SAP Concur Negotiation Guide for Global Enterprises

SAP Concur Negotiation Guide: Reducing User Fees and Transaction Costs

SAP Concur’s travel and expense platform is powerful, but can become expensive if not carefully managed. This SAP Concur negotiation guide offers strategies to reduce per-user fees and transaction costs, especially for global deployments.

By understanding Concur’s hybrid pricing model and employing smart negotiation tactics, enterprises can significantly reduce their total cost of ownership without compromising functionality.

Understanding SAP Concur’s Pricing Model

SAP Concur is sold as a cloud subscription, but it isn’t a simple flat fee per user. Instead, Concur employs a hybrid pricing model that combines user-based and usage-based charges.

You typically pay an annual or monthly base fee that covers a set number of “active” users or transactions, and then additional fees for usage above that threshold.

Active users generally mean employees who log in or submit expenses in a given period – an important distinction, as even employees with access who never file an expense might still count toward your license if not managed.

In addition to user fees, Concur often charges transaction fees for each expense report processed or travel booking made (and sometimes for invoices if you use Concur Invoice). In short, your bill is driven by both the number of people using the system and the amount each person uses it.

Concur’s contracts also commonly include tiered volume bands. For example, you might pre-pay for a certain number of users or expense reports, with overage fees (or higher per-unit rates) if you exceed the allotted amount.

The flip side is that high volumes can earn volume discounts: as your usage grows, the per-user or per-report cost can decrease if negotiated properly.

Some large enterprises even negotiate an “all-you-can-eat” unlimited usage deal for predictability, though most contracts set specific volume tiers.

Always clarify which metrics (user count, expense report count, trip bookings, etc.) are driving costs in your agreement. This transparency is the foundation for optimizing those costs.

Read the SAP Concur Licensing Guide for CIOs and CTOs.

Major Cost Drivers in SAP Concur

Several key factors drive the costs of SAP Concur.

Understanding these will help you target your cost-reduction efforts:

• Number of Active Users: Each active user license adds to the cost. Companies often pay per employee using Concur. If you provision Concur to all staff by default, you may be paying for many people who never actually submit expenses. Unused or inactive accounts can needlessly inflate your user fees.
• Expense Report Volume: If your pricing includes a fee per expense report, the number of reports filed annually is a major cost driver. Organizations that have employees submitting numerous small reports (e.g., one per trip or week) will incur higher transaction fees than those with a policy of consolidating expenses into monthly or larger reports. More reports = more fees.
• Travel Booking Fees: For those using Concur Travel, a transaction fee may apply to each travel booking (e.g., airfare, hotel). A surge in travel activity directly increases Concur costs. These fees are often separate from expense report fees, so both need attention.
• Modules and Add-Ons: Concur is a suite of products (Expense, Travel, Invoice, plus add-ons like Duty of Care, Request, ExpenseIt, Detect, etc.). Each module or premium feature carries its own cost. The more modules enabled, the higher the overall spend. Overlapping functionality with other systems is a red flag – for example, paying for Concur Invoice while also paying for a different accounts payable system could mean double spending for similar capabilities.
• Support and Services: Standard support is included, but enterprises might pay extra for premium 24/7 support or implementation services. These can increase costs if not negotiated into the deal. While support fees aren’t “user” or “transaction” costs, they are part of the contract spend and can sometimes be discounted or bundled.
• Global Deployment Factors: If you’re a global company, the way you deploy Concur can impact cost. Multiple separate instances (e.g., one per region or subsidiary) may result in duplicate fees and a loss of volume discounts compared to a single, consolidated global contract. Also, currency exchange rates and local taxes can affect the effective cost in each region. We’ll cover global considerations in a dedicated section, since optimizing for worldwide deployments is often Tip #9 for getting Concur costs under control.

By pinpointing these cost drivers in your own Concur usage, you can prioritize where to focus optimization and negotiation efforts.

