From paper to proactive: How Ontario Tech University digitized expense management

In higher education, even an admin process that sounds simple can quickly become complicated.

An expense report may need to move between a staff member, an approver, a faculty or department, and then onto finance. Multiply that across a university or college campus, and paper-based processes can make it difficult to know where a claim is, whether it has been approved, or when an employee will be reimbursed.

Ontario Tech University knew there was a better way.

By moving from manual expense reporting to SAP Concur solutions, the university has created a more connected, AI-enabled process that gives employees a faster path to reimbursement and gives finance clearer visibility from submission through audit.

Using automation to cut the paper 

Before implementing SAP Concur solutions, Ontario Tech relied on paper expense reports moving between buildings, faculties, approvers, and finance. For Brenda Neddow, Manager of Accounts Payable and Receivable at Ontario Tech University, one of the biggest challenges was simply knowing where a claim stood.

“We could never monitor the status of the report. Is it pending approval? Has it been submitted at all?” Neddow recalls.

Late or missing claims could also create additional work when reconciling the university’s corporate card program. And when supporting documentation was needed for an external audit, finance staff might have to search through physical files to find it.

Digitizing and automating the process with Concur Expense changed that.

Finance can now see where claims are in the process, follow up where needed, and spend less time tracking down paperwork and outstanding approvals.

Faster reimbursements, clearer visibility

For employees, one result of the change is especially tangible: getting reimbursed sooner.

“If you have your expense report in by Friday, we can guarantee payment by Wednesday,” Neddow says. “There was no way we could have ever promised that with the paper reporting.”

That faster turnaround became an important part of building support for the new process across the university.

With ExpenseIt in the SAP Concur mobile app, users can also capture receipts as they go rather than relying on paper copies later. Together with Concur Expense, this gives employees a more convenient way to manage expenses while giving finance the information it needs to keep claims moving.

For Ontario Tech, the difference goes beyond employee convenience.

“It’s made an incredible difference on our timelines and efficiencies,” Neddow says.

Turning expense data into stronger oversight 

Digitizing expense reports also changed how Ontario Tech approaches audits and compliance. Supporting documentation now stays with the expense claim in the Concur platform, making it readily available when finance or external auditors need it.

“We always know the backup is secured in Concur. We can obtain copies at any time,” Neddow explains.

The university is also using Consultative Intelligence to strengthen its post-audit process. AI-powered reporting allows the team to spot patterns that may warrant a closer look, such as approvers who may not be reviewing receipts, and identify where additional training could be useful.

Potential duplicate expenses can also be flagged more easily.

“We were able to identify quicker when there was a duplicate expense. That’s a great tool to have,” Neddow says.

Ontario Tech continues to refine automated audit rules and reporting to make oversight faster and more targeted. Instead of treating compliance as a separate exercise after the fact, the university can build stronger controls and greater visibility into the day-to-day expense process.

Building buy-in one faculty at a time

Technology alone doesn’t determine whether a new process succeeds. Adoption matters too, particularly in an organization with multiple faculties, departments, and user groups.

Ontario Tech rolled out Concur Expense one faculty at a time, pairing each phase with detailed, user-focused training from its finance systems team.

That structure helped ensure successful onboarding, with clear resources and guidance available throughout the transition. Once the rollout was well established, Ontario Tech set a firm deadline after which manual expense reports would no longer be accepted, accelerating adoption of the digital process across the university.

Neddow recommends other higher education institutions take a similar user-focused approach to change management.

“Find a champion in each department and faculty. Work with that person, fully train them, and then they can join in on the campaigning for the use of the tool.”

The lesson is a practical one: give people the right training, make the benefits clear, and equip trusted colleagues within the organization to help reinforce the change.

Exploring what’s next with AI

Ontario Tech isn’t finished evolving its expense management program. The university is exploring how AI-enabled capabilities embedded across the Concur platform, including the new Joule AI assistants, could play a role in the next phase of its strategy.

“I think the AI component will help us minimize the amount of claims that we’re going to have to review,” Neddow says.

This opens the door to a more targeted approach, where automation can take on routine review tasks while finance focuses its attention where it adds the most value.

Ontario Tech is also moving its ERP system to the cloud. Once that work is complete, Neddow plans to learn more about Concur Invoice and how AI-powered invoice automation could streamline the accounts payable process.

Getting ahead with smarter spend management

Ontario Tech University’s experience shows what can happen when a familiar administrative process is rethought around the people who use it.

Moving beyond paper has given employees a faster way to submit expenses and get reimbursed. Finance has greater visibility into claims, easier access to audit documentation, and reporting that can surface compliance and training opportunities. And a phased, user-focused rollout helped the university bring faculties and departments along with the change.

Now Ontario Tech has a digital foundation it can continue to build on as automation and AI create new opportunities to make spend management even more efficient.

To learn more about how Ontario Tech University gets ahead with SAP Concur solutions, read the full case study here