6 AutoRek Alternatives for SAP Finance Teams

If you’re comparing AutoRek alternatives, the right option depends on the reconciliation process you need to improve.

The main AutoRek alternatives to compare include BEST, BlackLine, Trintech, Gresham, SmartStream and ReconArt. For SAP finance teams, BEST is the specialist option for reconciliation and clearing automation directly inside SAP.

AutoRek is particularly well known for automated reconciliation and financial controls across payments, banking, asset management, insurance and other regulated financial-services environments. It can bring together data from different systems, apply matching rules, route exceptions and provide controls around the reconciliation process.

That can be useful where a business needs to reconcile high volumes of transactions across multiple operational systems. However, it is not always the best fit for a SAP finance team whose main challenge is supplier statement reconciliation, month-end balance sheet reconciliations, open item clearing or customer payment allocation.

For those teams, the key decision is often whether reconciliation activity should happen in a separate platform or directly in SAP.

BEST is designed for SAP teams that need vendor reconciliations, balance sheet reconciliations, open item clearing and customer clearing while keeping activity close to SAP data, users, authorisations and security.

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What are the best AutoRek alternatives?

The best AutoRek alternative depends on your use case.

For SAP organisations, it is worth assessing what can already be achieved through standard SAP before introducing another platform. Standard functionality can handle some automatic clearing scenarios, but has limits around cross-company, cross-account and flexible matching requirements. Our guide to SAP F.13 automatic clearing explains where those limits commonly arise.

BEST is focused on extending SAP where reconciliation and clearing processes still depend on manual work, spreadsheets, email approvals or disconnected evidence.

How does AutoRek compare with other financial management tools?

AutoRek is a reconciliation and financial control platform. It is particularly associated with payment reconciliation, safeguarding, CASS, regulatory reporting and operational controls in financial services.

Other tools in this category have different priorities. Some focus on financial close and account reconciliations, while others focus on transaction data, payments, capital markets or SAP-specific reconciliation processes.

The key point is that these tools are not all trying to solve the same problem. A payments business reconciling client-money positions may need a different platform from an SAP finance team that needs to clear intercompany open items.

What is AutoRek and how does it automate reconciliation?

AutoRek is a financial control and reconciliation platform. It is used across payments, banking, asset management, insurance and other regulated financial-services environments.

The platform brings together data from multiple systems and formats, including transaction files, ledgers, payment data and operational records. It standardises this data, applies configured matching rules and identifies matched, unmatched or partially matched records.

AutoRek supports one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many matching scenarios, using fields such as transaction references, values, dates and account details. Its AI capabilities are positioned around improving match rates and prioritising exceptions.

Transactions that do not meet the matching criteria are routed for review. Users can investigate exceptions, add supporting information and track their resolution. The platform also provides reporting, traceability and audit records for reconciliation activity.

AutoRek’s reconciliation capabilities are commonly used alongside payment reconciliation, safeguarding, CASS and regulatory reporting processes. Firms handling client money must also consider the applicable FCA Client Assets Sourcebook rules.

Why do companies look for AutoRek alternatives?

Companies usually look for AutoRek alternatives for a few common reasons.

They need a better fit for their core use case

AutoRek has broad financial-control applications, particularly in payments and regulated financial services. Not every finance team needs that scope.

Some need account reconciliation and close controls. Others need supplier statement matching, SAP open item clearing or customer cash application. A more focused solution can be a better fit where the process problem is specific.

They want to keep finance activity in SAP

AutoRek operates as a separate platform, which means data is brought into it for matching, review, and control.

Some SAP teams prefer reconciliation reports, approvals, attachments, and audit history to remain in their existing SAP environment. This can reduce duplicate data, separate user access, and additional interfaces.

They need automated SAP clearing, not only matching

Matching and clearing are related, but they are not the same thing.

A tool may identify that two transactions belong together. SAP clearing is the process of clearing eligible open items in SAP. If the requirement is to automate clearing across company codes, account types or fields, teams should test that exact process. Our article on manual clearing in SAP covers why this work can become slow at volume.

They want a more targeted implementation

A broad platform may be appropriate for a large reconciliation and control programme. However, a team with one clear SAP process gap may prefer a module designed for that process.

For example, a finance team may need to reconcile supplier statements and find related issues such as parked invoices during SAP supplier reconciliation, rather than introduce a wider operational-reconciliation platform.

How we compared these AutoRek alternatives

We compared AutoRek alternatives by core functionality, reconciliation model, SAP relevance, automation depth, controls, implementation fit, and use case.

The best AutoRek alternative is not necessarily the broadest platform. It is the tool that best fits the finance process, systems and controls the team already has.

AutoRek alternatives at a glance

Top AutoRek alternatives to consider

1. BEST

Best for: SAP reconciliation and clearing automation.

Key strengths: BEST is designed for SAP finance teams that need reconciliation and clearing directly inside SAP. Its modules consist of Vendor Recons, Balance Sheet Recons, Open Item Clearing and Customer Clearing.

The modules help teams reduce offline reconciliation work, automate relevant matching and clearing activity, improve approval visibility, manage exceptions, and maintain audit trails in SAP. They use existing SAP users, authorisations and security, without moving core reconciliation activity into a separate platform.

Consider if: SAP is your core finance system and the main requirement is supplier reconciliation, balance sheet reconciliation, open item clearing, or customer clearing.

