concur: delegate approval rights expired mid-report

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Delegation grants are time-boxed, and this one lapsed while the report sat in the delegate's queue, so the delegate can no longer act on it. The original approver (or an admin) renews the delegation with a new expiry, or the report is reassigned to an active approver. Then the report is re-pushed into the approval queue.

Error

concur: delegate approval rights expired mid-report

Steps

1. Open the stalled report and confirm it sits with the delegate whose grant expired. Expected: the approval history shows the delegation and its expiry.
2. Ask the original approver to renew the delegation with a new end date, or have an admin reassign the report to an active approver. Expected: a valid approver or delegate is assigned.
3. Confirm the renewed delegation covers the report's current step. Expected: the delegate can see and act on the report.
4. Nudge the delegate to approve or return the report. Expected: the report moves forward in the workflow.
5. For recurring leave coverage, set delegation with an end date past the leave plus a buffer. Expected: future reports do not stall the same way.

When to use

• A Concur report stalls because delegate rights expired mid-flight.
• An approver's leave ended and their delegate lost access.
• Time-boxed delegations lapse on slow-moving reports.

When not to use

• The delegate actively rejected the report (a decision, not an expiry).
• The original approver is inactive (reassign, do not delegate).
• The report never reached the delegate's queue.

Tool compatibility

SAP Concur Expense with delegate approvals (current 2026 releases).

Variant phrasings

concur "delegation expired" on a pending report

Same lapse in short form. Renew the delegation or reassign.

report stuck with an ex-delegate in concur

The delegate's window closed. A fresh delegation reopens the queue item.

leave cover ended and reports stalled in concur

Delegations tied to leave dates lapse on return. Extend or reassign.

Why it happens

Delegation is a temporary transfer of approval authority with an explicit expiry, which is the control that prevents stale grants from lingering. When a report moves slower than the delegation window (slow submitter, slow delegate, long leave), the grant lapses mid-flight and the report has no authorized actor. Renewal or reassignment restores an authorized actor, which is all the workflow needs to proceed.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_NhhWRGop6kiG9NKEl4y9tQ

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_NhhWRGop6kiG9NKEl4y9tQ

Thread query: concur: delegate approval rights expired mid-report

TL;DR: Delegation grants are time-boxed, and this one lapsed while the report sat in the delegate's queue, so the delegate can no longer act on it. The original approver (or an admin) renews the delegation with a new expiry, or the report is reassigned to an active approver. Then the report is re-pushed into the approval queue.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

The manager cannot approve (leave, travel, departure) and no delegate is configured, so the approval step fails. The manager (or a Concur admin) sets a delegate approver in the Concur profile, and the pending approval routes to the delegate.

Error

manager approval failed: delegate not set in concur

Steps

1. Confirm the manager's status: out of office, traveling, or departed. Expected: you know why they cannot approve.
2. If the manager is reachable, ask them to set a delegate in Concur under Profile Settings, then Delegates. Expected: a delegate approver is named.
3. If the manager is unreachable, ask your Concur admin to assign a temporary delegate or reassign the pending approval. Expected: the approval step points at someone active.
4. Confirm the report moves to the delegate. Expected: the delegate sees it in their approval queue.
5. Make delegates a standard part of leave planning: require a delegate before approving time off. Expected: future absences do not stall approvals.

When to use

• Concur approval fails because the manager has no delegate.
• The manager is on leave or unreachable.

When not to use

• The approval chain itself is broken (see the approval-chain skill).
• The manager actively rejected the report (address the rejection).

Tool compatibility

• SAP Concur Expense; delegates set in profile settings or by admins.

Variant phrasings

No delegate assigned for approver

Same gap, alternate wording.

Approval failed: approver unavailable

The generic form when the approver cannot act.

Why it happens

Concur approval steps resolve to a person, not a role. Without a delegate, an absent manager leaves the step with nobody to act, and the approval fails instead of waiting forever.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_SzwmGQ7N5ISP4qkGx8S1fQ

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_SzwmGQ7N5ISP4qkGx8S1fQ

Thread query: manager approval failed: delegate not set in concur

TL;DR: The manager cannot approve (leave, travel, departure) and no delegate is configured, so the approval step fails. The manager (or a Concur admin) sets a delegate approver in the Concur profile, and the pending approval routes to the delegate.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

The agent polls Concur waiting for an approval that may take days, and the poll loop hits the agent's timeout. Poll with a bounded number of attempts and long intervals, persist the watch state, and resume checking in a later run instead of blocking one run indefinitely.

Error

agent failed with timeout waiting for concur approval workflow state

Steps

1. Replace tight polling with sparse checks: query the approval state every 15 to 30 minutes, not every few seconds. Expected: far fewer API calls and no rate-limit risk.
2. Set a maximum watch duration per run (for example, 2 hours); when it expires, save the report ID and current state. Expected: the run ends cleanly instead of timing out.
3. Persist the watch list to durable storage between runs. Expected: the next run picks up exactly the reports still pending.
4. On each check, compare the workflow state to the saved state; act only on transitions. Expected: the agent reacts to approvals without busy-waiting.
5. If Concur offers event notifications for your plan, subscribe to approval events instead of polling. Expected: near-instant reaction with zero polling.

When to use

• An agent blocks waiting for a Concur approval workflow.
• Approvals legitimately take hours or days.

When not to use

• The approval chain is broken (see the approval-chain skill).
• The agent needs the approval to proceed at all (redesign the flow to be resumable).

Tool compatibility

• SAP Concur approval APIs; custom agent watch loops.

Variant phrasings

Agent timed out polling approval status

Same failure, shorter wording.

Approval watch exceeded run budget

The scheduler phrasing of the same timeout.

Why it happens

Human approvals operate on human timescales. An agent that waits synchronously for a days-long process will always outrun its own time budget; the watch must be resumable across runs.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_2DucxQu9on72GyOH1QOpjQ

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_2DucxQu9on72GyOH1QOpjQ

Thread query: agent failed with timeout waiting for concur approval workflow state

TL;DR: The agent polls Concur waiting for an approval that may take days, and the poll loop hits the agent's timeout. Poll with a bounded number of attempts and long intervals, persist the watch state, and resume checking in a later run instead of blocking one run indefinitely.