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$549B blind spot: Enterprises have Issues with Two in Five Invoices

Wednesday, November 19, 2025 — 17:04:41 (UTC)

Basware's InvoiceAI can save finance teams 200 hours a year and restore control over the $549 billion non-PO blind spot

LONDON -- November 19, 2025 – Two in five (40%) invoices arrive with an issue, creating a $549 billion blind spot in unmanaged spend each year, draining finance team resources and leaving enterprises exposed.

To address this challenge, Basware today launched InvoiceAI, a suite of five AI enhancements that uses agentic AI to autonomously process invoices and save finance teams over 200 hours per year.

Large organizations process thousands of non-PO invoices each year. When purchase orders aren’t included, organizations lose control over spend due to no upfront approval of the process, often resulting in suppliers getting paid late.

Based on Basware’s invoice processing data of 272 million invoices last year, 40% (two in five) of invoices in global organizations arrive without purchase orders. This would leave enterprises facing approximately a $549 billion ‘blind spot’ in unmanaged spend.

Agentic AI gives finance teams a solution, providing the visibility and control they need to manage this hidden spend.

How Does Agentic AI Work?

Agentic AI can transform invoice processing for finance teams -- autonomously reading, validating and matching PO and non-PO invoices to reduce bottlenecks without requiring lots of manual touchpoints.

Without Agentic AI: In non-AI and manual systems, an invoice that arrives without a PO number is halted as it requires a person to look, code, route and approve the invoice.

With Agentic AI: When an invoice arrives without a PO number, AI reads it, understands what it's for, suggests the right coding based on similar past invoices, and routes it to the right approver.

Agentic AI acts like a skilled AP clerk who thinks, decides, and solves problems. Not just a tool that does what you tell it to.

How Agentic AI Can Save Hundreds of Hours

Accounts Payable departments spend 10% of their time handling non-PO invoices, equating to over 200 hours a year per staff member, leaving the office of the CFO unaware and under-resourced.

By embedding agentic AI into finance operations, enterprises gain visibility and accuracy on every invoice, boosting compliance and on-time payments.

Touchless Processing with InvoiceAI

InvoiceAI includes five AI enhancements to optimize Invoice Lifecycle Management (from delivery through to approval and payment): SmartCoding – automatically assigns the right codes to invoices, so finance teams don’t have to do it manually. SmartWorkflow – routes invoices to the right person for approval, without human input. SmartPDF – turns paper or PDF invoices into digital data that can be processed instantly. AP Business Agent – gives staff real-time guidance on the next best step when handling invoices. AP Data Agent – allows staff to get simple answers about their invoices and produce reports using natural language processing. InvoiceAI helps CFOs and AP teams by increasing the number of invoices that are processed without issues.

For invoices that do require intervention, InvoiceAI provides clear recommendations for handling the two in five non-PO invoices in one central hub.

Perttu Nihti, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Basware, commented:

“Finance teams are under massive pressure to reduce costs while improving operations. Here's the difference: regular AI is like a calculator -- you have to key in an equation to get an answer. Agentic AI doesn't wait for instructions. It sees a non-PO invoice, understands what needs doing, and recommends a course of action. Non-PO invoices represent a persistent challenge, but with Agentic AI, the 200 hours per year spent processing them manually can be eliminated."

How Agentic AI Helps

Global cable manufacturer Nexans represents an example of how enterprises are using AI to streamline operational efficiency within the finance function.

Implementing Basware’s AI-enhanced capabilities with SmartPDF reduced the time taken to process invoices from days to just hours, while enabling the AP team to gain complete visibility into incoming invoice flows due to its tracking capabilities.

Cecile Barrere, AP Director at Nexans, said: “Basware SmartPDF gives us better visibility and traceability of our invoices, and reduces the risk of error and fraud. In just 7 weeks, we have achieved a 92% reliability rate in the automatic identification and processing of invoice data, thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning.”

About Basware   

Basware is the world’s leading invoice automation company, helping finance teams gain complete control of every invoice, every time. Our Invoice Lifecycle Management platform ensures end-to-end efficiency, compliance and control for all invoice transactions. Powered by invoice-centric AI – trained on over 2 billion invoices – Basware's Intelligent Automation drives real ROI by transforming finance operations. We serve 6,500+ customers globally and are trusted by industry leaders including DHL, Heineken and Sony. Fueled by 40 years of expertise with $10 trillion in total spend handled, we are pioneering the next era of finance. With Basware, Now it all just happens.™  www.basware.com/en/

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Source: Company press release.

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