In the first column in this series highlighting
Basware's latest connectivity offerings, I talked on a high level about how this offering fits in the context of Basware's overall P2P footprint. In today's analysis we'll go deeper, examining how Basware's open connectivity solution works in practice, which will explain why the solution represents the company's fastest growing offering and revenue line item. In short, the solution's flexibility and ability to sit on top of other invoicing and document exchanges/clearinghouses/networks has enabled Basware to position its connectivity solutions as a complement to other investments that both buyers and suppliers in a particular customer procurement and payment ecosystem have already made.
Historically, especially on a global and cross-border basis, it has been very challenging for companies to connect all of their suppliers through a single approach, let alone a single network. Basware’s connectivity solutions aim to change this and, in doing so, provide a more complete solution that increases the overall efficiency of A/P organizations, driving new levels of visibility, operational cost reduction, and working capital visibility and levers. Not to mention driving a greater percentage of invoicing activity to a virtual, e-invoicing environment.
As one example, consider how in less than five years Lloyds has shifted the great majority of their invoicing down an electronic path. While today, they still must handle 233,000 paper invoices per year, they now receive roughly 80% of their activity virtually, or some 1.163 million e-invoices per year. This has resulted in a high A/P efficiency level. Consider that a single FTE can manage 129,000 invoices per year at Lloyds and that 9 A/P resources handle all of the firm's invoicing requirements. And compare this with more typical top performing A/P department with electronic workflow which handle roughly 35,000 invoices per year according to Hackett Group and Basware.
[More]