Plate IQ is an automated accounts payable platform.
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SAP Concur
Score 8.2 out of 10
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SAP Concur is a SaaS expense report management product, and handles corporate travel booking, expense report automation, reimbursement, audit, and business intelligence, and corporate card integration.
It is well targeted at restaurants and similar service organizations with complex COGS. It dovetails well with complementary systems like FinTech payments. It wasn't designed by accountants, so there is a bit of roughness. Reporting is very limited: would like to see some SQL / build your own report functionality. Lookups are reasonably robust (filter for amount, time, vendor, etc). It is occasionally unstable but recovers gracefully. From our use case, it would be preferable to have the user approving the invoice ALSO have the ability to attach documents. This is left to the payment approver, who in our case is the "check signer".
SAP Concur works very well to book travel. It provides several options for airlines, hotels and cars. Automatically updates the calendar. Reminds to complete relevant subsequent activities. The app allows to capture the receipts and amounts very easily. While reconciliation this becomes very easy and fast. It allows to capture tips and one can manually update the amount.
For a new user of SAP Concur, it becomes difficult to file the first reimbursement as that person is new to the application and probably, one needs to to go through the instructions to get used to it. So, user interface can be improved and could be tried to make more interactive. Other than that, it's all good to go.
Now that we are fully on Concur, switching is not an option. Concur has become ingrained in our expense reporting process. Furthermore, Concur continues to improve its offering. Each month, they release updates and changes, many of which were client requested. Concur's constant evolution means it is adapting with my business
I think it is very easy to use, especially once you are acquainted with it. I think the UX could be improved so some things, like accessing old reports, are more intuitive once you learn it though it is not difficult to replicate.
In prior years I would have given them a 9.5 for availability. Unfortunately in 2015 so far this rating has dropped to a 7 overall. We have experienced far too many interruptions - from admins to employees who rely on it for day to day booking of travel and submission of expense reports. Server errors, slow system response time and spinning wheels are too common place. Those things should be a rare occurrence, not a daily interruption.
While Conur still has great product offerings overall, they are currently not offering world class or best in class product (and customer service) availability. Remaining hopeful they step up and get their A game going again soon.
Pages always load quickly, reports are always completed in a quick and efficient time frame, and everything about the experience is swift. I've never had any frustrations or complexities that can't be handled easily
I have never had to use customer support when using Concur Expense - the UX could be a bit nicer on the eyes or easier to understand, but there have never been any problems when using Concur Expense that I have had to ask or reach out to customer support to help me with anything.
My Seniors were the ones who taught me about Concur. Concur Support team has sent me training links and answered me in their tickets too. Usually they are helpful and knows their stuff. There are times when webex meetings is conducted for reporting training. They were very patient and took down all the details from me.
There are different implementation teams for each module of the product you purchase, so implementation is not a 'one size fits all' environment. Also, the different implementation teams have different ways of doing things, so Concur could stand some standardization and streamlining in this area. A Project Manager can make or break an implementation so don't be scared to ask for a new one if things are rocky.
We used DocuWare first; great experience; however, it was not made specifically for restaurant clients like Plate IQ is. Plate IQ does a much better job of recognizing common items, and they've continued to add a function that is important for restaurant owners. Restaurant 365, we felt, was trying to be a complete package of accounting/AP/AR/inventory. After looking at each piece, we didn't feel that each of them was as strong as the other.
Expensify and Zoho Expense work for small and mid-size businesses. Big multinationals do not receive benefits from the apps. Coupa is good as a solution for organizations with non-SAP leading systems. If you plan to use SAP ERP as the main/lending system then SAP Concur is the best solution, mainly for its native integration with SAP ecosystem.
This program has been very helpful, user friendly and has been a great asset to use to assist with time management. Not only are leadership involved with using this program but all staff as well. This is also a great way to hold each accountable. Easy startup with not many means for hands on training
In my opinion, it has had zero impact on ROI now that we are paying for an additional year.
Another negative is that we've spent a lot of time discussing this issue with Plate IQ, to no avail. They feel it's appropriate to charge a company for an entire year of service even though said company emailed to cancel prior to the end of the first year of service.
We also wasted a lot of time onboarding this company only to find out that the software left a lot to be desired.