Not an If or a When: Why Modernizing and Centralizing Your Tax and Invoice Process Is Essential

The message from global finance leaders is clear: modernizing compliance is no longer a future initiative. It is essential in a landscape where tax authorities move faster, mandates shift often, and accuracy is expected in real time.

In our last blog, we explored how compliance has moved from a checkbox exercise to a strategic advantage through modern, automated solutions. This installment digs deeper into the data from Basware’s new report, Beyond the Checkbox: Compliance as Strategy, which shows how quickly technology-driven compliance is becoming mandatory.

As compliance expert Gustav Gnosspelius puts it, “It’s not an if. It’s not even a when. This is something you have to do.”

Compliance complexity is accelerating faster than most systems can keep up

While many organizations understand the stakes, the data reveals a significant maturity gap.

Missed deadlines and rising exposure

• 56% of businesses missed invoicing or indirect tax deadlines in the past year.
• 37% say those failures caused reputational harm.
• 35% experienced fraud linked directly to weak compliance controls.

Regulation is accelerating

Governments across Europe and beyond continue to roll out real-time reporting, e-invoicing mandates, and new tax clearance models. Dates move, requirements evolve, and national rules diverge—creating constant operational pressure.

Fragmented tooling is amplifying the risk

Despite this complexity:

• 95% of organizations still rely on spreadsheets somewhere in the process.
• 56% fear their systems cannot keep up with regulatory change.

Manual processes, inconsistent workflows, and scattered data are no longer just inefficient—they are systemic vulnerabilities.

The hidden costs of fragmentation

The report shows how disconnected finance, tax, and procurement systems create hidden risks that many organizations still underestimate.

Fragmentation is now a major compliance threat

• 95% of CFOs say fragmented systems expose the company to unnecessary compliance risk.
• Data remains scattered across ERPs, AP platforms, and local tools, forcing teams to reconcile information manually rather than control it.

Small gaps create large problems

Fragmented processes damage audit readiness and often lead to costly remediation. In multi-entity organizations, even minor inconsistencies can escalate quickly when governments expect standardized and fully traceable digital records.

As Gustav Gnosspelius notes, “You have data coming from so many different systems. This takes time.”

And this is time that finance teams can no longer spare.

Cross-functional collaboration is becoming the new compliance norm

Organizations are rapidly moving away from siloed ownership toward shared accountability.

A major shift is underway

• Only 11% of organizations today have cross-functional compliance teams.
• Yet 92% plan to establish them within the next 12 months.

This rapid shift reflects a growing understanding that tax and invoice compliance can no longer sit in isolated parts of finance or IT.

Compliance is becoming enterprise infrastructure

High-performing organizations now treat compliance as a connected responsibility across finance, tax, IT, procurement, shared services, and increasingly legal and operations. The CFO remains a key champion, but real progress depends on distributed ownership and coordinated data flows.

This move toward integration mirrors a broader trend in finance transformation: breaking down silos to build agility, consistency, and strong governance at scale.

Compliance maturity is directly tied to performance

One of the most striking insights from the research is the strong connection between compliance maturity and measurable business outcomes.

Advanced compliance delivers superior results

Among organizations with mature compliance capabilities:

• 88% exceeded their gross profit targets
• 80% rarely experience fraud
• Many report stronger control, faster processing, and greater confidence in their financial data

Why maturity mattersThese findings show that compliance maturity is not simply about avoiding penalties. It drives operational efficiency, cleaner data, and more informed decision-making.

In short: the more mature the compliance model, the more resilient and future-ready the organization becomes.

Why centralization is emerging as the strongest path forward

Only 6% of organizations today have fully centralized, embedded compliance. Yet those that do outperform across nearly every metric measured in the study.

What centralization enables

• A single source of truth across entities and regions
• Consistent data capture, validation, and reporting
• Stronger control points and lower error rates
• Better audit readiness and clearer visibility for leadership
• A scalable foundation for automation, AI, and e-invoicing

Centralization provides the structure and clarity organizations need to keep pace with regulatory change. Modern compliance solutions must deliver this level of predictability and protection, giving finance teams confidence that their processes are accurate, connected, and future-ready.

Modernization creates resilience and trust

Compliance is increasingly tied to market access, supplier trust, and stakeholder confidence. Weak controls can limit expansion into regulated markets. Poor visibility can erode investor trust. Siloed processes can slow down supply chains.

Modern, centralized, automated compliance is about more than avoiding penalties. It is about future-proofing the entire finance function.

Organizations that take action now will not only reduce risk but also create operational leverage, stronger governance, and the ability to scale with confidence.

Explore the full research

Basware’s new report, Beyond the Checkbox: Compliance as Strategy, is available now. Read the findings and uncover how leading organizations are modernizing compliance to drive performance.

Also, if you missed part one of this series on how modernization is turning compliance from a checkbox task into a strategic advantage, you can catch up now.