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Accounting · head to head

Basware vs SAP Concur

Basware logo

Basware

Accounting

Invoice automation and e-invoicing compliance across a large number of national mandates

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SAP Concur logo

SAP Concur

Accounting

Enterprise travel booking, expense claims and supplier invoice processing sold as separate modules

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Basware the e-invoicing compliance breadth that justifies the price is worthless to a company operating in a single country, where cheaper AP automation tools will do the same work.; SAP Concur implementation is done through SAP or a partner and commonly costs a substantial multiple of the first year subscription, because the value sits entirely in the configured policy, approval hierarchy and ledger mapping rather than in the software as shipped.
  • They diverge on capability: Basware covers Matching, SAP Concur covers Expense capture.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Basware and SAP Concur actually diverge.

Attributes where Basware and SAP Concur differ
AttributeBaswareSAP Concur
Starting priceOn request$29/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
FoundedUnknown1993

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Basware

  • Matching
  • Approval workflow
  • E-invoicing compliance
  • Supplier network
  • Payment execution
  • Spend analytics

Only in SAP Concur

  • Expense capture
  • Corporate card feeds
  • Policy engine
  • Approval routing
  • Travel booking
  • Travel agency integration
  • Duty of care
  • Purchase request

Both cover

  • Invoice capture
  • ERP integration

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Basware

  • A multinational needing compliant electronic invoicing across Italy, Poland, France and Mexico without building each mandate itselfnot SAP Concur
  • A shared service centre processing hundreds of thousands of invoices a year that needs touchless processing rates measured and improvednot SAP Concur
  • A group standardising accounts payable across subsidiaries running different ERP systemsnot SAP Concur
  • A finance function trying to capture early payment discounts that are currently lost to slow approval cyclesnot SAP Concur

SAP Concur

  • A multinational with thousands of travellers where an audit committee has asked for evidence that travel policy is actually enforcednot Basware
  • An organisation replacing spreadsheet expense claims and email approvals that cannot survive an external auditnot Basware
  • A finance team trying to eliminate duplicate claims by matching corporate card feeds against submitted receiptsnot Basware
  • A shared service centre processing high volumes of supplier invoices that needs capture and approval routing before postingnot Basware

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Basware

  • The e-invoicing compliance breadth that justifies the price is worthless to a company operating in a single country, where cheaper AP automation tools will do the same work.
  • Implementation is a substantial integration project involving ERP connectors, supplier onboarding and country-by-country compliance configuration, and it is priced and timed accordingly.
  • The user interface is dated next to newer accounts payable products, and approvers outside finance find it unintuitive, which slows the very cycle times the system is bought to improve.
  • Supplier onboarding onto the network is the hidden effort: the touchless processing rate depends on how many suppliers actually send electronic invoices, and that is a change management programme, not a software setting.
  • Growth by acquisition, including Glantus, has left overlapping analytics capability and integration work still in progress, so buyers should check which components share a data model today.

SAP Concur

  • Implementation is done through SAP or a partner and commonly costs a substantial multiple of the first year subscription, because the value sits entirely in the configured policy, approval hierarchy and ledger mapping rather than in the software as shipped.
  • Pricing is driven by transaction volume, expense reports and invoices processed, rather than by seats, so a business with seasonal travel or a growth year sees the bill move in ways headcount based budgeting does not predict.
  • The configuration that makes it valuable is also what makes it rigid, and organisations frequently find that changing an approval chain or adding a cost centre dimension requires a partner change order rather than an administrator's afternoon.
  • Contracts are typically multi year with limited exit, so an organisation that concludes after twelve months that a lighter expense tool would have been enough is still paying for the heavier one for the remainder of the term.
  • The three modules are licensed separately and the strongest case for the product depends on having travel, expense and card feeds together, so buying expense alone gives you a costly receipt system without the control loop that justifies the price.

Pricing, plan by plan

Basware

On request
  • Basware$undefined/year
    • Invoice automation, matching and approval
    • E-invoicing compliance across national mandates
    • Supplier network connectivity

SAP Concur

$29/month
  • Professional$8/month
    • Expense reporting
    • Receipt capture
    • Approvals
  • Premium$12/month
    • Travel booking
    • Invoice management
    • Analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Basware if

  • You need matching.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want approval workflow.
Basware review

Choose SAP Concur if

  • You need expense capture.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want corporate card feeds.
SAP Concur review

Questions people ask

Is Basware or SAP Concur better?
Neither clearly leads. Basware starts at On request and SAP Concur at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Basware or SAP Concur?
Basware starts at On request and SAP Concur at $29/month.
Does Basware or SAP Concur run on more platforms?
Basware runs on Web, iOS, Android. SAP Concur runs on Web, Ios, Android.
What is Basware best used for?
Basware is most often used for a multinational needing compliant electronic invoicing across italy, poland, france and mexico without building each mandate itself, a shared service centre processing hundreds of thousands of invoices a year that needs touchless processing rates measured and improved, a group standardising accounts payable across subsidiaries running different erp systems, a finance function trying to capture early payment discounts that are currently lost to slow approval cycles. Of those, a multinational needing compliant electronic invoicing across italy, poland, france and mexico without building each mandate itself and a shared service centre processing hundreds of thousands of invoices a year that needs touchless processing rates measured and improved are not what SAP Concur is typically brought in for.
What can Basware do that SAP Concur cannot?
Basware covers Matching, Approval workflow, E-invoicing compliance, Supplier network. SAP Concur covers Expense capture, Corporate card feeds, Policy engine, Approval routing. Both handle Invoice capture, ERP integration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Basware: Should we buy Basware if we only operate in one country?

Probably not. Its main advantage is multi-country e-invoicing compliance. In a single jurisdiction, cheaper AP automation gives you the same result.

SAP Concur: Do we need SAP ERP to use Concur?

No. It integrates with SAP systems particularly well but it is regularly deployed alongside Oracle, NetSuite, Workday and other ledgers. The integration work is a line item in the implementation either way.

Basware: Does it handle mandatory e-invoicing regimes?

Yes, and that is the core reason to choose it. It covers a wide set of national mandates as a service rather than an integration project you run yourself.

SAP Concur: Is it worth it for a company of a hundred people?

Usually not. Below a few hundred travellers the implementation cost and the contract commitment are hard to justify against lighter expense tools. The case turns on policy enforcement and audit, not on receipt scanning.

Basware: What drives the price?

Invoice volume, number of countries and modules. It is quoted, and implementation with ERP connectors and supplier onboarding is separate.

SAP Concur: How is it priced?

Broadly on the volume of expense reports and invoices processed, with the modules licensed separately. Because pricing is quoted rather than published, get the volume assumptions written into the contract and check what happens when you exceed them.

Basware: What determines the return?

The share of invoices arriving electronically. Touchless rates depend on supplier adoption, so budget for a supplier onboarding programme, not just the software.

SAP Concur: Can it handle multiple countries and currencies?

Yes, that is one of its stronger areas, including per country tax treatment and VAT reclaim identification. Confirm coverage for your specific countries during the sales process rather than assuming global means every jurisdiction.

SAP Concur: How long does implementation take?

Plan in months, not weeks, for anything beyond a single entity with simple approvals. Multi entity rollouts with travel and invoice modules commonly run across a year in phases.

SAP Concur: What does the audit service actually do?

It has a team review a sample or all of your submitted claims against receipts and policy before approval, which some organisations use in place of internal reviewers. It is priced separately from the expense subscription.

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