AvidXchange Buys Core Assoc. To Automate Mid-Market Accounts Payable

Accounts payable (AP) and payments firm AvidXchange has acquired AP software solutions platform Core Associates, to advance payments automation in the construction industry and mid-market businesses.

“We’ve spent more than a decade committed to helping our customers simplify the way they process invoices and payments,” Core Associates Founder and CEO Frank Grenci said in a press release on Monday (Jan. 4). 

He added that joining AvidXchange gives Core the ability to extend the middle market’s “only complete purchase-to-pay experience,” while also reducing the processing time from one month “to only two or three days using a single solution.”

The acquisition of Core Associates positions AvidXchange as one of the leading AP automation platforms serving the mid-market construction industry. One of the few end-to-end, purchase-to-pay solutions, AvidXchange offers several automated tools, including Sage 300 CRE (formerly Timberline), Sage 100 Contractor, Acumatica and Sage Intacct Construction. Core Associates, creator of TimberScan and other complementary AP tools, is used by over 30,000 businesses across the U.S. 

“There is no better way to start 2021 than by welcoming Core Associates customers, partners and employees to AvidXchange,” said Michael Praeger, CEO and Co-Founder of AvidXchange. “With this acquisition, existing Core Associates users and new customers will benefit from the combination of TimberScan’s purpose-built AP automation platform and e-payments processed through the AvidPay Network to transform the way they pay bills.”

As part of AvidXchange, Core Associates will still work to assist construction industry clients — including contractors, commercial developers and property managers — with TimberScan to facilitate the pivot from manual AP processes to electronic invoicing. The integration of TimberScan and AvidPay gives users a single, automated solution to automate procurement and payments processing. 

Core’s construction-sector customers will get access to AvidPay’s 680,000 suppliers, which advance AP efficiency while also extending several electronic payment options. Electronic payments take paper checks out of the equation, thereby reducing the risk of check fraud.  

AvidXchange recently introduced its “Boost Your Business” program to help businesses make the pivot from manual AP to digital billing and payments. In a PYMNTS interview, AvidXchange CFO Joel Wilhite said that business continuity planning is essential for businesses coping with uncertain times.

A PYMNTS study on the construction industry and payments processing indicated that in order for construction firms to survive post-pandemic, automation is critical.