Concur Expense

Concur simplifies travel booking, expense reporting, and receipt management for the Law School community.

Reimbursement Reminders:

  • Rewards: Points, miles, and travel credits are not reimbursable.
  • Students & Guests: Submit reimbursements through Concur Expense. Guests require an Outside Party vendor profile.
  • Deadlines: Submit expenses within 365 days. Expenses over 120 days require justification.
  • Services & Honoraria: Submit an invoice or honoraria request.
  • International Guests: Submit a Wire Payment Request to reimburse guests by wire transfer. Wire reimbursements are not supported in Concur.
  1. Submit: Prepare and submit your expense report
  2. Supervisor/Initial Review: Report is reviewed and approved
  3. Business Office: Financial review and approval
  4. Senior Business Officer: Additional review or special audit, if applicable
  5. Accounts Payable: Final audit and review
  6. Payment: Payment is released and confirmation is provided

Submit Expense Report

Report Header

Create Expense Report

Access Concur via the Columbia Travel & Expense landing page. Sign in with your UNI and password, then complete authentication using Duo multi-factor authentication (MFA).

→  Log Into Concur 

If preparing a report for a student or guest, select Act as Another User before proceeding. 

Select Create Expense Report

Complete the Report Header

Type of Report: Select the appropriate option:

  1. CU Business Expenses – Faculty or Staff non-travel related expenses.
  2. CU Non-Profiled Payee – Student or Guest reimbursements.
  3. CU Travel Expenses – Faculty or Staff travel expenses.
     

School/Division/Department: This section defaults from your profile but can be updated if needed. 

Report Name: Use Payee’s UNI – Payee’s Name. For Guests, use Guest – Guest Name.

Report Purpose: Select the appropriate purpose.
All expenses must have a valid, necessary, and reasonable business purpose related to University business. A business purpose must be documented for all expenses submitted for reconciliation or reimbursement.

Detailed Business Purpose: Include the following:

  1. SpeedChart – where the expense should be charged.
  2. SpeedChart Description – description corresponding to the SpeedChart.
  3. Business Purpose – clearly explain what, when, where, why, and how the expense relates to Columbia Law School.
     

These fields appear only for CU Non-Profiled Payee reports and are required when reimbursing Students or Guests:

  1. Vendor Type: Select the appropriate type.
  2. Vendor Name/ID: Select the Student (CNR#######) or Guest (0000######) profile and verify that you select the correct person to be reimbursed.
  3. Vendor Address: For check payments, select the mailing address. For ACH payments, only the default address appears. 
     

ChartFields: Review GL BU, Department, PC Business Unit, Project, Activity, Initiative, Segment, and Site, and update them as needed to match the provided SpeedChart and SpeedChart Description.

Add Expense Items
  • Select Available Expenses to add a Corporate Card or Concur Travel transaction that must be reconciled, or Create New Expense to enter out-of-pocket expenses paid with personal funds for reimbursement.
  • Each expense must include an itemized receipt showing what was purchased and proof of payment.
  • Select Save and Add Another to continue adding expenses, or Save Expense to return to your Expense Report.
Attach Documents

Add additional documents to support the business purpose and audit requirements, such as:

  • Business Office approval for Business/First Class airfare.
  • Proof of the event, such as an email, conference flyer, agenda, or invitation
  • Email containing the ChartString information when a SpeedChart is not provided.
  • Proof of payment, such as a bank statement, in addition to the itemized receipt.
Review and Submit
  • Once all expenses have been added, select Submit Report.
  • On the User Electronic Agreement, select Accept & Continue, then select Submit.

When using Acting as Another User, the payee must review and submit the report. Delegates cannot submit on the payee’s behalf.

For more information, explore the resources, guides, and job aids in the sections below.

Concur users and their delegates can access the status of expense reports directly within the SAP Concur platform. Follow the steps below to view the status:

Payment Confirmation
  1. Log Into Concur
  2. Click on the Expense tab.
  3. Click the View dropdown (under Active Reports) to choose your preferred view.
  4. Select the report you wish to review.
  5. Click on the Report Details dropdown and choose Audit Trail. 

The Audit Trail screen will show the Payment Confirmation once the report has been approved for payment processing. 

If the report has not yet been approved or released for payment, please verify the approval status.

Approval Status:
  1. Log into Concur
  2. Click on the Expense tab.
  3. Click the View dropdown (under Active Reports) to choose your preferred view.
  4. Select the report you wish to review.
  5. Click the Report Details dropdown and choose Report Timeline.

This will show the Approval Flow and Report Summary, detailing the approval status and any actions taken on the expense report to date.

View Expense Report Approval Status

Concur users can designate Preparer Delegates to create expense reports on their behalf or for Students and Guests. Refer to our Expense Report Guidance to learn how to create an expense report. 

Create Expense Report on Behalf of Someone Else

Students and Guests do not have access to Concur by default. A CU Employee can create and submit a CU Non-Profiled Payee report on their behalf by following the Expense Report Guidance.

Guest Reimbursements: Guests must have an active vendor profile in ARC to receive reimbursement. See Vendor Profiles.

