As enterprises prepare for the end of SAP ECC support in 2027, finance leaders are facing one of the most significant transformation cycles in recent memory. Unlike previous ERP upgrades focused primarily on efficiency and modernization, today’s migrations are increasingly centered on resilience, governance, and the ability to support AI-driven finance operations in the cloud era.
Accounts payable has emerged as a critical focal point in this transition. Once viewed primarily as a transactional function, AP is now becoming a strategic control layer that influences supplier relationships, cash visibility, compliance, and enterprise-wide financial intelligence. At the same time, organizations are navigating clean core requirements, global e-invoicing mandates, and increasingly complex hybrid ERP environments.
In this Q&A, Jon Stevens, who leads Global Business Development at Basware, discusses how finance organizations are approaching SAP modernization, why invoice lifecycle management is becoming a strategic priority, and how AI is reshaping the future of accounts payable. He also shares his perspective on the risks of recreating legacy complexity in cloud ERP environments and what separates successful transformation initiatives from costly migrations that fail to deliver long-term value.
Preparing for the Next Wave of SAP Transformation
Q: With the 2027 SAP ECC support deadline approaching, how are ERP migration priorities changing for CFOs and finance leaders compared to previous modernization cycles?
A: Previous modernization cycles were closer to typical technical upgrades, but the upcoming ERP migration involves a scale of complexity and cost, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars in many cases, that many organizations haven’t gone through before.
Previous cycles were largely about modernization and efficiency for CFOs and CIOs. This time around is about resilience, control and what comes next.
Q: Why do accounts payable processes so often become one of the biggest operational pressure points during large-scale ERP migration programmes?
A: Paying your suppliers, right as you’re swapping everything out in your ERP is risky. Imagine if you had to upgrade your phone, but you couldn’t buy anything using all of the existing apps you’d uploaded on your phone for 90 days. If AP breaks, the consequences are immediate, with supplier trust lost, payment risk showing up immediately and cash visibility limited in real-time.
Ultimately, AP is the control layer rather than just another process. The invoice lifecycle needs to be governed properly, rather than simply digitizing.
Q: Many organizations focus heavily on infrastructure and core ERP deployment during transformation. Are some enterprises underestimating the operational complexity of maintaining finance continuity throughout the migration process?
A: The scale and complexity of these transformations are unique. Many have done individual rollouts or bolt-ons, but most haven’t undertaken a transformation of this magnitude for over 10 years since their original ERP was first purchased.
It’s also compounded by an organization’s ERP becoming more and more complex over time, with customizations, new divisions within the business and new regulations to contend with, making migrations more challenging.
Why Invoice Lifecycle Management Is Becoming a Strategic Priority
Q: Basware has positioned Invoice Lifecycle Management as an “AP value accelerator” for SAP Cloud ERP environments. In practical terms, what operational or financial gaps are enterprises trying to solve?
A: Trust within the supply chain and for customers is so integral which makes AP vital. Many customers we speak to are working on migrating the AP function first, partly due to the importance it plays within a business, and because it’s a more manageable transition that can be completed in a matter of months and prove value. Once challenges are ironed out with AP, CFOs and CIOs can also demonstrate how AI is used in this space, using the migration as a baseline to then roll SAP out beyond that.
Q: Basware is among the first AP providers to achieve SAP Clean Core certification. From an enterprise perspective, why is clean core becoming such a critical issue in large-scale SAP modernization programmes?
A: Keeping the ERP core as un-customized as possible helps businesses stay agile, lowering future costs and upgrading pains, while safeguarding businesses from rebuilding the complexity that’s made the migration difficult this time around.
SAP recommends using best-of-breed solutions to remove customizations from the ERP but keep them clean and core to the system by using solutions within the Business Technology Platform (BTP) Connector that integrates with other technologies. Basware built out Invoice Lifecycle Management to be fully compliant with the BTP Connector for exactly that reason.
Keeping the ERP core as un-customized as possible helps businesses stay agile, lowering future costs and avoiding the complexity that made the migration difficult in the first place.
Q: What are the longterm risks of relying on custom middleware, fragmented integrations, or heavily customized AP processes during SAP Cloud ERP transitions?
A: If you don’t have a clean core, then data is left siloed across different systems, which makes it difficult to access certain data flows required for financial reporting, for example. That has a wider impact on AI adoption, with agents unable to operate seamlessly between business functions or being slowed down with data errors, while also losing enterprise-wide financial control.
When the ERP is fully integrated, there’s greater visibility, transparency and ease of use for users, and native integration allows AI agents and strategy to sit across the entire platform. That also helps businesses look to grow and expand overseas, especially in areas like compliance.
Managing Complexity Across Modern ERP Landscapes
Q: Many global organisations are currently operating across mixed ERP landscapes. What challenges do enterprises face when trying to standardize AP processes and compliance frameworks across both SAP and non-SAP environments?
A: Not all customers have SAP as their only ERP all over the world, meaning there can be inconsistent AP processes, challenges meeting country-by-country compliance requirements and difficulty avoiding stitched-together local solutions. The challenge is not simply integrating SAP and non-SAP systems, it is standardizing governance across environments. With Basware, SAP customers easily get access to our global compliance solutions due to the native integration, taking the stress away from finance and AP teams.
AI and the Future of Accounts Payable
Q: How is AI changing the role of accounts payable from a transactional finance function into a more strategic source of operational and cash-flow intelligence?
A: AI allows automation rates to climb quickly and to make invoice processing as touchless as possible.
It helps CFOs gain more insights and visibility to help with strategic decisions, such as cash flow. Increasingly, due to AI, AP teams are now shifting from tactical work towards strategic advisory, for example looking at where and how they should be spending.
AI allows automation rates to climb quickly and make invoice processing as touchless as possible. AP teams are shifting from tactical work toward strategic advisory, helping CFOs make better cash-flow and spending decisions.
Q: With global e-invoicing mandates continuing to expand, how should enterprises balance compliance requirements, automation goals, and ERP modernization within the same transformation roadmap?
A: Most organizations don’t have enough resources to monitor all of the global changes for compliance, especially when an area such as tax has different requirements country by country. Tax and AP teams often need a partner in this area, and working with specialist providers like Basware, who already monitor compliance changes and anticipate what’s coming in future, helps maintain compliance and balance these goals.
ERP transformations shouldn’t be viewed as a tech upgrade, it’s a process upgrade. The winners are the organizations that use transformations like this to simplify and govern the invoice lifecycle, rather than just moving it.
Q: Looking ahead, what separates organisations that successfully modernize finance operations during SAP transformation from those that simply recreate legacy complexity within a new cloud environment?
A: A big issue among companies that struggle with this upgrade is trying to do too much in one go. An entire migration takes too long in comparison to transforming as a singular area, such as AP, making it harder to demonstrate value to the business quickly or showcase cost savings. There needs to be change management with small increments, piloting a smaller change before rolling it out when it delivers ROI.
ERP transformations shouldn’t be viewed as a tech upgrade, it’s a process upgrade. The winners are the organizations that use transformations like this to simplify and govern the invoice lifecycle, rather than just moving it. That helps leaders prioritize ROI and drive value to customers and employees as fast as possible.
ERP News Editorial Team
The ERPNews Editorial Team covers global developments in ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), enterprise software, cloud platforms, AI, automation, and digital transformation, providing independent news and editorial analysis for senior business and technology leaders. Our reporting focuses on market signals, strategic shifts, and enterprise impact across the ERP and enterprise technology ecosystem.
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