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Optimizing User Fees

Reducing user-based fees starts with ensuring you’re only paying for the people who truly need Concur access:

Audit and Right-Size User Licenses:

Regularly audit your Concur user list to identify inactive users who may still be listed. It’s common to discover that 10–20% of licensed users haven’t logged an expense in months. Remove or deactivate those inactive accounts before renewals or true-ups. Also, reconsider blanket access – not every employee needs to be set up in Concur. If only certain roles (like frequent travelers or managers) incur expenses, limit licenses to that population instead of assigning licenses to everyone by default. Tailoring the user base can eliminate a significant chunk of unnecessary per-user fees.

Negotiate the Definition of “Active User”:

In contracts, clarify what counts as an active (billable) user. Ideally, you want a user to count only if they file an expense or log in during the billing period, not just anyone provisioned. Ensure your contract language aligns with this to avoid paying for dormant accounts. If you have seasonal or temporary users, you may want to negotiate provisions for pro-rated or flexible users so that you aren’t paying year-round for short-term activity.

Leverage Volume Commitments:

If you have a rough estimate of the number of employees who will use Concur, consider negotiating volume-based pricing. Lower per-user rates should accompany larger user counts. For instance, if the vendor’s list price is, say $100 per user/year, a large enterprise committing to 10,000 users might negotiate that down to $60 or $70 per user/year due to economies of scale. If you’re far below a tier threshold, see if you can commit to a slightly higher number in exchange for a better unit price – but only if you expect to grow into that number.

Flexibility in True-Ups:

Try to avoid strict “no reduction” clauses on user counts. Vendors often want you to renew with at least as many users as before, even if your workforce shrinks. Push for the ability to adjust down (“true-down”) at renewal without penalty. That way, if your active user count drops (due to business changes or layoffs), you can scale down licenses and costs accordingly. Flexibility here ensures you don’t overpay for unused capacity in the future.

Bundle with Other SAP Deals (Cautiously):

If you’re also negotiating other SAP software (such as SuccessFactors or Ariba), bundling Concur together in a larger deal can sometimes yield overall savings or cross-product discounts. SAP might offer a break on Concur user fees if it means a bigger multi-product sale. Just be careful: only bundle if the timing and fit are right, and always itemize the pricing so you know the Concur piece is actually discounted, not just hidden in a big number.

Reducing Transaction Costs

Transaction fees – charges per expense report, travel booking, or invoice – can add up quickly, especially in a global program with thousands of employees.

Here are strategies to minimize these pay-as-you-go costs:

Consolidate Expense Reports:

One of the simplest tactics is to encourage employees to submit expenses less frequently. If you pay, for example, $8 per expense report, an employee who files a weekly report (52 per year) is far costlier than one who files a monthly report (12 per year). Establish an expense policy that strikes a balance between efficiency and cost.

Consider requiring employees to consolidate expenses into a single monthly report or set a minimum dollar threshold (such as $100) unless the timing is critical. Fewer reports mean fewer transaction fees. Just ensure this doesn’t overly delay reimbursements or create cumbersome reports – find a reasonable middle ground.

Optimize Travel Bookings:

Travel fees are often charged per booking through Concur. To reduce these, make sure your employees use the integrated travel tool only when it makes sense and batch bookings when possible (e.g., booking air, hotel, and car together if it avoids multiple fees). Additionally, suppose certain simple trips incur the same fees as complex ones.

In that case, you might consider if some low-cost travel could be handled via corporate travel agents or direct bookings to avoid fees – but be cautious, as booking outside Concur can undermine your travel data and policy compliance. A better approach is negotiating those fees down based on volume (more on that next).

Pre-Negotiate Volume Tiers: Don’t accept a straight per-transaction cost with no volume relief. In your contract, include tiered pricing for expense reports and travel transactions.

For example, you might negotiate something like: up to 10,000 expense reports/year at $5 each, the next 10,000 at $3 each, and anything beyond 20,000 at $2 each.

That way, if your usage spikes, your average cost per report goes down, and you avoid paying the full list price for every single report. Volume tiers protect you from unexpected cost overruns. They also give you known breakpoints to budget for as your organization grows.

Illustrative Impact of Negotiated Transaction Fees:

The table above shows a hypothetical example of how securing a lower per-report fee can dramatically reduce annual costs. Enterprises should aim for aggressive per-transaction discounts in negotiations, especially at higher volumes.

