Through the addition of precise financial data and greater cost savings throughout the whole invoice processing cycle, the acquisition will broaden Basware's market offering. It will address a major issue for the finance and accounting teams by guaranteeing the correctness of financial records through automated statement reconciliation, going beyond conventional AP (accounts payable) automation.

AP Matching, originally Statement Matching, is a UK-based company that offers cloud-based invoice management and statement reconciliation solutions. With the least amount of input from the AP team, its technology matches invoices to buyer and supplier statements and sends them to the customers' ERP or Source to Pay (S2P) systems.

Reconciling Statements

Statement reconciliation plays a crucial part in financial management. According to recent research conducted by Ardent Partners, the largest AP challenge for 1 in 5 (21% of) finance departments dealing with unstructured or inaccurate data was a lack of insight into invoice and payment data. Therefore, 53% of all AP leaders chose to prioritize enhancing reporting and data analytics.

Statement reconciliation, for example, enables CFOs to precisely compare two sets of financial statements—a supplier invoice and the buyer's corporate records—to make sure they match. Payables on time, correctly processed payments ensured, and cash flow forecasting enhanced when supplier invoices match and data is precise.

However, handling transaction-intensive processes can take up to 59% of a financial department's resources, underscoring the need for more precise and efficient methods like automated reconciliation software.

Solutions to harmonize financial statements, lower the possibility of incorrect payments, and improve the accuracy of CFOs' financial data will be made available by the combination of Basware and AP Matching.

AP automation unification

Basware has been assisting businesses all over the world in navigating the intricacies of the invoice processing cycle for almost 40 years. Basware's AI-driven platform streamlines the whole accounts payable process, from receipt and matching to approval and payment, all while guaranteeing regulatory compliance and minimizing manual labor. Basware, supported by Accel-KKR, automates more than 220 million invoices and $900 billion in spending for thousands of clients each year.

Basware's CEO, Jason Kurtz, made the following remarks regarding the purchase:

"CFOs frequently find it difficult to monitor the intricacies of the entire invoicing process, which can cause incorrect payments to fall through the cracks. The consequences of a failed statement reconciliation are financial losses from the profit and loss statement (P&L) of the business. However, it is fixable and automatable. We are thrilled to collaborate with AP Matching to help CFOs improve the efficiency of their AP automation procedures and raise the accuracy of financial documentation. Our goal is to give our customers with the best end-to-end technology and unlock the future of finance. We'll achieve that with AP Matching.

Integration of Managed Services

With its main office located in the United Kingdom, AP Matching has been providing services to major corporations in the US and UK since 2005.

Basware will also integrate the Managed Services section of AP Matching as part of the transaction. For SAP clients specifically, the managed services team specializes in managed data capture services and automated invoice processing. Regardless of how suppliers submit invoices (e-invoicing, email, or paper), its technology removes the data collection procedure for customers, guaranteeing they receive 100% electronic data from invoices in their ERP systems.

Basware will fortify its invoice capture, validation, and ERP system integration solution by including SAP capabilities and AP Matching's managed services.

Daniel Kimpton, AP Matching's cofounder and director, added the following:

We are excited to collaborate with Basware and provide a complete solution that will enhance the invoicing processing cycle for businesses globally. The purchase will accelerate our expansion and allow us to provide customers unrivaled value by fusing Basware's AP automation capabilities with our experience in statement reconciliation. We will work together to provide CFOs with a robust end-to-end technological solution that guarantees efficiency and accuracy in financial recordkeeping."

The announcement comes after Glantus, a business that specializes in invoice analysis to stop fraud and overpaying, was acquired by Basware in October 2023.