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.

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.