Eliminate Unnecessary Modules or Services:

Review all the transaction-based services you’re paying for. For example, suppose you are paying a fee for each invoice processed through Concur Invoice, but your accounts payable team isn’t fully using Concur.

In that case, you might be wasting money – perhaps invoices are mostly handled in another system, such as SAP Ariba or a legacy tool. Similarly, if you enabled an add-on service like Concur’s auditing service or receipt AI (ExpenseIt), check the utilization and benefit. If the value isn’t there (or if you have an in-house or third-party doing the same job), consider dropping those services to cut the per-item fees they incur. Every extra workflow or add-on you can remove will trim the transaction costs.

Policy and Training to Curb Waste:

Sometimes transaction costs grow simply due to user behavior. Ensure employees are aware of the cost implications of their Concur usage. For instance, discourage creating multiple small reports or booking travel outside of approved channels.

Good training and clear travel & expense policies can indirectly reduce unnecessary transactions – and thus fees – by driving more efficient use of the tool. When users understand that each report or booking has a cost, they’re more likely to be judicious and combine where appropriate.

Global Deployment Contract Strategies

Managing Concur for a global enterprise introduces additional considerations that can impact your fees and negotiation approach.

Here’s how to optimize contracts and costs for worldwide deployments:

Global vs. Regional Contracts:

Determine whether to consolidate into a single global contract or maintain regional agreements. A single global contract aggregating all users and transactions often gives you the strongest volume leverage – yielding lower per-user and per-report rates across the board. It also simplifies vendor management with one renewal date and a unified set of terms. Many companies that grew via regional deals find they are paying different prices in different countries, which is not ideal.

If Europe is paying more per user than the US due to separate legacy contracts, work with SAP to harmonize that. Vendors are usually open to consolidation if it means a larger overall deal. If a single global contract isn’t feasible, at least benchmark pricing across regions and strive to equalize or ensure that every region receives the best rate available.

Currency and Exchange Rate Planning:

Currency fluctuations can turn a good deal into a costly one if not addressed. If your Concur contract is priced in USD or EUR but you operate in many countries, you carry exchange rate risk. For major regions, you can negotiate local currency pricing (e.g., paying in EUR for Europe, GBP for the UK, etc.) so that each region avoids surprises from currency fluctuations.

SAP might resist multi-currency contracts, but you can sometimes structure separate schedules per region in local currency. If you must stick to a single currency globally, consider negotiating a clause to revisit pricing if exchange rates fluctuate beyond a certain band, or have your finance team hedge the currency. Also, be aware of local taxes: paying a foreign entity in a different currency may trigger VAT or withholding taxes in certain countries. Clarify in the contract who bears those taxes to avoid later cost surprises.

Data Residency and Local Regulations:

Some countries have laws requiring data to be stored locally or to comply with special regulations (for instance, for government or sensitive sectors).

If Concur needs to deploy a local instance for China, Russia, or the public sector (where a FedRAMP cloud is required, for example), this may incur separate costs or licensing constraints.

Ensure that you discuss these requirements upfront. If you end up with multiple instances of Concur (due to legal necessity), negotiate a global volume discount that applies to all instances combined. Even if they are technically separate environments, you want SAP to view your account holistically for pricing.

Also, ensure your contract allows you to allocate licenses flexibly across regions – you don’t want user licenses locked to a specific country. Your total entitlement should be usable wherever needed, so if one region’s usage drops and another’s rises, it balances out under the same contract.

Local Support and SLAs:

Global companies need support around the clock and across continents. Standard support may only be available for certain hours or languages. In negotiations, outline your support expectations: for example, 24×7 “follow the sun” support coverage, or dedicated support contacts for each major region. While enhanced support often costs more, a savvy negotiator can often secure it for free or at a discounted rate in a large deal.

It’s better to bake it in upfront than to have critical issues in Asia with no one available to help. Ensure that any additional support fees are clearly stated and considered part of the overall value. A slightly higher user fee might be acceptable if it includes premium global support that would otherwise be a separate line item.

