Strengthen your expense reporting and processes for resiliency and growth

Effective and modern expense reporting and accounts payable (AP) management starts with AP automation. Further strengthening your expense report program so it’s resilient, growth-ready, and fraud-fighting requires investing in AI and cybersecurity, rethinking ESG (environment, social, and corporate governance), and using innovative solutions to handle spending requests and keep bottom-line-eroding thieves at bay.

Recognizing that AP can help drive profitability, productivity, and compliance, finance and AP leaders have invested in technology and process improvements and seen the benefits. According to SAP Concur research:

• 71% of companies say integrated and AI-enhanced travel and expense (T&E) technology improves their expense-related fraud detection.

• 22% annual cost savings is the result when automated AP solutions are added to integrated T&E solutions.

These are impressive statistics, but sharing numbers alone may not be enough to build alignment for integrated T&E. Being able to make the case through financial storytelling is an asset that should not be undervalued.

To strengthen the agility and capabilities of your expense reporting programs, this article covers:

• Best practices and strategies, including cybersecurity and AI investments and reframing ESG as an opportunity rather than an obligation
• The value of a spend request tool to approve and control spending before it occurs
• How an AI-embedded invoice solution can deter fraud that chips away at profitability
• Why storytelling is a practical skill finance and AP leaders can add to their tool chests

What best practices strengthen expense report programs?

A resilient, growth-ready expense report program typically starts with AP automation and builds from there with cybersecurity, AI, and ESG reporting practices that align to business risk and performance metrics.

If your organization aims to build a better expense report program, AP automation is a best-practice foundation. It can improve finance data quality, strengthen spending visibility, and support fraud detection.

Amid fast-changing technology, expanding risk, and global uncertainty, finance and AP leaders can build on AP automation by investing in cybersecurity and AI and repositioning ESG reporting as an opportunity instead of a challenge.

How do cybersecurity and AI improve financial resiliency?

Cybersecurity and AI help finance teams protect sensitive finance data and the bottom line as fraud attempts increase—and AI becomes both a tool for attackers and a defense for organizations.

The world is not becoming a safer place for your finance data—or your bottom line. Results from the 2025 AFP® Payments Fraud and Control Survey indicate that 79% of organizations were victims of payment fraud attacks or attempts in 2024.

Overall, 44% of businesses consider expense-related fraud a major threat to their financial performance.

These heightened risks have put cybersecurity firmly on finance leaders’ plates. That responsibility shows up in 59% of CFOs planning to increase cybersecurity budgets and in cybersecurity becoming a top action item for CFOs this year.

AI is at the center of managing these risks. While thieves increasingly use AI for attacks, organizations can enlist AI to help fight back.

Along with investing in technology, finance leaders can strengthen resiliency by:

• Fostering collaboration with IT and other key functions
• Assessing what’s most at risk, from funds to intellectual property
• Clarifying responsibilities and roles among leadership
• Integrating cybersecurity (and its ROI) into the overall financial strategy
• Bolstering cybersecurity governance and awareness across the organization

How can ESG reporting become part of key finance metrics?

ESG reporting is increasingly treated as an integrated financial metric, shaped by regulation and by business priorities such as employee experience, duty of care, and growth.

ESG reporting is a rising responsibility for those leading expense reporting and related AP functions. Growing regulatory requirements around the world make ESG reporting and sustainability metrics necessities that cannot be ignored.

ESG also plays key roles in:

• Employee experience: 27% of travelers are willing to decline trips over environmental impact or sustainability concerns. AI-infused tools for trip requests, booking, receipt capture, and invoice capture can simplify the experience and help guide travelers to greener choices when booking.
• Duty of care: 92% of travelers would refuse a trip for social, environmental, or safety concerns. AI-based solutions can apprise travelers of risks during booking, provide alerts while on the road, and give employees in-app guidance and support.
• Growth: Businesses that achieve stronger profitability while improving ESG and sustainability measures delivered greater returns to shareholders.

What tools improve expense reporting and AP outcomes?

Improving expense reporting and the accounts payable process typically requires pairing the right strategy with tools that control spend early and reduce fraud risk—especially through pre-spend approvals and AI-supported invoice processing.

