Basware Order Matching Delivers Significant Savings to Heineken

More Than 90 Percent of Electronic Invoices Automatically Matched with POs

BasWare Corporation, the leading provider of financial process automation software, announced today that it has implemented a comprehensive invoice automation solution for Heineken, one of the world’s leading breweries. Heineken uses BasWare Invoice Processing and BasWare Order Matching solutions in the Netherlands to process 430,000 purchase invoices annually, successfully reducing the time to approval for order-related electronic invoices by record-breaking 95 percent.

Using the BasWare Order Matching solution, Heineken’s incoming purchase invoices are automatically matched with the pre-approved purchase orders (POs), eliminating the need for further approval workflow. Once the system has matched the purchase invoice to the PO, coding on the PO is automatically copied to the invoice, which is then automatically forwarded to the ERP system for payment.

“BasWare Order Matching has greatly improved the accuracy and speed of our AP process. Today, we are achieving automated matching rates of up to 97 percent on electronic invoices,“ said Ed Prins, Financial Services Manager at Heineken. For paper-based invoices, the matching rate is 75 percent. Heineken has more than 14,000 suppliers and approximately 60 percent of the incoming invoices are based on a purchase order.

The BasWare solution accesses Heineken’s five different ERP systems to find the relevant purchase orders. “The key success factor for this project was how easily we could integrate invoice processing with our complex ERP environment. The BasWare solution has proved incredibly flexible, providing a seamless integration with our existing systems,” added Prins. Through the BasWare anyERP Adapter, the BasWare solutions integrate with four different SAP instances and Heineken’s in-house ERP system, Proost.

“Heineken’s matching rate clearly demonstrates the power of our Invoice Automation solution. By automating the Purchase-to-Pay process, companies can realize significant savings in both invoice handling times as well as costs,” said Jari Tavi, CTO, BasWare.

The first phase of the project resulted in an automated workflow – from data input to payment – for all PO-related invoices, which are nearly 60 percent of the total. Heineken expects this figure to rise significantly as more suppliers move to electronic invoicing, thus further improving the efficiency of the process. “The time to approve paper and electronic invoices has fallen dramatically, allowing us to devote resources to higher value core tasks,” said Prins.

The BasWare Invoice Automation solution enables electronic workflow, revision, cost allocation, and approval of invoices as well as transfer to the accounts payable (AP) system. The value-added matching module automatically matches purchase invoices with approved purchase orders, eliminating the need for further approval workflow.

For more information, please contact

Jari Tavi, CTO, BasWare, tel. +358 9 8791 7347

About BasWare
BasWare is the global leader in Enterprise Purchase-to-Pay and Financial Management solutions. More than 500,000 end-users in over 40 countries use its software to automate back-office financial operations to enhance efficiency, gain process control and transparency, and meet compliance requirements. BasWare’s products are widely used in Shared Service Centers. 

In 2006, net sales reached approximately EUR 60 million. The growth target for net sales for 2007 is 15 – 20 percent and will continue to be supported by a growing network of value-added resellers. Founded in 1985, BasWare Corporation (HEX:BAS) is a public company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.  Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, it has eight subsidiaries in the U.S. and Europe.

About Heineken
Heineken is one of the world’s leading brewers, with a wide international presence through a global network of distributors and breweries. Heineken owns and manages one of the world’s leading portfolios of beer brands and is one of the world’s leading brewers in terms of sales volume and profitability. Principal international brands are Heineken and Amstel, but the group brews and sells more than 170 international premium, regional, local and specialty beers, including Cruzcampo, Tiger, Zywiec, Birra Moretti, Ochota, Murphy’s and Star. More information can be found at www.heineken.com.