Normalize Regional Price Differences:

SAP’s list prices can vary by country, depending on local market conditions. In a global negotiation, they might attempt to “blend” pricing or even add uplifts for certain high-cost regions.

Don’t simply accept that. Aim to apply the lowest unit price you’ve secured (say, one country’s heavily discounted rate) to the entire global volume.

You argue that the aggregate volume justifies the best price everywhere. If SAP claims higher costs to serve a specific country, examine those claims and push back unless the claims are truly justified. The goal is one global rate card that is as low as possible.

Plan for Taxes and Entities:

Collaborate with your internal tax and legal teams to determine which entity should sign the contract. Sometimes, having the contract registered in a particular country can minimize VAT or enable tax recovery on the service.

While this doesn’t change Concur’s fees, it changes your net cost.

Additionally, ensure compliance with any “import of software/services” rules in countries where you operate. These considerations can save money and headaches down the line and should be factored into the negotiation strategy for a global deal.

In summary, treat your global Concur deployment as a single, unified program when negotiating with SAP, while accommodating local needs during execution.

The contract should maximize your aggregate volume purchasing power while providing flexibility to meet regional requirements.

Best Practices for SAP Concur Negotiations

Negotiating a Concur contract (whether it’s a new deal or a renewal) is about using data and leverage to get better terms.

Approaching SAP with a well-prepared plan can substantially reduce your user and transaction costs.

Key best practices include:

• Use Your Usage Data as Leverage: Enter negotiations armed with detailed data on how your organization utilizes Concur. If you can show, for example, that you paid for 5,000 users but only 4,000 actively used the system, or that you contracted for 20,000 expense reports but only 15,000 were submitted, you have a strong case for a price reduction or a credit. Hard data on under-utilization puts you in a powerful position – it’s difficult for the vendor to justify charging for licenses or transactions you didn’t use. Conversely, if you’re over-consuming your current contract, use that as leverage to negotiate volume discounts (instead of just paying overage fees at high rates). Essentially, ensure that SAP is aware that you thoroughly understand your numbers.
• Start Renewal Talks Early: Time Can Be Your Ally. Large enterprises should begin engaging SAP 6–12 months before the Concur contract expires. Early negotiations allow you to consider alternatives (or at least create the appearance that you might), get internal approvals for budget or a possible switch, and avoid the last-minute pressure that SAP’s sales team might otherwise exploit. If SAP believes you have the runway to potentially switch providers, they will be more inclined to offer concessions to secure your renewal.
• Benchmark Against Alternatives: Even if you’re not planning to leave Concur, it’s wise to know the market. Research competitors such as Expensify, Coupa, Navan (formerly TripActions), and others. For instance, if another vendor offers a flat $10 per user per month model and it would cost significantly less than Concur in your scenario, you can subtly let SAP know you’re aware of it. The goal isn’t necessarily to switch, but to give SAP an incentive to match market rates. Additionally, network with other companies (user groups or industry forums) to gain insight into what peers are paying for Concur. If you discover your rates are above average, you have tangible benchmarking data to bring to the table.
• Multi-Year Deals vs. Flexibility: SAP often offers larger discounts if you commit to a multi-year contract (e.g., a three- or five-year term). This can lock in lower pricing now, which is great if your usage is likely to grow – you’ll avoid rising costs. However, be cautious: ensure that any multi-year agreement includes flexibility, such as the right to adjust user counts annually or at least a cap on annual price escalations. You don’t want to be stuck with an oversized commitment if your company downsizes or travel drops unexpectedly. A sensible approach is to negotiate a multi-year contract for stability and include a mid-term review or adjustment clause. That way, you get the discount but retain some agility. If you anticipate major growth, also negotiate the ability to add more users or transactions at the same discounted rates, so success doesn’t lead to a surprise bill.
• Avoid the “No Reduction” Trap: Many cloud vendors include clauses that you cannot decrease your subscription at renewal (only maintain or increase). Try to remove or soften this. It may not always be fully eliminable, but even getting a clause that allows, say, a 10% reduction without penalty is better than nothing. The pandemic was a wake-up call here: companies with rigid contracts paid for Concur modules that went nearly unused during travel bans. Ensure your contract has a safety valve for truly unforeseen drops in usage.
• Negotiate All Components (Not Just Price): Pay attention to contract terms that can indirectly save money. For example, ensure there’s a cap on annual price increases (tie it to an inflation index or a fixed percentage). If you require premium support or specific service levels, negotiate them into the base fee upfront so you don’t incur additional costs later. Clarify how overages are billed – can you true-up at the end of the year rather than paying a punitive per-transaction overage rate in real time? Little contract details like that can have big cost implications.
• Leverage Timing and Sales Incentives: Be aware of SAP’s fiscal year and quarter ends. Software sales reps often give the best discounts when they’re trying to hit a quota or end-of-quarter target. While you shouldn’t time your entire procurement around it, it’s useful to know that a deal closed in Q4 or at the end of the month might yield extra one-time discounts or concessions. Use that to your advantage in the negotiation strategy (but also be wary of high-pressure tactics near deadlines).

