A preview approver in Concur is a delegate set up to review a request or expense report in advance of the cost object approver to verify the information in the request or expense; for example, the correct funds are charged, ensure any exceptions are documented correctly, charges are appropriate, and accurate receipts are attached. In Concur, the requests and expense reports are sent simultaneously to both the approvers and the preview approvers. It is recommended the preview for approver delegates coordinate with their approver(s) to determine a processing procedure to ensure an approver does not approve the report prior to review.
Setting Up a Preview Approver
Reviewers in IRIS are set up automatically set up as a preview approvers in Concur. In addition, Concur approvers can set up their own preview approver delegates. An approver can set up a preview approver under Profile > Profile Settings > Expense Delegates. Click Add and begin typing the delegate’s name, netid, or personnel number. Select the delegate from the list of names that appear. To make the delegate a preview approver, check the following permissions: Can Preview Approver and Receives Approval Emails. When these are checked, the Can View Receipt permission is automatically checked. Be sure to click the Save button before closing. The permission can be given for a specified period, if that is desired, but will need to be manually removed. is automatically checked. Be sure to click the Save button before closing. The permission can be given for a specified period, if that is desired, but will need to be manually removed.
Acting as a Preview Approver
The preview approver acts on behalf of the approver to review a request or expense report. The functionality to act on behalf of another user is found under Profile > Profile Settings. Select ‘A Delegate for another user who has granted you this permission’. Click in the search box and a list (all or partial) of the people for whom this user is a delegate will appear in a drop down. To narrow the list, enter part of the name in the search box. The user can then select the one on whose behalf they want to act.
The preview approver next clicks on the Approve tab on the menu bar at the top of the screen. If the Approve tab is not present, then that delegate has not been set up as an approval delegate for the approver. After clicking on Approve, the preview approver will see all requests and expense reports awaiting approval by the approver.
If the preview approver finds any issues with the expense report, they can return it to the traveler before the approver has to process it. After the review is complete, the preview approver clicks Notify Approver. This adds the green check to the left of the item signaling the approver that the item has been reviewed.
At the same time, an email is sent to the approver to let the approver know an item has been reviewed and is ready for their approval.
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