Welcome to Cal State LA’s Concur Travel resource center. Here you can find the latest updates, access comprehensive training materials, and learn more about how Concur is helping to streamline our campus travel process.
Concur Overview
Concur is a comprehensive web-based tool that integrates travel request and expense reporting with a complete travel booking solution for CSU faculty and staff. All CSU campuses are transitioning to Concur to streamline paperwork for travel, shorten approval/review times, and improve audit/payment cycles. Concur also offers the SAP Concur Mobile App to manage expenses and business travel on a mobile device and/or tablet.
Highlighted benefits include:
- Streamlined travel and expense experience, including convenient booking options directly within Concur.
- Improved visibility of travel expense and approval status.
- Easier receipt capture and documentation.
- Seamless transition between desktop and mobile app experience.
- Email notifications and reminders of submissions and approvals.
- Built-in automated features for travel policy compliance, CSU and campus specific policies, mileage calculation, currency conversion, and more.
Updates
Please be aware of the following important updates:
- Effective January 2nd, 2025 all state-funded international travel should be submitted through Concur.
- Newly designed Concur homepage will go live on October 23, 2024. Concur functionality will largely remain the same.
- Effective August 19th, 2024:
- One-Stop Travel Services will no longer accept RFTs outside of Concur for faculty, staff, and group domestic travel.
- All new domestic travel requests and subsequent expense reports should be submitted through Concur.
- Direct travel bookings with One-Stop will be limited, with additional booking options available through Concur.
- Non-employee travel: Non-employee travel, including individual student travel, will continue to follow the traditional RFT/TEC process.
- Cash Advances: Early reimbursement of expenses and individual cash advances for travel are no longer offered. Cash advances will only be issued for group travel and exceptional cases. Group leaders (faculty/staff) seeking a cash advance should complete the Cash Advance Setup Form before submitting a travel request in Concur.
- Effective January 1, 2024, the CSU travel policy has changed to location-based per diem for domestic meals & incidental expenses (M&IE) to comply with federal guidelines. Concur has been configured for location-based M&IE per diem and the rates are automatically updated. To learn more, please use the link below.
Help & Training Resources
Logging in to Concur: The link to Concur is available to all faculty and staff on the MyCalStateLA portal. Go to MyCalStateLA > navigate to Admin & Finance > click on Concur Travel
Tutorial Videos
Approved domestic travel requests should reach Travel Services at least 10 business days before the trip start date.
Tutorial Videos
- Creating a Travel Request
- Blanket Mileage Travel Request
- Acting as a Concur Delegate or Travel Arranger
Pro Tip: Review your Travel Planning Checklist prior to submitting your travel request.
Tutorial Videos
Ways to Book Your Travel
Travelers can book their own travel through Concur once their travel request has been approved. You may also contact Christopherson Travel Agency for booking services. Contact information can be found on the Concur dashboard under Company Notes. Note that there is a fee when contacting Christopherson for inquiries/booking arrangements. See Christopherson Service Fees CSU Pricing Agreement for more information.
Travel Expense | Can I book through Concur?* | Can I book outside of Concur? |
|---|---|---|
Flight | Yes, recommended since charged directly to department | Yes |
Hotel | Yes | Yes, recommended if using conference group rate |
Car Rental | Yes, recommended since contracted CSU rates already incorporated | Only by directly contacting One-Stop Travel Services |
Registration Fee | No | Yes |
Ways to Pay for Your Travel
Travel Expense | Personal Card* | GET Card | P-Card | Charged to dept via Concur |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registration Fee | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Flight | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, recommended |
Hotel | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Car Rental | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Meals & Incidentals | Yes | Yes | No | No |
*If using a personal card, you will be reimbursed after returning from travel once your expense report has been processed
Submit all expense reports as soon as possible, and no later than 60 calendar days after the trip end date.
Tutorial Videos
- Creating an Expense Report
- Itemizing Hotel Expense
- Adding Credit Card Transactions
- Blanket Mileage Expense Report
- Meals & Incidentals Per Diem: Claim Travel Allowance
Pro Tip 1: Review your Expense Report Checklist prior to submitting your Concur expense report.
Pro Tip 2: Sign up for direct deposit for employee reimbursement instead of receiving a physical check. You can initiate this request by emailing One-Stop Financial Services at [email protected]
Tutorial Videos
- Tips for Approving Travel Request
- Tips for Approving Expense Report
- Assigning Approval Delegate
- Acting as Approval Delegate
Pro Tip: Check your junk mail if you are not seeing email notifications regarding Concur approval requests. Note that an Approver must approve or send back a Concur travel request within 10 calendar days of receiving the request for approval. If an Approver does not act on the travel request within this timeframe, the request will be automatically forwarded to the Approver’s direct supervisor for approval, according to HR.
You can view where your travel request or expense report is pending in the approval workflow.
For pending Travel Requests: Go to Requests > Click on your active request > Request Details > Request Timeline
For pending Expense Reports: Go to Expenses > Click on your active request > Expense Details > Expense Timeline
Contact your Resource Manager if you are interested in applying for a GET Card.
Forms
- International Travel Supplemental Information Form
- Cash Advance Setup Form: If you are a group leader traveling with students and are seeking a cash advance, please submit the form prior to submitting a travel request in Concur. Cash advances will only be issued for group travel and exceptional cases.
- Advance Signature Sheet for Student Group Travel: Note that cash distributed to students by the group leader must be acknowledged in writing at the time of receipt.
Resources
- Concur Group & International Training Slides
- Travel Planning Checklist: Recommend reviewing prior to submitting your group or international travel request.
- Christopherson Service Fees CSU Pricing Agreement: To book airfare for group travel, contact Christopherson Travel Agency. Note that there is a fee when contacting Christopherson for inquiries/booking arrangements. Contact information can be found on the Concur dashboard under Company Notes.
Contact Us
One-Stop Travel Services hosts online office hours for existing Concur users. Sign up for an upcoming Zoom session (every other Friday from 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM) and bring your Concur travel questions and scenarios to be answered by the travel team.
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact One-Stop Travel Services for all your travel-related needs.
- Phone: 323-343-5430
- Email: [email protected]
- Address:
One-Stop Financial Services
Student Services Building, Room 2380
5151 State University Dr. Los Angeles, CA 90032-8524