The partnership will combine accounts payable (AP) expertise to accelerate automation and finance transformation.

E-invoicing is increasingly taking priority within CFO departments alongside e-reporting requirements from local governments or tax authorities. Accounting teams will be required to comply with specific legislation when sending and receiving electronic invoices. The new legislation will replace paper processes and reporting as the EU and other regions trend towards a harmonized approach and centralized government databases to compare reported data.

The Deloitte and Basware alliance will focus on key challenges, opportunities, and regulatory requirements in the finance domain. It will bring together Basware’s strengths in AP automation, with Deloitte’s access to its network of finance, procurement and tax experts, to drive value for customers. The partnership will also deliver enterprises with the latest trends and best practices around finance transformation through the integration of AP automation services.

Finance teams in large enterprises that process and pay thousands of invoices per week often face challenges around late payments to suppliers, duplicate invoices and even fraudulent payments. As a result, according to an Ardent Partners’ Performance Benchmark, only 32% of invoices on average pass through finance teams without requiring manual intervention, compared to 89% through Basware’s AP automation platform. A completely touchless invoice process eliminates the need for AP staff to spend extensive time matching and approving invoices, freeing them up to deliver operational and financial insights.

The alliance between Deloitte and Basware will work on developing a joint go-to-market strategy to reach a wider audience, creating co-innovation opportunities to address evolving legislative e-invoicing requirements, and building a pool of certified Deloitte consultants trained on Basware solutions for project delivery.

Through the partnership, AP teams will have the potential to process invoices 80% faster, reducing the average invoice processing time from 10 days to less than one day.

Jason Kurtz, CEO at Basware, commented on the alliance:

"This is a significant milestone for Basware and Deloitte to accelerate touchless invoice processing. CFOs are constantly grappling with manual AP processes that slow down teams and impact bottom-line profits. It’s been exciting to collaborate with Deloitte over recent months and work towards a joint vision that helps companies save time and money when sending and receiving invoices, while reducing compliance risk. Together, our technology and leadership in the AP space will unlock new levels of touchless invoice processing."

Arian Kaandorp, Director at Deloitte Consulting, also commented:

"Our clients are moving from automating task-specific processes to running autonomous finance operations. Partnering with Basware to combine our expertise in touchless invoice processing is an important step to increase the adoption of e-invoicing. Through our alliance, we aim to support our clients with the technology-enabled transformation of their AP process while meeting the rising legislative e-invoicing requirements."