concur’s renewal governance with your IT calendar. Treat it with the same rigor as a big ERP contract. Some companies even co-term Concur with larger SAP agreements to gain leverage (e.g., negotiating Concur alongside a RISE with SAP deal for better cross-product terms). Just be cautious: if you bundle it, make sure you can drop Concur or change terms independently if needed.
- Overlap with SAP Solutions: Check if any native SAP solutions cover similar ground as Concur. For instance, SAP S/4HANA has basic expense reimbursement functionality and might satisfy simple needs without a full Concur deployment for certain user groups. SAP’s Business Technology Platform (BTP) or other cloud apps might offer travel/expense features that overlap with Concur’s modules. While Concur is the more robust solution for T&E, you should evaluate whether you’re double-paying for features. If you discover redundancy (like paying for Concur Invoice while also paying for SAP’s own AP automation tools), consider consolidating on one and negotiating a reduction for the other.
- RISE and Bundled Deals: If your SAP Concur subscription is rolled into a larger SAP contract (for example, included in a RISE with SAP bundle or an enterprise agreement), ensure its costs are transparent. SAP sales sometimes bundle Concur to hit volume discounts on paper, but you need a clear breakdown – how much of that bundle price is Concur versus other components? This matters at renewal: you want the option to recalibrate Concur independently. Insist that any bundled contract itemizes Concur’s pricing and allows for modular adjustments. Bundling can save money upfront, but it should not mean losing visibility or flexibility on the Concur portion of your investment.
- Data Integration Costs: On the technical side, consider integration and data flow costs in your total cost of ownership. If Concur is integrated with your HR system (for employee data) or finance system (for posting expenses), factor in who maintains these interfaces. Sometimes SAP or partners charge for integration maintenance or upgrades, especially if you update your HRIS or ERP. Coordinate Concur renewal discussions with upcoming HR/Finance system changes – for example, if you’re moving to a new HR system next year, negotiate Concur support for reintegration as part of the renewal package. Aligning these initiatives prevents nasty surprises where integration work orders pile up (and SAP presents a bill).
Pre-Negotiation Checklist
Before your next SAP Concur negotiation (or renewal meeting), do your homework internally.
This pre-negotiation checklist will prepare you to go toe-to-toe with SAP’s account team:
- Usage vs. Entitlement Review: Pull the data on how Concur is actually used in your organization. How many users really submitted expenses in the last 12 months? How many expense reports were filed, and how many travel bookings were made? Compare these numbers to what you’re contracted for. If you licensed 5,000 users but only 3,500 are active, or you paid for 100k reports but only 70k happened, flag that gap. This analysis quantifies any over-licensing or under-utilization.
- Module & Service Audit: List out all Concur modules and services you’re paying for. Then, verify with business owners if each is necessary. Perhaps you’re paying for Concur Audit Service, but your internal audit finds it redundant. Or you have Concur Invoice enabled in regions that don’t really use it. Identifying these will inform what you might drop or renegotiate. Prioritize modules by value delivered.
- Renewal Milestone Check: Know your contract critical dates cold. Mark the notice period deadline in your calendar (e.g., “Notify cancellation 60 days before Dec 31 renewal”). If the contract auto-renews, mark your calendar to send a non-renewal notice if you intend to renegotiate. Missing a date could lock you in for another year at unfavorable terms. Also, check if you have any price locks or clauses expiring at renewal (for example, a discount that only applied in the first term).
- Stakeholder Alignment: Bring together the key stakeholders – IT, Finance, Procurement, the Travel/Expense program manager, and even HR if they manage employee data. Share the current usage and costs with them. Align on goals: do we want to reduce costs by 20%? Add functionality? Improve compliance? A unified team will strengthen your negotiation position and ensure all angles (process, policy, technical) are considered. Decide on an ideal outcome and walk-away conditions as a group.
- Benchmark and Strategy: If possible, benchmark your Concur deal. Understand what other similar-sized organizations are roughly paying or how they structure their deals (industry user groups or a consultant can help here). Even without external benchmarks, use your internal data to model scenarios: for example, calculate what you’d pay under a pure per-report model vs. a pure per-user model and see which is lower for your pattern. Outline your negotiation “asks” based on this homework – maybe you aim for a lower per-report fee, or the ability to drop 1,000 unused users without penalty. Having a clear strategy backed by numbers lets you drive the conversation rather than react to SAP’s quote.
5 Concur Optimization Tactics to Remember
- Define “active user” tightly – only count users with actual expense submissions.
- Separate modules and renewal terms to keep each component flexible.
- Cap annual headcount and transaction uplifts to prevent unchecked cost growth.
- Audit optional add-ons (Invoice, Audit) and cut any with low ROI.
- Demand quarterly usage data and credit options so you can course-correct before renewal.
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