Curtin University

The Challenge

Curtin University had been using Concur since 2006, but the expense management process remained highly manual for approximately 5,000 staff and students. Claimants had to scan and email receipts to the Finance team, who then processed them in the system before the acquittal process could begin — resulting in significant delays before reimbursement. FBT calculation was manual and time-consuming, and there was limited automation around corporate credit card reconciliation.

The Solution

• Deployed the Concur mobile app with ExpenseIt to automate receipt capture via OCR, replacing manual scan-and-email workflows
• Reconfigured expense types with user-friendly descriptions and built automated FBT calculation through a series of simple in-app questions, enabling real-time FBT payable reporting
• Integrated corporate credit card data feeds for automatic pre-population of expenses, along with Uber for Business e-receipt integration
• Led a structured change management programme including information days, group demonstrations, training sessions, and one-on-one meetings across campuses

The Outcome

Curtin reduced expense claim errors by 30% and grew Concur mobile app adoption from 5% to over 30% within 18 months, with 100% take-up among new staff and students. The automated FBT configuration proved so effective that the Operations Accounting team requested it be replicated in Curtin's core financial system. The Finance team's time was freed up to focus on strategic initiatives, including the university's cloud migration programme.

Why This Matters

Curtin's experience highlights a common pattern in Australian organisations: a Concur instance that has been live for years but never fully optimised. Manual FBT workflows, low mobile adoption, and legacy receipt processes are governance gaps that compound over time — increasing audit exposure and consuming finance team capacity that could be spent on higher-value work.

The Governance Risk Snapshot is designed to identify exactly these kinds of gaps — where configuration and process have drifted apart from what your organisation actually needs.