Study Finds CFOs Find AI Can’t Clear Every Cash Flow Bottleneck

PYMNTS Intelligence, in collaboration with J.P.Morgan, examines how U.S. finance teams are speeding cash flow while customers, suppliers and fraud threats make the job harder. The new report, “Time to Cash: What Two Years of Data Say About Faster Cash and Rising Risk,” surveyed 100 CFOs in July 2026. It compares their responses with a 2025 survey of 375 CFOs. All respondents work at U.S. companies with annual revenue between $250 million and $2.5 billion.

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Finance teams have made real progress inside their own walls. Forecasts arrive faster. Invoices go out sooner. Companies have more cash available to pay suppliers. AI now helps finance teams turn new information into decisions about collections, funding and payments.

The pressure is coming from outside the finance department. Customers are seeking longer payment terms. Suppliers are missing delivery targets more often. Fraud and cyber threats are also following cash as it moves faster through more automated systems.

That split creates a new challenge for CFOs. They need to keep improving the work they control while preparing for delays and risks they can’t control. They also need to spread responsibility for cash beyond finance. Sales, procurement and business leaders all make choices that affect when money enters or leaves the company.

In Time to Cash, learn how:

• Longer customer payment terms are changing the cash equation. Only 38% of CFOs said customer payment-term behavior improved. That share fell from 73% in 2025 and marked the largest decline among the report’s 12 performance measures.
• Cash flow is becoming a companywide responsibility. Fifty-eight percent of companies now track cash flow goals across business units, up from just 5% one year earlier. That change gives leaders outside finance a clearer stake in billing, purchasing and supplier decisions.
• The fastest companies keep finding more time. Every high-velocity company has a cash conversion cycle of 60 days or less. Fifty-five percent operate in the 0-to-30-day range and 70% shortened their cycle again during the past year.

The report also explores what stands in the way of further accounts receivable automation. It shows how CFOs are balancing payment speed with stronger controls. It also explains why business continuity is becoming part of treasury’s job.

Download “Time to Cash: What Two Years of Data Say About Faster Cash and Rising Risk” to see where leading finance teams are gaining time and how your company can protect that progress.