Basware named Forrester AP invoice automation leader

Basware has been named a Leader in Forrester's assessment of accounts payable invoice automation software for the second consecutive year.

In The Forrester Wave: Accounts Payable Invoice Automation Software, Q2 2026, Basware was placed in the top tier and received the highest possible scores in six strategy criteria, including vision, innovation and roadmap. It also received top scores in 10 current-offering criteria, including e-invoicing compliance, fraud and risk management, exception handling, and process monitoring.

The result comes as finance teams face growing pressure to use artificial intelligence while meeting stricter requirements for compliance, oversight and fraud prevention. In that environment, software suppliers are trying to show that automation tools fit within broader financial control processes rather than simply speed up invoice handling.

Forrester said Basware stood out for linking inbound and outbound invoicing in a single model and tying automation to compliance and control. The research group wrote: "Basware's distinctive vision redefines APIA (Accounts Payable Invoice Automation) through invoice lifecycle management, unifying inbound and outbound invoicing into a single compliant zero‐touch orchestration model. Its innovation and roadmap embed continuous compliance and governed agentic AI into a financial control plane, moving AP from automation to proactive, real‐time enterprise control."

Basware describes that model as Invoice Lifecycle Management, a platform designed to manage invoices from receipt through payment across countries and business entities. It says the system combines governed autonomy, continuous compliance, financial integrity and enterprise control, to keep decisions transparent and auditable as finance teams introduce AI into routine processes.

Its AI models have been trained on more than 2.5 billion invoices collected over 41 years, according to Basware. The software supports compliant invoice processing in more than 190 countries and across more than 60 e-invoicing mandates.

Market pressure

Accounts payable software has become a more contested part of the finance technology market as governments expand e-invoicing rules and companies try to manage multiple enterprise resource planning systems. Those changes have also increased the focus on invoice fraud, audit trails and the ability to monitor exceptions in real time.

Basware serves more than 6,500 customers globally, according to the company, and says it has handled more than USD $10 trillion in total spend. Its customers include DHL, Heineken and Sony.

Jason Kurtz, Chief Executive Officer of Basware, said the market has moved beyond a narrow focus on speed.

"For years, accounts payable automation focused on one thing: processing invoices faster. The world finance operates in has changed. Enterprises now manage dozens of e-invoicing mandates, increasingly sophisticated invoice fraud, sprawling multi-ERP estates, and growing pressure to put AI to work. Those forces compound, and a faster version of a broken process does not solve them. Basware's answer is Invoice Lifecycle Management," Kurtz said.

Customer feedback

The evaluation also considered customer views alongside product and strategy measures. Forrester wrote: "Customers choose Basware for its simple yet granular event and status tracking. They also praised the vendor's strong reporting and dashboarding features."

That emphasis on customer feedback is significant in a software segment where buyers often weigh broad process coverage against ease of deployment, reporting quality and the ability to meet local regulatory demands. Companies operating across jurisdictions have been under pressure to find systems that can standardise invoice operations without losing visibility into local exceptions and reporting requirements.

Donna Wilczek, Chief Product and Technology Officer of Basware, said the company sees governance as central to the next stage of automation.

"For us, being recognized as a Leader in the Forrester Wave validates the direction we're taking our customers around the future of finance. Most vendors stop at automation. That's just the beginning. Real value comes from governing the entire invoice lifecycle - touchless, compliant, and protected. That's what Basware Invoice Lifecycle Management delivers, and what we're building toward every day," Wilczek said.