A Large North American Business Services Company

As a leading business services company in North America, the company manages an immense volume of invoices and vendor transactions across the United States and Canada.

Processing over 27,000 invoices per month, the company needed a scalable, intelligent solution to streamline its accounts payable (AP) operations, prevent overpayments, and reduce processing times. Enter Basware.

“We recovered $2.2 million within just 60 days of using AP Protect– and that’s not even the full picture. There’s nearly $1 million more pending and another $2 million under review.” – Director, Disbursement & Union Administration

Since implementing Basware AP Automation, the company has transformed the way it handles invoice processing. With operations spanning from small local vendors to large national accounts, automation has allowed the company to simplify its workflows, reduce errors, and scale more efficiently.

“We’re now processing invoices in about 3 days,” said the company’s Director of Disbursement & Union Administration. “That’s down from 6 or 7 days before Basware. The automation, the visibility, and the ability to easily redirect and manage workflows has made a huge difference.”

SmartPDF AI has further improved efficiency by significantly enhancing scan and capture accuracy. “OCR used to pull the wrong data from the wrong places – it was tough to get clean results,” the company representative said. “SmartPDF is a ton more accurate. It’s a noticeable improvement in how our invoices are being processed.” This automation reduces manual data entry and speeds up processing even in a highly decentralized environment.

Outsourcing to an India-based service center has also become possible due to the enhanced control and reporting Basware provides.

AP Protect: a game-changer in duplicate detection

With the fundamentals of AP Automation in place, the company took the next step by piloting Basware AP Protect – a purpose-built solution that uses advanced analytics to detect duplicate payments before and after invoices are paid.

The timing couldn’t have been better. The company had just completed an external recovery audit with another company that uncovered $3 million in duplicate payments – a figure they considered impressive. But Basware AP Protect proved it could go even further.

“When we ran our backlog through AP Protect, we found another $700,000 – on top of what the other audit team had already recovered,” said the company representative. “We were amazed. The tool was easier to use, more intuitive, and frankly, smarter.”

Within just two months of launching AP Protect:

• $2.2 million in duplicate payments were successfully recovered
• $995,000 more was still pending
• An additional $2 million in invoices remained to be reviewed

These totals represent a massive financial benefit and a clear ROI.

The success wasn’t just about the numbers. AP Protect offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies the entire recovery process, offering:

• Actionable insights into potential duplicates
• Automated vendor communication letters
• Guidance on how to collect funds and prevent future duplicates

“We actually found $100,000 on the first day, and that was using limited data,” the company representative added. “We told leadership, ‘This tool has already paid for itself.’”

AP Protect doesn’t just catch past mistakes – it proactively identifies at-risk payments before they reach the ERP system. This has helped the company clean up backlog issues and better manage vendor relationships by identifying problematic patterns and addressing them before they escalate.

The implementation was simple and fast. “It took about a month to go live,” the company representative noted. “We had minimal tasks on our end, and the Basware team handled the heavy lifting.”

For the company, Basware isn’t just software – it’s a strategic asset that saves money, reduces risk, and boosts operational efficiency.

Overall, the company’s use of Basware products has resulted in:

• $2.2 million in duplicate payments recovered with AP Protect in just 2 months (with nearly $1 million pending and $2 million more under review)
• 3-day average invoice processing time – cut by more than 50% from previous levels
• Improved invoice data accuracy with SmartPDF AI, reducing misreads and manual corrections across decentralized teams

“Basware AP Protect is intuitive, user-friendly, and it’s already paid for itself. We’re finding money we didn’t even know was missing.” – Director, Disbursement & Union Administration

Customer success: a true partnership

The company credits much of its success with Basware to a strong and responsive relationship with the Customer Success team. Regular check-ins, shared learnings, and collaborative problem-solving have become part of their ongoing strategy since Basware enhanced its Customer Success approach two years ago.

“The monthly meetings, the VIP event, and just the open lines of communication have made a huge difference,” said the company representative. “It’s not just about solving problems – it’s about planning improvements and sharing ideas.”

During the annual VIP Event, the company found inspiration by connecting with peers and learning how others use Basware to optimize their operations. “We left that event with a completely new understanding of what Basware can do. We were genuinely impressed – not just with the product, but with the people behind it.”

“What has really turned things around for us is the Customer Success team. Their follow-through and investment in our program have made us feel supported and seen – it feels like we have a true partner who understands our needs.” – Regional A/P Billing Manager.

Basware’s investment in partnership and proactive support have played a key role in building the company’s confidence in the platform. “We’re now aligned on how to move forward,” said the company representative. “That level of collaboration makes all the difference.”

“Working with this customer has been a standout experience for our team,” said Mark Johnston, Chief Customer Officer at Basware. “Their openness to collaboration and focus on long-term improvement has made them an ideal partner to support and grow with.”

Looking ahead

With millions already recovered, processes streamlined, and support that feels like a true extension of their own team, the company is looking to the future with confidence. The company is now preparing to expand its Basware solutions into Canada and sees continuous improvement as part of its long-term vision.

“The future with Basware is exciting,” said the company representative. “We’re continuing to learn and explore more of what the platform can do, and we’re confident we’ve aligned with a partner that understands our goals.”