Why CFOs Who Prioritize Cash Flow Improvements Start With Receivables Innovation

As business becomes increasingly defined by volatility, cash is reclaiming its status as the ultimate indicator of corporate resilience.

While chief financial officers have long turned to cost controls and capital optimization to strengthen cash flow, a growing number are finding that the biggest opportunity lies in receivables.

According to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Time to Cash: A New Measure of Business Resilience,” published Friday (Oct. 24), 77.9% of CFOs see improving the cash flow cycle as “very or extremely important” to their strategy in the year ahead. That figure jumps to 93.5% among “strategic movers,” those organizations that outperform their peers on growth and digital transformation.

What’s notable is where these finance chiefs are focusing their energy. Instead of starting with expense reductions or restructuring, they’re targeting the front end of the cash cycle, the first mile of Time to Cash, through innovation in how they bill, collect and manage payments.

The shift reflects a broader realization in the C-suite that, in a tightening economy, the companies that can accelerate cash conversion without eroding customer relationships are better able than their static peers to gain agility and advantage.

Read also: The CFO’s Real-Time Crystal Ball Turns Liquidity Into Strategy, Not Accounting

The Liquidity Mandate in an Uncertain Economy

Working capital optimization used to mean negotiating better payment terms or adjusting procurement cycles. But those levers have diminishing returns, and they often introduce tension into supplier relationships. Receivables innovation, by contrast, unlocks latent liquidity already sitting inside the business in the form of capital that’s been earned but not yet collected.

For many enterprises, the receivables process still functions much as it did decades ago. A sale triggers an invoice, which enters a labyrinth of approvals, email exchanges and aging reports. Disputes and errors delay payment further. The inefficiencies compound silently, locking up working capital that could otherwise be fueling growth.

But receivables represent one of the largest and most underused balance sheet assets. When invoices sit unpaid for 30, 60 or 90 days, that capital is effectively frozen, restricting investment in research and development, hiring and growth initiatives. CFOs are increasingly coming to view this as an avoidable inefficiency, one that can be solved through digital transformation and smarter data use rather than draconian cuts elsewhere.

Forward-thinking CFOs are dismantling their incumbent receivables architecture in favor of digital ecosystems that connect billing, collections and payment in real time. By integrating enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems with artificial-powered receivables platforms, they’re gaining visibility into the entire payment lifecycle. Algorithms now predict which invoices are most at risk of delay, automate dunning communications, and even suggest optimal payment terms based on customer behavior patterns.

Cash management company Bottomline, for example, is rolling out an AI agent for its office of the CFO suite.

See also: Building Inside Legacy Systems Helps CFOs Capture New Payments Value

AI and the Automation Dividend

Implementing receivables innovation requires more than technology investment. It demands architectural thinking across systems, processes and culture.

The first step is visibility. CFOs must map the end-to-end receivables journey, from order entry to payment reconciliation, to identify bottlenecks. Next comes connecting disparate data sources to create a unified view of each customer’s payment behavior and status.

The PYMNTS Time to Cash report found that 83.3% of surveyed CFOs are planning to use at least one AI tool to help with cash flow cycle improvements.

The applications can range from predictive analytics that flag delinquency risks before they materialize to natural language systems that automate customer outreach and payment reminders.

AI doesn’t just accelerate collections; it also reduces friction across departments.

Intelligent receivables platforms can match payments to invoices automatically, reconcile exceptions, and generate forecasts that inform treasury and planning functions. This level of automation frees finance teams from the tedium of manual processing and allows them to focus on strategic decision-making.

The benefits are internal and external. When billing and payments are cumbersome, customers feel the friction. Confusing invoices, rigid payment portals or opaque dispute processes all degrade satisfaction and delay cash collection. By modernizing receivables, CFOs are also modernizing the customer journey. Customers are typically more likely to pay promptly when the process is seamless and communication is proactive.

Ultimately, the future of finance may lie not in incremental efficiency gains but in reimagining the systems that connect operational execution with financial outcomes.

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