DENVER, CO--(Marketwired - Oct 3, 2017) - Convercent today announced the integration of its Ethics Cloud Platform™ with Concur®, the leading provider of travel, expense and invoice management solutions. The Convercent Disclosures application now includes additional functionality for Gifts, Travel and Entertainment (GT&E). It provides a powerful way to ensure employee compliance with codes of ethics and conduct during business travel, as well as safeguard companies from regulatory scrutiny and enforcement action.
"Ethics & compliance policies are essential, but they simply aren't enough. To maximize the effectiveness of any ethics & compliance program, companies must address issues, like conflicts of interest, holistically and proactively," said Patrick Quinlan, CEO of Convercent. "Our integration with a leading software provider like Concur will not only deliver more granular data to our customers, but also actionable insights that maximize program impact, prevent COIs and empower leaders to truly drive ethics & compliance to the center of their organizations."
According to the US Department of Justice, next to cash bribes, GT&E are the single most tangible form of conflict of interest (COI). GT&E is also one of the most commonly addressed COIs across all companies, regardless of size, geographic reach, or industry. And while GT&E can help build strong relationships with various business partners, it also has the potential to create COIs, or at least the appearance of a conflict.
"There are unique and continually changing compliance and regulatory rules in every market," said John Gibbon, Senior Vice President of Platform at Concur. "Convercent's Ethics Cloud Platform in the Concur App Center will help businesses keep up with the growing demands of global business travel, while empowering travelers with critical information they need to know while they're on the road."
To date, a company's ability to take in and monitor disclosures of gifts, travel and entertainment has been limited to manual entry of incomplete information from employees and tedious reconciliation of all expenses by compliance teams. Companies have also struggled to deliver need-to-know ethics & compliance information in a digestible, tailored format to keep high risk ethics and compliance issues top of mind, often relying on annual trainings that are easily forgotten and outdated.
By integrating itinerary and expense data from Concur with GT&E disclosure data from Convercent, Convercent Disclosures will offer ethics & compliance teams a way to proactively monitor and audit transactions in real-time. It will enable early detection of inappropriate requests for GT&E, increase visibility into high-risk travel transactions through analysis of COI records, and potentially reduce operational costs to the organization of non-compliant transactions.
The application will also offer an easy way for employees to understand and fulfill corporate responsibilities during business travel. Convercent Disclosures sends employees personalized, real-time reminders via text message or push notification of how to act in accordance of codes of ethics and business conduct. For example, if an employee travels abroad on a business trip, based on itinerary information found in Concur, Convercent will automatically send the relevant company policies and expectations and have her attest to any necessary policies.
"We're delighted to be partnering with Concur, the industry leader in spend management. The integration with Convercent Disclosures advances our mission of helping customers weave ethics and values into everyday operations," said Philip Winterburn, chief product officer at Convercent. "The new GT&E functionality changes the game for compliance and ethics executives by providing them with automatic, real-time insights into potential conflict-of-interest issues when and where they arise."
Convercent will be available in the Concur App Center in the first half of 2018. Offering apps with streamlined integration with Concur Travel, Expense and Invoice products, the Concur App Center delivers innovative functionality in key categories such as finance, regulatory compliance, enterprise identity, traveler productivity, travel management and much more. For more information, visit: https://www.concur.com/app-center.
About Convercent
As a leading provider of ethics and compliance software, Convercent weaves ethics and values into everyday operations at some of the world's largest and most admired companies. Its Ethics Cloud Platform, which includes applications for Insights, Helpline, Campaigns, Disclosures and Supplier, leverages a global dataset to deliver business leaders the insights required to make proactive, informed decisions about their company's ethical health. Companies use Convercent to engage with employees, understand organizational risk and create opportunities for stronger, sustained business performance.
Convercent partners with nearly 600 global companies on their ethical journeys, including Microsoft, Tesla, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Capgemini and Under Armour. Customers span all industries, regions and sizes and represent a growing breed of business leaders who care deeply about driving ethics to the center of their organizations. Convercent is based in Denver, CO and backed by Sapphire Ventures, Tola Capital and Azure Capital Partners.
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