Travel and Expense
SAP Concur vs Workday: Better Travel and Expense Management
When it comes to managing travel and expense (T&E), not all solutions are built for the job. Workday and SAP Concur are frequently evaluated side by side, but they’re designed with very different priorities in mind.
While Workday offers T&E as part of a broader HR and finance suite, Concur was purpose-built to solve the complexity of global travel, expense, and compliance at scale.
That difference matters. And it’s why organizations with growing spend, complex travel programs, and global compliance needs consider choosing Concur over Workday
SAP Concur vs Workday: Which Platform Offers Better T&E Visibility?.
Modern finance teams can’t afford to chase scattered data across disconnected systems. Workday’s T&E capabilities often depend on additional integrations or downstream data consolidation to approximate a full view of spend. That reliance can introduce delays, inconsistencies, and manual effort, especially in global or highly distributed organizations.
Concur takes a fundamentally different approach. Travel bookings, corporate card data, and expense reports are natively connected in one automated system, from the moment a trip is booked through reimbursement and reconciliation. The result is end-to-end visibility without the need for workarounds or stitched-together reporting. And users agree. According to verified G2 reviews, Concur consistently outperforms Workday in key areas of financial integration:
- Bank / Credit Card Integration: 86% satisfaction for Concur vs. 82% for Workday¹
- Credit Card Integration: 86% vs. 85%¹
- Currency Conversions: 84% vs. 83%¹
With a connected ecosystem and global data insights, Concur users gain:
- Real-time spend tracking across departments and countries
- Automated expense imports from cards and travel tools
- More accurate forecasts for smarter forecasting, budgeting, and financial planning
That impact is measurable. Concur users see an average of $777K in annual T&E-related savings³, and 32% higher compliance with company policies⁴. These outcomes would be difficult to achieve with a fragmented system like Workday.
As one customer put it: “Our spend visibility has dramatically improved with Concur. We can now forecast flight, hotel, and other costs and adjust our policies to meet business goals.” – Chief Operating Officer, Supply Chain Management, Standard Chartered Bank
Smarter Proactive Compliance and Automated Risk Management with SAP Concur
Managing compliance across tax jurisdictions, currencies, and regulatory environments is one of the most complex aspects of T&E. When compliance checks happen after the fact, finance teams are left correcting errors instead of preventing them.
Concur embeds compliance directly into the spend lifecycle. Built-in regulatory intelligence and AI-powered auditing proactively flag policy violations, detect potential fraud, and enforce controls before issues escalate. With Concur, organizations benefit from:
- Automated audits and fraud detection that surface risks in real time
- Global tax and VAT support to reduce penalties and recover value
- Policy enforcement that scales with your business
Companies using Concur achieve a 36% boost in expense processing efficiency and an average 3-year ROI of 628%,² demonstrating how proactive compliance drives meaningful financial returns.
SAP Concur vs Workday: Scalability for Growing Teams
Concur has spent more than 30 years perfecting travel and expense management, continuously evolving based on customer feedback and global best practices. Our mobile-first experience, extensive ERP and HR integrations, and partner ecosystem make it a true enterprise-grade platform.
Workday offers T&E as one component of a larger platform. While that breadth can be appealing, it often means slower innovation and less depth in areas like international travel, mobile usability, and supplier connectivity, which is especially problematic for organizations that need to scale internationally or connect multiple business systems.
On G2, users give Concur higher marks in advanced usability features such as:
- Advanced Integrations: 83% for SAP Concur vs. 81% for Workday¹
- Itinerary Management: 83% vs. 81%¹
- Trip Notifications: 85% vs. 80%¹
That higher satisfaction reflects what real users experience every day — a platform that just works, without extra workarounds or complexity.
With Concur, teams benefit from:
- Easy integration with ERP, HR, and finance systems
- A network of 48,000+ customers and 120,000+ community members
- A scalable ecosystem of solution add-ons and service extensions that are packed with AI, best practices, and continuous innovation
- Industry-leading mobile tools that simplify receipt capture and approvals
As one customer put it: “ExpenseIt is a very clever app that enables our users to capture each receipt for each purchase using their smartphone and then processes them into an itemized expense claim ready for them to submit into the system, all completed direct from their phones.” - Group Payroll Manager, Bakkavor
AI-Driven T&E Insights: Where SAP Concur Outperforms Workday
Automation and AI are transforming finance, and Concur continues to lead the way, just as it has for the last 30 years. From predictive insights to intelligent reporting dashboards, Concur helps finance teams move from tracking spend to strategically managing it.
Finance leaders can quickly spot trends, identify savings opportunities, optimize policies, and adjust budgets — all from within one platform. Meanwhile, built-in AI simplifies expense categorization and shortens reimbursement cycles, giving employees a smoother experience and finance teams more control.
Why Businesses Choose SAP Concur Over Workday for T&E Management
When agility, accuracy, and automation matter most, Concur solutions deliver a purpose-built, intelligent, and global travel and expense platform designed to scale with your business.
Unlike generalist suite solutions like Workday, Concur brings travel, expense, and invoice management together at the core. That means fewer workarounds, fewer compliance risks, and more time spent driving strategy, not chasing spreadsheets.
See how Concur helps you see every booking, track every dollar, and stay in control, no matter where business takes you. Learn more here.
¹ Source: G2 Grid for Expense Management Software, 2025
² IDC Report: The Business Value of SAP Concur Solutions, 2022
³ Forrester, Empower the Future of Work with Intelligent Travel and Expense Solutions, 2023
⁴ IDC Report: The Business Value of SAP Concur Solutions, 2022