By following these best practices, you can approach SAP Concur negotiations with a strong position and a clear goal: a contract tailored to your organization’s actual needs, at a fair price.

Recommendations

1. Regularly Audit Usage – Track your Concur usage metrics (active users, reports, and bookings) every quarter. Use this data to identify and eliminate unused licenses and adjust transaction forecasts before renegotiating or renewing. Proactive monitoring prevents overpaying for ghost users or unused transactions.
2. Right-Size and Purge Inactive Accounts – Develop a process to remove or reassign licenses for employees who haven’t used Concur in a long time or who have left the company. This ensures you’re only paying for active users. Consider setting up automated de-provisioning for inactivity (e.g., disabling accounts that are unused for 90 days).
3. Consolidate Contracts Globally – If you operate in multiple regions, push to consolidate disparate Concur contracts into a single global agreement. A global deal increases your volume leverage and simplifies management. Where full consolidation isn’t possible, at least align pricing and terms so no region is paying a premium.
4. Negotiate Volume Discounts – Never accept pay-per-use rates without volume discounts. Negotiate tiered pricing for both users and expense reports/travel transactions. Ensure your contract spells out discounted rates as your usage grows, and lock those in for the term of the agreement.
5. Implement Expense Policy Controls – Enforce expense submission policies (like monthly reports or minimum spend per report) to naturally limit the number of transactions. Educate employees on how these policies save the company money. Combining this with a good user experience will curb excessive report counts without causing frustration.
6. Plan for Flexibility – Build flexibility into your Concur deal. Secure terms that include the ability to reduce user counts at renewal, cap year-over-year price increases, and adjust for business changes (such as mergers, divestitures, pandemics, etc.). A flexible contract allows you to avoid being tied to a high-cost structure when circumstances change.
7. Benchmark Before You Sign – Research market pricing from competitors and talk to peers. If you have a sense of what similar companies pay for Concur (or alternative solutions), use that information in negotiations. It strengthens your ask for lower pricing or better terms when you can reference industry benchmarks.
8. Don’t Pay for What You Don’t Use – Scrutinize every module and add-on. Remove anything that does not deliver enough value. If you only use the Expense module, don’t let SAP bundle in Travel or Invoice unless you need them. If you try an add-on like an AI auditing tool, pilot it first and include an opt-out clause in case it doesn’t prove worthwhile.
9. Engage SAP with a United Front – Involve stakeholders from IT, finance, and procurement in the negotiation process. Present a clear, united case to SAP outlining your requirements and where the current proposal doesn’t meet them. Having executive sponsorship and a cross-functional team demonstrates to SAP that you mean business and can take decisive action or escalate if needed.

