CFOs Turn Working Capital Into a Yield Strategy

For chief financial officers and treasurers, working capital is starting to look less like an operating metric and more like an investment decision.

What used to be managed mainly as a buffer for payroll, payables and short-term obligations is now being evaluated for how hard it can work without putting liquidity at risk.

At the center of this transformation is the simple realization that the B2B payment instrument itself can create economic advantage. Instead of passively transferring funds, modern payment structures can extend payment terms, optimize cash positioning, and generate measurable returns on balances that once sat idle.

Short-term interest rates have risen, and treasury technologies have matured. CFOs are now coming to see working capital as a dynamic pool of deployable capital. Even incremental improvements in payment timing or liquidity deployment can translate into financial returns for large enterprises operating with billions of dollars in annual procurement spend.

For CFOs navigating a volatile global economy, that capability is increasingly indispensable.

Read also: Uncertainty Is Complicated, but Working Capital Strategies Should Be Simple

Why Payments Are Becoming Financial Infrastructure

What has changed is the opportunity cost of idle cash. A single additional week of retained cash across a large accounts payable portfolio, for example, can generate valuable interest income or investment yield when structured effectively.

For finance leaders under constant pressure to improve margins without cutting strategic investments, the appeal is obvious. This reframing has elevated payments from an operational function to a strategic financial infrastructure.

Accounts payable represents one of the largest untapped pools of working capital within many corporations. Yet historically, it has been treated as an administrative process rather than a financial opportunity. Efficiency was measured in transaction cost reduction and process automation.

Today, CFOs increasingly evaluate payments through a different lens. What financial value does the payment instrument itself create?

“You’re starting to see a lot more sophistication when it comes to that dialogue between buyers and suppliers,” Daniel Artin, head of strategic partnerships at Boost Payment Solutions, told PYMNTS in January.

“Those companies that do it right are starting to see benefits by using digital payments as a strategic tool,” he added.

Modern payment solutions allow enterprises to convert standard accounts payable obligations into structured liquidity strategies. Virtual cards, dynamic discounting platforms, supply chain finance programs and embedded payment networks all offer variations on the same principle of aligning payment timing with financial optimization.

The “2025-2026 Growth Corporates Working Capital Index: Research Report Data Book,” a PYMNTS Intelligence report commissioned by Visa, revealed how, when implemented effectively, these instruments enable companies to extend payment cycles while ensuring suppliers still receive early access to cash through financing mechanisms.

The buyer retains liquidity longer, generating yield or strengthening balance sheet flexibility, while suppliers gain improved access to working capital at predictable financing rates.

If there is one finding from the index that should recalibrate how finance leaders think about their operations, Ben Ellis, senior vice president and global head of Large and Middle Markets at Visa Commercial Solutions, told PYMNTS Tuesday (March 10) it is this: Among low-performing firms that adopted artificial intelligence for working capital management, cash flow unpredictability dropped from 68% to 17%.

See also: How Top-Performing Middle-Market CFOs Create Working Capital Efficiency

Where Technology Is Accelerating the Shift

The rise of yield-focused working capital strategies is inseparable from advances in financial technology.

By restructuring payment flows through digital payment rails, companies can retain liquidity longer while generating incremental returns. In practice, this may involve shifting supplier payments to card-based platforms or financing networks that allow the enterprise to settle invoices immediately while the underlying payment obligation is extended.

At the same time, treasury tools are being embedded more deeply into enterprise resource planning and treasury management systems, giving finance teams a more immediate view of balances, payment timing and investment options. That makes it easier to move quickly when conditions change. Idle cash can be swept into a yield-bearing vehicle. A supplier can be offered early payment when it makes economic sense. A short-term funding need can be covered without guesswork.

Still, as highlighted in the index, the differentiator is not adoption alone. It is integration. High performers connect these tools into a coherent system that aligns procurement, treasury and operations. Faster cash in, paired with strategic cash out, is the foundation of working capital efficiency.

The same report found that working capital efficiency can unlock $19 million in average savings for middle-market companies.

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