SAP relevance: Very high. BEST is the SAP-specialist option in this list.

2. BlackLine

Best for: Broad financial close and accounting automation.

Key strengths: BlackLine supports account reconciliations, transaction matching, journal entries, close task management, reporting, and controls. It may suit organisations seeking a broad finance platform across several processes.

Consider if: You need a wide financial-close platform rather than a focused SAP reconciliation or clearing solution.

SAP relevance: High, although it operates as a separate platform alongside SAP.

3. Trintech

Best for: Enterprise financial close and reconciliation.

Key strengths: Trintech is commonly used for account reconciliation, transaction matching, close management, and controls. It can be relevant for larger organisations with multiple entities and formal governance requirements.

Consider if: Your organisation needs enterprise-scale close management and reconciliation across several systems.

SAP relevance: High for large SAP environments, but teams should assess where reconciliation data, workflow, and evidence will sit.

4. Gresham

Best for: High-volume operational reconciliation and data integrity.

Key strengths: Gresham is often used by financial institutions that need to process complex data from multiple systems, identify breaks and manage operational controls.

Consider if: Your main requirement is operational reconciliation across payments, securities, banking, or other complex transaction data.

SAP relevance: Moderate. It is generally used alongside core systems rather than for SAP-specific finance processes.

5. SmartStream

Best for: Banking, capital markets and financial-services operations.

Key strengths: SmartStream is relevant for firms with specialist operational requirements around reconciliations, transaction controls and financial-services workflows.

Consider if: Your organisation needs a platform for banking or capital-markets processes beyond SAP finance reconciliation.

SAP relevance: Moderate. It may be suitable where SAP is one of several operational data sources.

6. ReconArt

Best for: Configurable cloud-based reconciliation workflows.

Key strengths: ReconArt can be relevant for teams that need to configure matching rules, workflows, and reporting across different data sources.

Consider if: You want a separate reconciliation platform and need to reconcile data from several systems or file types.

SAP relevance: Moderate. It can work with SAP data but does not run directly within SAP.

Best AutoRek alternatives by use case

For SAP teams, automated matching only solves part of the process. The team may also need to post, clear, review exceptions, and retain the audit history in SAP. Our guide to SAP cash application and customer clearing explains why this requires more than simply identifying likely matches.

AutoRek vs BEST: when SAP is the deciding factor

AutoRek is a broad external reconciliation and control platform. BEST is an SAP-native specialist solution that extends SAP in specific reconciliation and clearing processes.

If your organisation needs a broad reconciliation platform across complex financial-services data, AutoRek may be a stronger fit. If the priority is focused reconciliation and clearing automation within SAP, BEST may be the better option.

How to choose the right AutoRek alternative for SAP

Start by identifying the process that creates the most manual work.

If the issue is broad payment reconciliation, safeguarding or regulatory control across several systems, an external financial-control platform may be appropriate.

If the issue is reconciliation or clearing inside SAP, test each option against a real SAP process. This could include:

• Matching a supplier statement to SAP vendor account data
• Producing and approving a month-end balance sheet reconciliation
• Clearing intercompany or general ledger open items
• Matching a customer remittance to SAP open receivables
• Investigating an exception and retaining the evidence for audit

Then ask where the final activity should take place. Some teams are comfortable working in a separate platform. Others want SAP data, approvals, evidence, and audit trails to stay in SAP.

For processes where financial controls and compliance are central, the principles in the COSO Internal Control Framework are also relevant when assessing workflow, evidence and review responsibilities.

FAQs

What are the best AutoRek alternatives?

The best AutoRek alternative depends on the process. BEST is a strong option for SAP-led reconciliation and clearing, while BlackLine and Trintech are broader financial-close platforms. Gresham and SmartStream are more relevant for specialist financial services and operational control requirements.

What is the best AutoRek alternative for SAP?

BEST is particularly relevant for SAP finance teams because the BEST modules run directly in SAP. This keeps reconciliation activity, approvals, audit trails, and applicable clearing activity within the SAP environment.

How does AutoRek automate reconciliation?

AutoRek brings data from different systems into its platform, standardises it, applies matching rules and identifies exceptions for review. It then provides reporting and control over the reconciliation outcome.

Can BEST replace AutoRek?

BEST can be an alternative to AutoRek for SAP-specific processes, including supplier statement reconciliations, balance sheet reconciliations, open item clearing and customer clearing. It is not intended to replace AutoRek for every use case, particularly specialist payments, safeguarding or regulatory-control requirements.

Does BEST support reconciliation and clearing in SAP?

Yes. The BEST Open Item Clearing module and the BEST Customer Clearing module can match and clear eligible SAP items. The BEST Balance Sheet Recons module supports reconciliation reports, approvals, evidence, and audit history in SAP.

Is AutoRek an SAP-native solution?

AutoRek can work with SAP data, but it is a separate platform. BEST runs directly in SAP.

Final thoughts

AutoRek can be a strong fit for organisations managing high-volume, multi-system reconciliation and financial-control processes, particularly in regulated financial services.

For SAP finance teams, the priority may be different. If the main challenges are supplier reconciliation, balance sheet controls, open item clearing, or customer payment allocation, an SAP-native approach can keep data, workflow, approvals, and evidence in one place.

To see how BEST could support your SAP reconciliation process, book a demo.