Optional: Use the Non-Profiled Payee Travel and Business Expense Worksheet to organize expenses. The worksheet is not required.

Receipts

Payees should obtain receipts for all expenses. Acceptable receipts may include cash register receipts, order forms, web receipts, or confirmations.

A complete receipt must include:

  • Date of purchase
  • Vendor name
  • Itemized purchases and unit prices
  • Total amount

Receipts are required for:

  • Airfare/rail
  • Hotel/lodging
  • Car rental
  • All other expenses of $50 or more

The payee must incur the expense to be reimbursed. If an expense was paid using a joint bank account with a spouse, add a justification in the Comment/Justification section stating that the expense was paid from a joint account.

Proof of Payment

Payees should obtain proof of payment for all expenses. Acceptable proof may include:

  • Cash tendered
  • Paid notation
  • Zero balance due
  • Debit/credit card payment (card type, last four digits, and/or signature)

If the receipt does not show proof of payment, a debit or credit card statement may be provided. Private or unrelated information may be redacted.

For cash payments, add a comment indicating the expense was paid in cash.

Missing Receipts

Payees should obtain receipts for all expenses. When a required receipt is missing, payee justification and, when applicable, a Missing Receipt Declaration are required.

  • Expenses under $50: If a receipt is not required, do not add a Missing Receipt Declaration. Instead, provide a justification in the Comment/Justification section of the applicable expense.
  • Expenses over $50: If the receipt is unavailable, lost, or not itemized, both are required:
    1. Enter a justification in the Comment/Justification section.
    2. Add a Missing Receipt Declaration under Manage Receipts.

The payee must add the Missing Receipt Declaration; preparer delegates cannot add it. For instructions, see the Adding a Missing Receipt Declaration

Concur Expense Types automatically map to the appropriate Natural Accounts in the ARC ChartString. Common categories include:

Airfare: Coach/Economy airfare
Airfare – Segregated: Amount exceeding the Coach/Economy airfare for approved Business/First Class or Premium Economy airfare exceptions
Airline Fees: Baggage and change fees
Alcoholic Beverages: Beer, wine, liquor, spirits, sake, and other alcoholic drinks
Courier/Shipping/Freight: Courier, shipping, and freight fees, including FedEx and UPS
Gifts – Flowers: Flowers and floral arrangements
Ground Transportation: Bus, car service, shuttle, subway/metro, taxi, and other ground transportation
Group Meal: Group meals up to $25 for breakfast, $35 for lunch, and $75 for dinner per person, including alcoholic beverages and excluding tax and tip
Hotel/Lodging: Hotel and lodging accommodations
Individual Meal: Individual meals up to $25 for breakfast, $35 for lunch, and $75 for dinner per person, excluding tax and tip
Instructional Supplies: Instructional supplies, such as books
Meal – Segregated: Amount exceeding the applicable per-meal limit, excluding tax and tip
Minor Equipment – General: Minor equipment, including cables, extension cords, and adapters
Office Supplies: Supplies for office use, including printer paper, staplers, and pens
Personal Car Mileage: Mileage reimbursement for business use of a personal vehicle
Postage: Postage expenses, including USPS stamps
Printing/Photocopying: Printing and photocopying expenses
Professional Dues: Professional membership fees
Software Purchase: AI software licenses and subscriptions
Storage – Media: Document and media storage fees, including GRM
Subscriptions: Subscription fees for goods such as newspapers, magazines, and books
Supplies and Materials: General supplies and materials, including packaging and shipping materials
Tips/Gratuities: Tips and gratuities, not to exceed 20% of the eligible expense
Tolls: Bridge, road, and highway tolls, including E-ZPass charges
Train/Rail: Coach/Economy and Acela Business Class fares on Amtrak
Web Expenses: Other web services, such as iCloud and Dropbox

Essential Guides

The following training guides and job aids offer practical guidance for creating and completing Expense Reports:

Itemizing Group Meal
Itemizing Hotel/Lodging
Itemizing Hotel/Lodging (Video)
Itemizing Gifts
Adding Foreign Currency Expense
Adding Missing Receipt Declaration
Calculating Approved Per Diem Manually
Calculating Personal Car Mileage
Attaching Additional Receipts or Supporting Documents
Assigning Travel and Expense Corporate Card Transactions
Reconciling Travel/Cash Advance Request
Reconciling Corporate Card and Air/Rail Central Pay
Choosing an Initial Reviewer

Other Resources

Additional training materials and quick-reference guides are available to help you navigate Concur, manage travel, and complete Expense Reports.

Concur Profile Quick Guide: Guide to setting up your Concur Profile.
Concur Travel Quick Guide: Guide to booking travel and managing travel expenses.
Concur Expense Report Quick Guide: Guide to creating and submitting Expense Reports.
Concur Refresher Quick Guide: Refresher on Concur basics and additional training resources.
Concur Navigation Tour: Overview of Concur navigation and key features.
Concur Travel and Expense Training: Training on Concur travel and expense functions.
Finance Training Library: Collection of Columbia Finance training resources.

Some Concur Expense Reports may require payee justification and Senior Business Officer approval for policy exceptions.

Concur Expense Policy Exception Approval Requirements