Concur, an SAP company, is a global leader in providing connected spend management solutions to companies worldwide. The customers include 70 per cent of Fortune 100 and 500 companies. Concur has 1000 customers in India, including an interesting mix of clients. Explaining how the technology helps client organisations save money, Neeraj Dotel, MD, Concur India and SAARC, stated, “The only time the CFO knows how much money is being spent is when the bills come in. We capture the spend at source – when it happens, and even before they travel as potential expense. It is completely seamless and finance has a good idea about the spend. Then by enforcing policy standards, it enforces some controls when people are spending.” Further, Concur’s spend management platform has tie-ups with every place where the employee is likely to spend company money – from airlines, hotels, trains, and car rentals to even Starbucks, where people do coffee meetings.
Savings also come from the ability to reclaim tax. Giving an important information, Dotel pointed out that when Indian travellers travel abroad they pay VAT. “About 35 countries have tax treaties with India that allows us to reclaim the money our employees spend abroad – most countries in Europe, many in South East Asia. It is estimated that Indians leave approximately USD 150 to 200 million in unclaimed VAT that they are eligible for. That’s a lot of money. This amount can be recovered through Concur system.”
Many companies in India are now looking at automation because of GST. Affirmed Dotel, “The interest has increased exponentially on how we can help people reclaim GST. There is still some confusion among industries regarding what are the different categories of tax, and what circumstances they can reclaim. Part of our journeys is the process of educating the customer.”
Concur’s clients in India include companies in Tata Group, Godrej, Marico, Flipkart, Zomato, and others. “Quite a lot of multinationals in India use Concur as they do overseas. Fundamentally, we tend to attract a particular kind of buyer profile – those who are strict about compliance and policy adherence; those focused on digital transformation; large and mid sized companies looking to save money,” said Dotel.