The cost object approver (COA) is the initial person responsible for approving card requests, travel requests, and expense reports charged to their funds centers in Concur. IRIS is the system of record for all workflow approvers for both IRIS and Concur.
Determining the Cost Object Approver
IRIS transaction “ZAPPS_RPT - Approver Responsibilities Report” can be used to determine the current funds center approvers in IRIS. This transaction is available from the SAP Easy Access Menu. Select option IRIS Reporting > Workflow > “ZAPPS_RPT - Approver Responsibilities Report”. The Rule for Agent Assignment is Department Head for identifying the Concur cost object approver. The Value Range is the funds center(s) for the COA is to be determined.
IRIS allows multiple approvers for a department; however, Concur only allows one. The cost object approver for Concur is the Department Head approver in ZAPPS_RPT marked as COA on the right of the approver row.
Adding a Cost Object Approver in IRIS
The IRIS transaction “ZSEDEPTAUTH000 - Departmental Authorization Request” is used add or change approvers. This transaction is available from the IRIS Easy Access menu. Select option IRIS User Tools > User Access.
On the Departmental Authorization – Initial screen, enter the Personnel No. of the new approver and press Enter.
Next, click on Department Approver > Funds Centers and then the Create button at the top of the screen.
On the Department Authorization – Create screen, click on Department Approver > Funds Centers again and click the ‘new value’ icon at the bottom of the page.
The Add New Funds Center screen will identify the specific funds center and the role for the new approver. Enter the funds center for which the person is going to be COA and select the option Security, Workflow, and Concur COA. Then click Okay.
The Department Authorization – Create screen will display the funds center(s) for which the authorization is being requested. Click Submit for Approval to start the approval process.
A confirmation message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen reflecting a successful submission.
Once the request has been approved in IRIS, the new COA will be available in Concur the following day.
NOTE: This change will not update any requests or reports already in the approval pipeline. These submissions should be approved by the current approver or returned to the traveler to resubmit under the updated approval flow. The new COA will be used for all new submissions.
Updating a Cost Object Approver
The IRIS transaction “ZSEDEPTAUTH000 - Departmental Authorization Request” can also be used to change the cost object approver. The current COA can be removed or change to a different approver. This is done via the selection made on the Add New Funds Center screen.
- Security & Workflow – The individual will have IRIS approval responsibilities, but not Concur
- Security, Workflow, and Concur COA – The individual will be the Concur cost object approver and also have approval responsibilities in IRIS
Click the Okay button to apply the change. The new COA will be available in Concur the following day.
NOTE: This change will not update any requests or reports already in the approval pipeline. These submissions should be approved by the current approver or returned to the traveler to resubmit under the updated approval flow. The new COA will be used for all new submissions.
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