Checklist: 5 Actions to Take

1. Collect Your Data: Gather the last 12–24 months of Concur usage data – active user counts, number of expense reports, travel bookings, invoices processed, etc. Identify trends (growth or decline) and any under-utilization of licenses or modules.
2. Review Current Contract & Bills: Pull out your Concur contract and recent invoices. Note your contracted allowances (users or reports) and any overage charges you incurred. Highlight any contract terms that are cost pain points (like no reduction clauses or high overage fees).
3. Engage Stakeholders: Convene a meeting with key stakeholders (Travel manager, Expense process owner, Finance, IT, Procurement). Share the data and identified issues. Align on goals for negotiation (e.g., “reduce per-report cost by 30%” or “enable regional flexibility”). Also, discuss internal policy changes (such as expense report frequency) that could help reduce costs.
4. Contact SAP Early: Reach out to your SAP Concur account manager well in advance of renewal. Please indicate that you will be reviewing the relationship and would like to discuss the terms. Request any usage reports they have and let them know you’ll be looking for a proposal that addresses your identified needs (volume discounts, etc.). Starting early sets the stage for a thoughtful negotiation rather than a rushed renewal.
5. Negotiate Methodically: When negotiation time arrives, refer to your checklist of priorities. Tackle the big-ticket items first (pricing per user/report, volume tier structure, total contract value), then move to terms (true-down rights, support, SLAs, etc.). Keep notes of each round of discussion. Don’t hesitate to ask for revisions. Before signing, do a final sanity check against your goals: Did you achieve the user fee reduction or transaction cost cap you wanted? If not, weigh the concessions vs. alternatives and be prepared to push back or explore other solutions.

FAQ

Q1: Our SAP Concur costs keep rising each year. What’s the quickest way to reduce our spend?
A: Start by analyzing who and what is driving those costs. Identify inactive users and remove their licenses, as user fees often comprise a significant portion of the bill. Next, look at expense report volume – if employees are filing very frequently, implement policies to consolidate those reports (reducing transaction counts). Finally, approach SAP to renegotiate your contract based on these findings: request a pricing adjustment or credits for unused capacity, and ensure that future pricing is aligned with your actual usage.

Q2: Is it better to license SAP Concur per user or expense report?
A: It depends on your usage pattern – many Concur agreements include both. Per-user licensing is predictable if most employees consistently file expenses. Per-report (or per-transaction) pricing aligns costs with actual usage, which can be efficient if only a subset of employees submit expenses or if expense frequency varies significantly. In practice, large enterprises negotiate a hybrid: a base number of users and reports covered, plus a per-report fee for excess usage. The key is to find the balance where you’re not paying for thousands of idle users, but also not paying a high fee on every single report. Analyze your past data to model which approach yields a lower cost and negotiate accordingly.

Q3: We are a global company. Should we negotiate one master Concur contract or separate ones for each region?
A: Generally, a single global contract is preferable for cost reasons – it aggregates all your volume to get better discounts and keeps pricing consistent. However, there may be legal or compliance reasons to have regional contracts (for example, data privacy laws or local invoicing requirements). If you must have multiple contracts, try to co-term them and negotiate as a package. At a minimum, ensure that pricing and terms are consistent across regions (or tailored to volume in each) to avoid overpaying in one country. Many enterprises begin with regional deals and later consolidate into a global agreement once they realize the missed savings.

Q4: What can we do if our travel and expense volume fluctuates a lot (e.g., during a downturn or a crisis)?
A: This is where having flexibility in your contract is crucial. If you anticipate fluctuations, consider negotiating provisions such as the ability to scale down usage or invoke a “pause” on certain fees. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, travel dropped dramatically – companies with strict contracts paid for travel modules they were no longer using. To avoid that, ensure you have a clause to adjust fees if volume falls below a certain level, or consider shorter contract terms during uncertain periods. Internally, you can also adapt by reducing the number of people with access during slow periods (to save on user fees) and ramp up again when needed, if your contract allows it.

Q5: Are there any hidden charges in Concur contracts that we should be aware of?
A: While not “hidden” per se, there are line items that can be overlooked. Common ones include fees for premium support or account management, implementation or integration fees, charges for specific payment or audit services, and taxes or foreign currency adjustments if you’re billed from a different country. Always ask SAP for a clear breakdown of all charges in your contract and review each. Ensure things like one-time implementation fees are indeed one-time. Also, clarify whether any new features you might enable (such as an AI add-on or a new module) will incur an additional cost and how that cost would be calculated. Having these details in writing will prevent surprises later on.

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