From Signature to ROI in Under Six Months: Basware’s Accelerated Kantata Rollout
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What Kantata Replaced
Basware, a global leader in financial process automation, partnered with Kantata to replace an outdated PSA platform supporting a 200+ person services organization managing hundreds of active customer projects. Facing rising costs, limited visibility, and a looming contract renewal with Planview, Basware needed a modern solution that could be implemented quickly and without disrupting billing or customer delivery.
“Kantata helped us modernize our professional services organization at a critical moment,” said Mark Johnston, Chief Customer Officer at Basware.
Through an accelerated implementation completed in under two months, Kantata enabled Basware to go live with zero billing disruption and achieve rapid time to value. Today, Basware relies on Kantata to improve billing accuracy, increase adoption, and gain real-time visibility into projects and resources.
Basware is a global leader in accounts payable automation, helping organizations streamline invoice processing, improve financial visibility, and strengthen control over spend.
The Challenge
Basware’s legacy PSA system, Planview, had become expensive, stagnant, and increasingly difficult for teams to use. Johnston said the platform was “becoming more and more dated and more costly, which didn’t make sense for our organization.”
Beyond technology limitations, Basware lacked proactive partnership and guidance. “We weren’t really getting good service from our provider, and they weren’t coaching us on how to make our professional services organization function better,” Johnston said.
As adoption declined, inefficiencies began affecting both employees and customers. “Our professional services team was struggling to use the solution because it had become antiquated,” he said, noting that teams were sometimes “slower to respond than we wanted to be.”
Benefits
- Executive confidence through real-time visibility into projects and resources
- Higher adoption driven by a modern, intuitive user experience
- Zero billing interruptions at go-live
end-to-end PSA implementation
time-to-value realized after go-live
“Between the savings from our previous vendor, increased visibility and usage, and the ability to bill on time, I would say Kantata has already paid for itself just a few months into the first year.”
CCO, Basware
The Solution
With a contract renewal approaching, Basware had a narrow window to fully replace its PSA system. Johnston said Kantata stood out for its execution confidence, explaining that “we had a short timeline to get off our old system, and we didn’t want to renew again,” and that Kantata “gave us repeated assurances that they could meet that timeline… even the CEO of Kantata reached out to me directly to confirm their commitment to our success.”
Billing continuity was non-negotiable. “If we weren’t implemented by a certain date, we wouldn’t be able to bill our customers properly,” Johnston said.
Kantata partnered closely with Basware to execute an accelerated implementation plan and maintain focus on that goal. Johnston said Kantata didn’t just align with the timeline, but actively guided both teams through the process, sharing that “Kantata brought their best team forward and challenged our team when needed to make sure we stayed on track.”
That partnership paid off. Basware completed the transition in under two months and went live successfully. Johnston said that within weeks of go-live, Basware had achieved its most critical outcome: “Within the first few weeks of going live, we were billing on time with no missed billing and no issues.”
“There was an email chain congratulating the team. People were excited not just that it was done, but that it was done right. Many projects don’t go this way.”
CCO, Basware
The Results
Billing Accuracy & Financial Confidence
Beyond ensuring billing continuity at go-live, Kantata helped Basware improve the accuracy of project billing, strengthening financial confidence across the organization.
“We’ve already seen better billing accuracy within our projects. Which is crazy, because we were just hoping to bill properly, but the accuracy has actually gone up compared to our old vendor.”
Better Adoption, Cleaner Data
Kantata’s intuitive user experience made it easier for teams to adopt the platform and use it correctly. As a result, Basware saw more accurate and timely time entry, strengthening data quality and downstream reporting.
“Because Kantata is easier to use, our team can enter their time and projects much more clearly, effectively, and on time.”
Resource Planning & Utilization
With greater visibility into individual workloads and capacity, Basware can now plan resources more accurately and make better-informed decisions about staffing and future demand.
“One thing we can do now that we couldn’t do in our previous system is look at each member of our team and make sure utilization is realistic. That gives us a much clearer view of the resources we need today and in the future, and helps us plan far better than before.”
Proactive Customer Insight With Kantata Pulse
Kantata Pulse gives Basware continuous, real-time visibility into customer sentiment during projects, enabling teams to identify issues early and take action before they escalate.
“Kantata reached out to me during our implementation to get my pulse on how the project was going. That made me realize this wasn’t just a one-off — it’s a powerful feature that could help us spot issues early and react faster.”
Future-Ready Innovation With Kantata’s Expertise Engine
Kantata’s investment in purpose-built AI emerged as a clear differentiator for Basware. Rather than relying on generic models, Kantata is building its own “Expertise Engine,” designed specifically for professional services organizations.
“Looking ahead, one of the things I’m most excited about is that Kantata is building their own language model as it relates to AI. That really separates them from the competition. Others are just using existing language models, but Kantata is building their own.”
“I would absolutely recommend Kantata to other professional services organizations. Their solution is fantastic, and I believe it’s the leading solution in the market. Kantata stands behind their customers and ensures success.”
CCO, Basware