IFS Cloud and SAP Concur integration

What moves between them

The main flow runs from SAP Concur into IFS Cloud. Approved expense reports and invoices (Payment Requests) flow from Concur into IFS Cloud on a daily or weekly schedule, mapped to IFS Cloud GL accounts and cost centers. Purchase Orders created in Concur can also flow into IFS Cloud as procurement records. Reference data such as vendors and cost centers are aligned in both directions. Financial records posted in Concur flow into IFS Cloud as journal entries or procurement documents. Concur financial integration documents are read-only on the Concur side, so ml-connector does not write them back.

How ml-connector handles it

ml-connector stores both credential sets encrypted and handles Concur's multi-datacenter routing by reading the geolocation from the initial OAuth2 token response and using that base URL for all subsequent API calls for that customer. On the IFS Cloud side it accepts the full tenant URL and company codes per customer. It manages two different OAuth2 flows: password grant for Concur and client credentials for IFS Cloud. Because IFS Cloud OData API requires ETag headers for mutations, ml-connector reads each record before posting to capture the ETag, then includes it in the PATCH or POST. Concur's auth token expires in 1 hour while the refresh token lasts 6 months, so ml-connector caches and refreshes the access token on 401 responses. On the IFS Cloud side, rate limits return HTTP 429, so ml-connector backs off and retries with exponential jitter. It queries by company code to ensure financial records land in the correct IFS Cloud entity. Reference data such as vendors and cost centers is synced first so expense lines reference valid GL accounts and dimensions. Every record carries a full audit trail and can be replayed if a write to IFS Cloud fails.

A real-world example

A multinational services firm runs IFS Cloud for project finance and procurement and uses SAP Concur for employee travel and expenses across 12 offices. Before the integration, the accounting team downloaded approved expense reports from Concur each week, manually re-entered billable mileage and hotel charges into IFS Cloud cost centers, and reconciled vendor invoices submitted through Concur against purchase orders in IFS Cloud by hand. With IFS Cloud and SAP Concur connected, approved Concur expenses flow into IFS Cloud cost centers automatically, vendor invoices are mapped to matching purchase orders in IFS Cloud, and month-end close starts with cost center balances already in place.

What you can do

• •Sync approved expense reports from SAP Concur into IFS Cloud cost centers and GL accounts on a schedule aligned with your approval cycle.
• •Map SAP Concur invoices (Payment Requests) to IFS Cloud GL accounts and supplier records so financial integration documents flow without re-entry.
• •Align vendors and cost centers in both directions between SAP Concur and IFS Cloud.
• •Handle Concur multi-datacenter routing, OAuth2 password grant and refresh token rotation, and IFS Cloud OData ETag concurrency requirements.
• •Read expense reports via SAP Concur webhooks where available, or poll on a schedule, with retries and full audit trail on every record.

Questions

Which direction does data move between IFS Cloud and SAP Concur?

The main flow is SAP Concur into IFS Cloud. Approved expense reports, invoices, and purchase orders move from Concur into IFS Cloud, while vendors and cost centers are aligned in both directions. Concur financial integration documents are read-only on the Concur side, so ml-connector does not write them back into Concur.

How does the integration handle SAP Concur's multi-datacenter routing and token management?

ml-connector reads the geolocation from the initial OAuth2 token response and uses that base URL (North America, EMEA, or China) for all subsequent API calls for that customer. It caches the Concur access token (1-hour lifetime) and uses the refresh token (6-month lifetime) to reissue when the access token expires, avoiding outages during the refresh cycle.

How does the integration handle IFS Cloud's OData ETag requirement and company code isolation?

ml-connector reads each financial record from IFS Cloud first to capture the ETag header, then includes that ETag value in the PATCH or POST that follows, enforcing optimistic concurrency. It also queries all records by company code to ensure expense entries and invoices land in the correct IFS Cloud legal entity.