Concur vs QuickBooks: Which Expense Management Tool is Right for You?

Compare SAP Concur and QuickBooks for expense tracking and financial management. Concur specializes in travel and expense management for enterprises, while QuickBooks offers comprehensive accounting with expense tracking for small to mid-sized businesses.

Updated 2026-10 · 2026

SAP Concur

Enterprise travel and expense management platform

$8-12per user/month

Strengths

+Automated expense report creation from receipts
+Integrated travel booking and expense management
+Strong policy compliance and approval workflows

Weaknesses

-Expensive for small businesses and startups
-Complex setup and configuration process
-Requires minimum user commitments

Best for

Medium to large enterprises with significant travel expenses and complex approval hierarchies

QuickBooks

Comprehensive accounting software with expense tracking

$35-235per month (company-wide)

Strengths

+Full-featured accounting platform with expense tracking
+Invoicing, payroll, and tax preparation included
+Receipt capture via mobile app

Weaknesses

-Not specialized for travel expense management
-Limited approval workflow capabilities
-Can be complex for users who only need expense tracking

Best for

Small to mid-sized businesses needing full accounting software with basic expense tracking capabilities

Feature Comparison

Feature	SAP Concur	QuickBooks
Receipt Scanning	Advanced OCR with automatic categorization	Mobile receipt capture with basic OCR
Travel Booking	Integrated travel booking platform	Not available
Approval Workflows	Multi-level approval hierarchies with policy enforcement	Basic approval capabilities
Accounting Integration	Integrates with major ERPs (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite)	Native accounting platform
Mileage Tracking	GPS-based automatic mileage tracking	Manual mileage entry with IRS rate calculations
Corporate Card Integration	Direct feeds from major card providers	Bank feed imports
Invoicing	Not available	Full invoicing and billing features
Tax Preparation	Expense categorization for tax purposes	Comprehensive tax preparation and filing
Payroll	Not available	Full payroll processing (additional cost)
Mobile App	Full-featured iOS and Android apps	Mobile app with receipt capture and basic features
Reporting	Detailed expense analytics and compliance reports	Financial reports with expense breakdowns
Starting Price	$8-12 per user/month (enterprise pricing)	$35/month for entire company (Simple Start)

The Verdict

Choose Concur if you're an enterprise with significant travel expenses and need specialized travel booking, policy enforcement, and advanced expense management workflows. Choose QuickBooks if you're a small to mid-sized business that needs comprehensive accounting software with basic expense tracking, or if you don't have heavy travel expenses. QuickBooks offers better value for most small businesses, while Concur is purpose-built for enterprise travel and expense management.

How to switch from SAP Concur to QuickBooks

1Export all historical expense reports, receipts, and audit trails from SAP Concur using the Expense Report Library and Admin > Reporting export tools, saving data as CSV files and receipt images as a ZIP archive.
2Sign up for a QuickBooks Online plan (Simple Start, Essentials, or Plus depending on team size and needed features) and set up your chart of accounts to match your existing expense categories.
3Import the exported CSV expense data into QuickBooks via the built-in bank/CSV import tool, mapping Concur's expense categories to QuickBooks' categories.
4Reconnect corporate credit card and bank feeds directly inside QuickBooks so future transactions import automatically instead of relying on Concur's card feed integrations.
5Rebuild any approval workflows using QuickBooks' basic approval settings, or add a third-party approval app from the QuickBooks App Store if you need multi-level sign-off.
6Run both systems in parallel for one billing cycle, train employees on QuickBooks' mobile receipt capture, then fully cut over and cancel the Concur subscription.

SAP Concur vs QuickBooks: common questions

How do I export my data from SAP Concur before switching?+

Use Concur's Expense Report Library or the Audit Trail export to pull expense reports, receipt images, and approval history as CSV/PDF files. For larger datasets, admins can request a full data extract through Concur support or the SAP Concur Admin console under 'Reporting > Export'. Keep both the CSV data and receipt image archives since QuickBooks won't import Concur's native report format directly.

What features will we lose moving from Concur to QuickBooks?+

You'll lose integrated travel booking, GPS-based automatic mileage tracking, and multi-level policy-enforced approval hierarchies. QuickBooks handles expense categorization and basic approvals fine, but it has no travel booking module and mileage entry is manual (though it does apply current IRS rates).

Is QuickBooks' free trial or lowest plan enough for a small team?+

QuickBooks doesn't have a permanent free tier, only a 30-day trial, so budget for the Simple Start plan (~$35/month) at minimum. For a small team with basic expense tracking and invoicing needs, Simple Start or Essentials (~$65/month) is usually enough; you only need Plus or Advanced if you require inventory, project profitability, or more users.

Does QuickBooks integrate with our existing corporate cards and ERP?+

QuickBooks connects to most major bank and credit card feeds for automatic transaction import, and it has an app marketplace with hundreds of integrations. It does not have the same depth of ERP integration as Concur (no native SAP/Oracle/NetSuite connectors), so if you rely on those, you'll need a third-party middleware tool or manual exports.

Will switching from Concur to QuickBooks actually save us money long-term?+

Yes, for most small to mid-sized teams — Concur's per-user enterprise pricing ($8-12/user/month plus implementation fees) adds up fast with more employees, while QuickBooks charges a flat company-wide fee regardless of headcount. A 20-person team could pay Concur $1,900-$2,900/month versus $35-$235/month total on QuickBooks, though you give up travel booking and advanced compliance workflows in the trade.