Honing expense reporting and accounts payable requires the right strategy paired with the right tools. AP automation includes multiple steps and processes, but two key components highlighted here are:

• A request tool that brings pre-spending approvals to your expense program:
  bringing pre-spending approvals to your expense program
• An invoice solution that uses AI to support fraud detection

How does a spend request tool help control costs before they happen?

A spend request tool supports faster approvals, better policy compliance, and clearer visibility—so organizations can manage and see spending before it occurs.

With a tool like Concur Request that automates and simplifies approvals, an organization can:

• Enable employees to quickly estimate travel costs without a deep dive into options, as generative AI working from basic input and prompts can collect the details
• Allow employees to create requests—and managers to approve them—while on the go using mobile apps
• Deliver safety tips and other guidance to travelers before they take to the road
• Control and see spending before it occurs to ensure it’s compliant with policies and fits within budgets

How can AI-embedded invoice solutions help deter AP fraud?

AI-embedded invoice processing can reduce errors, flag discrepancies, and help detect suspicious vendor and payment patterns—supporting earlier detection before payments go out.

Organizations want to stop fraud before it takes place—or at least before a problematic payment goes out the door. This is difficult when AP fraud can come from many directions, including fake invoices, fictitious vendors, fraudulent expenses, payment diversion, duplicate payments, phishing, and more.

Limiting fraud’s reach takes a mix of technology, awareness and training, and other approaches. Effective ways to detect AP fraud and losses include:

• Automating invoice processes to reduce errors and risk, with a solution like Concur Invoice using AI and optical character recognition (OCR) to accurately capture invoice details and detect discrepancies by matching invoices, purchase orders, and payments
• Preventing fake vendors by requiring tax and other verification details and using AI to help cross-check vendors for suspicious accounts
• Conducting regular audits, with AI helping spot anomalies and powering analytics that can detect emerging fraud trends
• Training employees in AP fraud detection and establishing a fraud reporting program for all employees

Why is finance data storytelling valuable for AP and expense leaders?

Finance storytelling helps leaders translate complex data into decisions—so the ROI of tools, policies, and process changes is understood and acted on by broader internal audiences.

A finance leader can understand the intricacies of business performance, operations, and strategy. But if they cannot effectively tell the finance story to others at their organization, they may limit the potential of their tools and approaches, impacting ROI.

A strong storytelling approach starts with recognizing that not everyone who needs to understand finance data and its implications also needs to fathom every facet of a spreadsheet. Instead:

• Use graphs, charts, and tables so wider audiences—and people with different learning styles—can readily grasp finance data from your expense program and other areas
• Use AI-powered solutions to help power stories with automated data analysis, real-time insights, and simplified explanations of complex topics
• Provide actionable insights through the data-visualization tools of your AP automation software, and audit and other extended solutions
• Study internal audiences and tailor messages accordingly

“Financial storytelling is about taking the numbers from ones and zeros and making them into a digital conversation that can drive strategy forward,” says Marques Tibbs-Brewer, Head of Product Marketing, Public Services for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at SAP.

FAQs

1) What is the foundation of an effective, modern expense reporting and AP program?

Effective and modern expense reporting and accounts payable (AP) management starts with AP automation, which supports improved finance data, spending visibility, and fraud detection.

2) What does SAP Concur research say about integrated and AI-enhanced T&E technology?

According to SAP Concur research, 71% of companies say integrated and AI-enhanced T&E technology improves expense-related fraud detection.

3) What cost savings are associated with adding automated AP to integrated T&E?

According to SAP Concur research, 22% annual cost savings results when automated AP solutions are added to integrated T&E solutions.

4) How does Concur Request support pre-spend control?

Concur Request can help employees create requests and managers approve them via mobile, estimate travel costs with generative AI support, provide pre-trip guidance, and let organizations control and see spending before it occurs.

5) How can Concur Invoice help reduce invoice risk and support fraud detection?

Concur Invoice uses AI and OCR to capture invoice details and detect discrepancies by matching invoices, purchase orders, and payments, helping reduce errors and risk in invoice processes.