Emburse Certify vs. SAP Concur

[Emburse] Certify seems to have been designed with large organizations in mind, particularly those with corporate card programs as opposed to "small business" cards. The integration with American Express Business accounts failed after less than a year, and was not reestablished before we pulled the plug on the whole project. Even worse, [Emburse] Certify's support team wasn't able to offer alternatives.

Incentivized

SAP Concur is great for large organizations because of it's built in approval process functions. It is great tool for expense reports and any company where employees need to book travel. I imagine that the tool would be more tricky to use for those who are less technically savvy since there are many tabs and it is sometimes tricky to navigate.

Incentivized

• Customer service/support: They have an incredible team. We are fans of the chat option and 99.9% of the time our issues are solved within a 5-minute window.
• Listening to customers: they are always looking for ways to improve their product. They have free conferences sprinkled around various cities. They are worth trending. They provide "what's new in Certify" as well as round-table discussions specifically addressing how their customers are using the product and what they have learned along the way.
• Keeping their product up to date: Certify takes back various suggestions from the conference to enhance their product. I have been at every conference they have had and have actually seen customer suggestions get implemented into the program.

Incentivized

• SAP Concur has mobile applications for iOS and Android devices.
• It offers capabilities that automate complex and repetitive accounting processes.
• In addition, SAP Concur offers invoice, travel, and expense modules in one place.
• It eradicates errors when paying vendors by matching POs, invoices, and receivables.

• The ability to add a receipt after a report has been submitted would be helpful. This would simplify processing as opposed to disapproving the report and sending it back to the user for correction and re-submission.
• Though not a fault of Certify, our users drive multiple destinations every day, rather than occasional trips from city A to city B. Therefore, capturing mileage is a time-consuming process for our users.

Incentivized

• Data syncing between the mobile app and the web platform may occasionally experience a little delay. That is not a major problem, but it can cause small inconsistencies in real-time data.
• Concur's setup features may seem a little complicated to certain administrators.
• Concur offers a number of powerful reporting services, but some users might want more in-depth options for tailoring reports to their own business requirements.

Incentivized

Now that we are fully on Concur, switching is not an option. Concur has become ingrained in our expense reporting process. Furthermore, Concur continues to improve its offering. Each month, they release updates and changes, many of which were client requested. Concur's constant evolution means it is adapting with my business

Incentivized

I am very used to Certify's components. But some users that I manage still have a hard time fixing their expense reports no matter how many times I try to teach them. The Editing expense Report and Adding Expense Report option sometimes gets confusing and causes some employees to enter transactions twice. There should be a better layout to make it easier for them to edit and finish their expense reports. I try to teach Certify as much as I can, but the usability should be a bit easier so it is less confusing.

Incentivized

I think it is very easy to use, especially once you are acquainted with it. I think the UX could be improved so some things, like accessing old reports, are more intuitive once you learn it though it is not difficult to replicate.

Incentivized

In prior years I would have given them a 9.5 for availability. Unfortunately in 2015 so far this rating has dropped to a 7 overall.
We have experienced far too many interruptions - from admins to employees who rely on it for day to day booking of travel and submission of expense reports. Server errors, slow system response time and spinning wheels are too common place. Those things should be a rare occurrence, not a daily interruption.

While Conur still has great product offerings overall, they are currently not offering world class or best in class product (and customer service) availability. Remaining hopeful they step up and get their A game going again soon.

Incentivized

Performance-wise, it's good, loads pages quickly, and reports are highly accurate and easy to understand. Also, we can generate custom reports as needed, and we have integrated with a few other apps, and we have not seen any downgrade in performance.

Incentivized

The measure of support is how well they respond when you really need them, like when the system is not performing correctly. We have been on the platform less than a year, and there have been at least 2 instances, where the platform was down. The 2nd time was the day before out fiscal year end. And they need a development website. When they are making changes to your LIVE instance, and things go wrong, the client is the first to know about it! I've come to understand that Certify has tiers of support. Those in tier 1, barely know more about the software than the users. I sent a request for a report that shows expense reports currently pending approval and after 5 days of back and forth I was told to build it myself.

Incentivized

I have never had to use customer support when using Concur Expense - the UX could be a bit nicer on the eyes or easier to understand, but there have never been any problems when using Concur Expense that I have had to ask or reach out to customer support to help me with anything.

Incentivized

My Seniors were the ones who taught me about Concur. Concur Support team has sent me training links and answered me in their tickets too. Usually they are helpful and knows their stuff. There are times when webex meetings is conducted for reporting training. They were very patient and took down all the details from me.

Incentivized

I can use it after that training, so it fits the purpose.

Incentivized

There are different implementation teams for each module of the product you purchase, so implementation is not a 'one size fits all' environment. Also, the different implementation teams have different ways of doing things, so Concur could stand some standardization and streamlining in this area. A Project Manager can make or break an implementation so don't be scared to ask for a new one if things are rocky.

Incentivized

We used Concur prior to Certify. It cost 5x as much and was not worth the money. We also looked at Expensify, which had minor issues compared to what we are dealing with in Certify. Certify does not compare to Concur. The platforms are in two different leagues. Expensify is a good comparison and it is compatible with major ERPs like Sage Intacct. Nexonia, is actually also an Emburse product and likely would have been a better fit given it's integration capabilities with Sage Intacct.

Incentivized

Sirion One has very limited functionality. SAP Concur goes seamlessly with SAP. It generates the SAE file, which feeds the GL Posting. SAP Concur has huge network of all the travel partners providing multiple options and range depending on organization strategy. It is easily linked with Outlook calendar, prompting user for all travel related activities and news.

Incentivized

This program has been very helpful, user friendly and has been a great asset to use to assist with time management. Not only are leadership involved with using this program but all staff as well. This is also a great way to hold each accountable. Easy startup with not many means for hands on training

Incentivized

• We have reduced the amount of time our operations department has to spend booking flights to 0.
• Hotel bookings have been greatly streamlined and we are looking to eliminate human interaction with this process once CC authorisations are handled.
• We have eliminated the wait time between operational travel research and client approval time -- it can all be handled in one single step now.

Incentivized

• It makes the entire process of expense management crystal clear and thus helps in maintaining the trust of the employees, and thereby having good rapport of the company among the employees.
• It helps in detecting the duplicate bills, thereby saving lots of money of the company.
• It also helps in payment audits and thereby it helps in improving the overall process.

Incentivized