How BEST Helps You Hit 95%+ Reconciliation Automation

For many finance teams running SAP, reconciliation still means late nights, exported spreadsheets, and manual matching that feels never-ending. Even teams who try to streamline the process often find themselves stuck in the same cycle: huge statement volumes, exceptions everywhere, and a month-end that never gets easier.

So when we talk about achieving 95%+ reconciliation automation inside SAP, it can sound unrealistic at first. But for organisations using BEST, that number is not an aspiration, it’s a lived, repeatable outcome. Understanding how that level of automation is achieved, helps explain why the results are so transformative.

Why 95% automation matters

Most reconciliation bottlenecks come from volume and variability. Supplier statements don’t match exactly. GL accounts need clearing. Exceptions build up. Vendor invoices appear in different formats. Trying to manage all of this manually creates downstream problems that affect close speed, accuracy, and audit readiness.

When automation takes care of 95%+ of matching, everything changes. Teams can shift their effort from line-by-line checking to resolving the few meaningful exceptions that genuinely need their attention. Instead of drowning in volume, they’re focusing on value.

How BEST achieves high automation rates

The reason BEST can consistently deliver such high levels of automation is simple: the entire process stays inside SAP.

There’s no exporting. No re-formatting. No external tools that break the chain of control. BEST reads the data exactly as SAP holds it, and applies sophisticated matching rules directly within the system. Vendor statement matching in SAP, accounts payable invoice reconciliations in SAP, and wider GL reconciliation processes are all handled in one consistent workflow.

The result is an environment where automation becomes the default.

The role of SAP-native matching

Because BEST sits natively within SAP, it can detect patterns, matches, and relationships with precision. The system applies layered matching logic, from simple one-to-one matches to complex, multi-line, multi-amount scenarios. It can also detect and group items that connect across documents, purchase orders, or clearing accounts.

This is why automation often exceeds internal targets. The system isn’t just matching more — it’s matching more accurately.

What the last 5% really means

The remaining 5% is where automation intentionally stops so humans can apply judgement. These are the items that genuinely require review, such as disputed amounts, older or unusual transactions, missing documentation, timing differences, or true anomalies. The purpose of automation isn’t to remove human oversight altogether, but to ensure that the time finance teams spend is focused on meaningful exceptions rather than routine matching.

What 95% automation unlocks

Once teams stop spending hours manually interrogating spreadsheets, benefits appear fast:

• Faster closes, due to less manual matching
• Fewer errors, because reconciliations stay in SAP
• Clear audit trails generated automatically
• Stronger controls, built directly into the process
• Improved supplier visibility
• Less operational stress on AP and finance teams

Perhaps the biggest shift is momentum. Once teams feel the impact of automation on one reconciliation area (like vendor statements), they quickly expand it across GL, bank, fixed asset, and balance sheet reconciliation processes.

The bottom line

Hitting 95%+ reconciliation automation is the outcome of letting SAP-native automation do what manual processes can’t.

Instead of struggling through thousands of lines every month, finance teams can rely on a system that matches, validates, and documents reconciliations automatically and keeps improving over time.

Automation is faster, more accurate, more controlled, and more sustainable for finance teams who are expected to do more with less.

Interested in seeing how your automation rates could improve? Get in touch and book a demo with BEST.