SAP Concur 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app

SAP Concur is the travel, expense and invoice system your employer sets up for you. If you sign in with a username and password, two-factor authentication (2FA) isn't optional: SAP makes it mandatory, and you'll be asked to set it up the first time you sign in (SAP Learning). There's no switch in your profile: setup starts from an email sent mid-sign-in.

If your company signs you in with single sign-on (SSO), the extra check is your company's, not SAP Concur's, and SAP says to contact your IT department if you can't get in (SAP Learning).

This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.

How we checked this guide: the SAP Concur steps come from SAP's own training lessons and video transcripts on learning.sap.com, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. SAP's setup guide on the SAP Help Portal only loads with JavaScript, and its SAP Concur Community articles refused automated access, so we couldn't use them. We haven't tested the steps on an SAP Concur account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.

Set up 2FA with an authenticator app

SAP's lessons describe this flow (SAP Learning, SAP Learning):

1. On the sign-in page, enter your username, work email or SSO code, select Next, then enter your password and select Next again.
2. SAP Concur stops and says you must set up two-factor authentication, and that it has emailed you instructions. Select Return to Sign In.
3. Open that email. It goes to the address on your My Profile - Personal Information page or the one tied to your user account.
4. Select the link in the email. The lessons call it Set Up Two-Factor Authentication. In SAP's Android video it's Reset Two-Factor Authentication, so the wording varies.
5. Enter your password again and select Next. The Set Up Two-Factor Authentication page shows a QR code.
6. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at it. If you're setting up in the SAP Concur mobile app on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
7. Type the 6-digit code from Novaz into the Authentication Code field and select Sign In.

Setting up with a key instead

If you can't scan the code, select Setup Manually with a Key. SAP Concur shows a text key, with a copy icon next to it. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and paste it into Setup key. You can put "SAP Concur" in Service. More in What is a 2FA setup key?

SAP says some companies turn off the setup email. If yours has, or the email never arrives, the manual key is the documented way through (SAP Learning).

SAP doesn't say how often the codes change, so scanning the QR code is the safer choice: it carries the settings to your app.

SAP is clear that it won't walk you through your authenticator app: Concur "cannot provide steps for this process" (SAP Learning). For help with the app, it points you to your company's IT department.

No phone? A browser app is allowed

SAP's lessons say that if you don't have a mobile device, or don't want to use one, you can use an authenticator app in a web browser instead (SAP Learning). Your company may have its own rules on this, so check with IT first.

When SAP Concur asks for a code

After setup, you'll typically get the code prompt each time you sign in with your password, on the web and in the mobile app (SAP Learning, SAP Learning). SAP's lessons don't mention remembered or trusted devices.

SAP Concur also offers Sign in with an Email Link, a one-time link sent to the main email on your profile. SAP says most accounts have it by default, but your administrator can turn it off. The lessons don't say whether this route also asks for your authenticator code.

If SAP Concur rejects your code

SAP's lessons don't cover rejected codes. Type the code without spaces, and use the newest one Novaz shows. Then check the iPhone's clock: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when your clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?

If you lose your authenticator or change phones

The SAP Learning lessons don't mention backup codes and don't explain a reset. SAP's setup guide on the SAP Help Portal has pages on resetting 2FA, one for users and one for administrators, but they only load with JavaScript and we couldn't read them. What the lessons do say is that your company's Concur administrator or IT department is the contact when sign-in or setup goes wrong.

So if you lose your phone and have no Novaz backup, ask your company's Concur administrator to reset your 2FA, then set it up again with the steps above.

On a new phone, Novaz can restore your accounts from iCloud backup or a backup file, and SAP Concur's codes keep working. Without one, you'll set SAP Concur up again, with your administrator's help if needed. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone and Lost the phone with your authenticator app?

Official SAP Concur help

• Signing In and Multifactor Authentication (SAP Learning)
• Signing in to Concur (SAP Learning)
• Signing in to SAP Concur with Two-Factor Authentication (SAP Learning video)
• Signing In to SAP Concur with Two-Factor Authentication Using an Android (SAP Learning video)
• SAP Concur Two-Factor Authentication Setup Guide (SAP Help Portal; needs JavaScript)