Basware: 40 Years of Invoice Processing and Business Spend

Basware, the global leader in invoice automation, celebrates its 40th anniversary, having processed more than two billion invoices to date. Basware has handled US$10.1tn in business spend – more value than the combined economic output of the UK, Japan and Australia.

This milestone reinforces the company's commitment to invoice lifecycle management, driving efficiency and compliance for businesses worldwide.

Demand for electronic invoicing

The worldwide AP automation market is valued at US$3.41bn, with it projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.8% through 2030. But, even though it is undergoing this growth, paper invoices are still accounting for nearly half (49.7%) of invoices received by enterprises.

Plus, with rising costs, lengthy processing times and human errors – there is continued drive for demand for electronic invoicing and invoice automation solutions.

For finance leaders, compliance continues to be an ongoing concern, as 28% of CFOs call it their biggest barrier. With the price of non-compliance being hefty fines, legal inquiries and financial loss – as 68% of businesses report mistakes on more than 1% of their total invoice volume – these errors, when repeated across both millions or billions in spend, lead to substantial financial damage.

As a way to tackle these inefficiencies in managing thousands of invoices across a large enterprise, Basware has doubled down on its effort towards a partner-first strategy.

Through strengthening collaborations with key industry partners including KPMG, Deloitte and Accenture, Basware has accelerated innovation and expanded customer success in invoice lifecycle management.

Broader automation across AP

In 2024, Basware acquired AP Matching, bolstering statement matching capabilities to ensure the accuracy of financial records for customers and their suppliers. This facilitated the transition to broader automation across the AP function.

Basware's solution consolidates the data capture process of invoices for customers, ensuring that regardless of how suppliers submit invoices, through PDF, email or paper, the output is electronic data from invoices. This reduces the complexities of ERP migrations and mitigates late payments by guaranteeing that payments are processed correctly.

Basware's growth continued in 2024, expanding its customer base to more than 6,500 customers - including 1,100 AP customers – across 16 different countries, processing 11% (230 million) of its two billion total invoices for customers in just one year.

Jason Kurtz, CEO of Basware, says: "40 years ago in Finland, Basware began with a simple purpose: to get control of the way businesses handle invoices. Today, we've processed over two billion invoices globally by that same purpose, and the best is yet to come."

"As we celebrate 40 years of innovation, we are more committed than ever to strengthening our relationships with partners and customers.

They are at the heart of our business. In 2024, we listened closely, and this drove innovations like the CFO Cockpit and AP Protect to solve real world challenges around fraud and compliance. Using fraud protection tools like AP Protect, our customers save US$1m for every US$1bn spent, helping them safeguard their finances and reduce risk.

"Our vision centres on advancing invoice lifecycle management, enhancing compliance capabilities, and expanding our global footprint, all while placing sustainability at the heart of our operations."

To further support this vision and drive continued innovation, Basware made several key hires including Markus Hornburg as Head of Global Compliance, Anssi Ruokonen as Director of AI Research, and Donna Wilczek who joined the Board of Directors to accelerate product innovation.

AI is still the catalyst

The rise of AI-powered automation continues to serve as a critical enabler for finance teams, as 75% of CFOs demand greater investment in AI to focus more on strategic activities such as e-invoicing compliance and regulation with important mandates due over the next year.

The urgency of ROI has driven Basware's product strategy, launching a Gen AI 'CFO Cockpit' as part of Basware Insights, transforming how finance teams analyse, manage and report on their AP processes.

These services dovetail with bolstered compliance and fraud offerings with the launch of AP Protect in 2024.

Basware's AI innovations are delivering measurable results for customers. Billerud, a leading paper and packaging manufacturer reduced invoices requiring validation from 15% to 9%, with more than 90% of their invoices now automatically validated.

Jesper Persson, Business Developer at Billerud, adds: "Since day one, we've perceived the desired values from the project.

"The quality of invoices has improved considerably, and the AI continues to evolve and improve with each passing day. The efficiency gains we achieved translated directly into tangible cost savings, paving the way for a rapid return on investment within just a few months."

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