Case Study: Bridgewater State University achieves streamlined, compliant travel and expense management with SAP Concur

Managing Complex User-Driven Expenses Across a Changing Campus Landscape

Bridgewater State University, a public Massachusetts institution of about 10,000 students and 1,500 staff, faced a post-pandemic mix of new work patterns, dispersed booking habits, and growing manual expense processing that strained compliance, duty-of-care, and reimbursement equity. Disparate systems and paper receipts made auditing and visibility difficult, while out-of-pocket spending and slow reimbursements created financial and participation barriers for staff.

The university implemented SAP Concur (integrated with its Ellucian Banner ERP and partners like Healix and iData), deploying automated workflows, audit rules, mobile receipt capture (ExpenseIt), travel booking mandates, and alerts/escations to improve duty-of-care and cost controls (e.g., fares within $100 of the lowest logical price). The result: centralized spend visibility, faster reimbursements, stronger compliance and security, reduced manual work for AP, and a more intuitive user experience that saved time and money while supporting future growth.

Bridgewater State University

Tara Thompson

Assistant Director for T&E