As regulatory complexity rises and governments accelerate digital mandates, compliance is entering a new era. Invoice and tax reporting requirements are expanding across borders and industries, yet many organizations still view compliance as a box to tick. That approach is no longer sustainable.
Basware’s new research report, Beyond the Checkbox: Compliance as Strategy, developed with FT Longitude, part of the Financial Times Group, reveals just how high the stakes have become—and how much opportunity there is for organizations that elevate compliance to a strategic priority.
Until now, there has been little data on the true cost and performance impact of invoice and tax compliance in globally operating companies. This study, based on a survey of 400 finance leaders, fills that gap.
The findings paint a clear picture: non-compliance has become an enterprise-level risk. More than one-third of organizations surveyed have already faced financial penalties, reputational damage, or even fraud linked to compliance failures.
Among respondents, 36% reported paying fines, 37% suffered brand harm, and 35% experienced fraud due to weak controls.
In today’s environment of real-time data exchange between companies and tax authorities, reactive compliance is no longer viable. Visibility gaps can instantly translate into penalties and lost trust.
CFOs recognize the danger—71% say lack of compliance visibility is a major risk to their business. Yet many organizations still rely on spreadsheets and fragmented systems that can’t keep pace with evolving regulations. Manual processes are no longer just inefficient—they’re dangerous.
The research also uncovers a powerful correlation between compliance maturity and business success. Far from being a cost center, compliance maturity is proving to be a performance driver:
Centralized oversight and standardized data flows reduce errors, accelerate invoice processing, and strengthen governance. Automation and AI bring accuracy, visibility, and resilience to finance operations.
The result is better control, faster decision-making, and more agile responses to change. Simply put, compliance excellence has become a proxy for operational excellence.
Only 11% of organizations currently have cross-functional compliance teams, but nearly all plan to build them within a year. This marks a major shift away from siloed ownership toward integrated, enterprise-wide collaboration. Effective compliance now depends on shared accountability across finance, tax, IT, and procurement.
CFOs are playing a pivotal role, but transformation cannot happen in isolation. Building a culture of compliance requires engagement from every function—aligning processes, technology, and people behind a common goal of control and trust.
Organizations can no longer afford to treat compliance as an afterthought. Those that view it as a strategic capability are already outperforming their peers. Modern compliance isn’t just about avoiding penalties—it’s about enabling resilience, agility, and sustainable growth.
Read the full report, Beyond the Checkbox: Compliance as Strategy, to explore the findings in detail and see how leading organizations are transforming compliance into a driver of performance.