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is critical to both the business and the credibility of CFOs as Basware notes in its own research Beyond the Check- box: Compliance as a Strategy: 36% of organizations report paying fines, 37% have suffered reputational harm due to compliance failures, and 71% believe insufficient visibility poses a major CFO risk. As compliance pressures intensify, end-to-end ILM is creating digital audit trails that feed directly into invoicing and tax compliance. At the same time, they’re generating insights to optimize cash flow, strengthen supplier networks and detect fraud earlier. For multinationals, the challenge is twofold: keeping pace with constantly changing local rules and avoiding the patchwork of country‑by‑country solu- tions that fragment data and undercut automation. Basware addresses this by maintaining a global team of more than 20 specialists who track and interpret mandate changes, embedding coun- try‑specific e‑invoicing and tax rules directly into ILM workflows rather than bolting on local fixes. “Having someone who spends their time and energy un- derstanding what’s happening in each country around the world, that’s the single biggest challenge,” Kurtz says, and centralizing that expertise is core to Bas- ware’s value proposition. This mandate‑aware ILM layer also complements SAP’s native coverage. Whereas SAP’s native coverage extends to ~40 countries, based on publicly avail- able documentation for invoice compli- ance, Basware provides a global platform
Jason Kurtz
that extends coverage and preserves a clean SAP core by handling compliance logic outside the ERP. Kurtz stresses that the goal is not simply to meet mandates, but to avoid automation regressions when rules change without a proactive, centralized approach, Basware has seen companies go live with new mandates only to watch AP automation rates drop, then spend months trying to recover. Force 3: Open Networks And The Ecosystem Advantage The third force is the rise of open in- voice networks connecting buyers, sup- pliers, and tax authorities, replacing fragmented supplier portals with shared digital infrastructure. In Basware’s view, these networks are “intelligent eco- systems, not just data pipes,” creating shared transparency and security while enabling faster onboarding and broader adoption. Kurtz reframes networks as a com- petitive lever. In a world of constrained supply, organizations that give suppli- ers visibility and certainty around pay- ment positions become the “customer of choice” and secure better allocation and terms. “What does every supplier want? They want to know when they’re going to get paid and how they’re going to get paid,” he explains, adding that better vis- ibility and predictability strengthen the entire supply chain. From a risk perspective, open net- works with ILM provide a complete
digital trail for each invoice, enter- prise‑grade security around sensitive financial data, and a single point of con- nection that replaces dozens of supplier portals. Industry-wide, AP networks al- ready handle around US$150 trillion in cross‑border transactions annually. Net- work effects are compounding over time as more suppliers are onboarded. Use cases continue to emerge such as predic- tive cash‑flow analytics and continuous audit readiness are layered on top. Force 4: Composable Stacks And A Clean SAP Core The fourth force is the move toward composable technology stacks, where purpose‑built services are layered above ERP systems instead of coded into them. For SAP finance leaders, the imperative is to modernize AP and ILM without bur- dening S/4HANA with custom code that slows upgrades and complicates future transformations. Kurtz points to a global customer that evaluated handling AP purely with SAP tools versus integrating Basware with S/4HANA. Independent analysis con- ducted by Accenture for the customer showed that using Basware would elim- inate 3,000 customizations they would otherwise have needed in their ERP. “That is the very definition of clean core,” he says, highlighting how decoupling AP innovation from ERP release cycles lets finance keep pace with fast‑moving mandates and AI advances.
The challenge is twofold, keeping pace with constantly changing local rules and avoiding the patchwork of country- by-country solutions that fragment data and undercut automation.
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