More than Automation: Turning Invoice-to-Cash into a Growth Engine

In the bustling landscape of modern business, the Invoice-to-Cash (I2C) process stands as a critical pillar supporting organizations’ financial stability. Today’s I2C leaders aren’t just automating workflows, they’re modernizing systems that help them get cash faster while ensuring global compliance.

However, the path from invoicing to actual cash in the bank is fraught with challenges, keeping CFOs awake at night.

Companies must navigate these obstacles to maintain a healthy cash flow and ensure operational efficiency.

Traditional I2C processes are riddled with pitfalls that hamper many businesses’ effectiveness and financial health:

Each process encompasses key activities directly impacting a company’s cash flow and financial health. Here are its main components:

In the evolving world of business finance, the push for automation within the Invoice-to-Cash process is more than just a trend—it’s a necessity. In this recent insight from American Express, they consider that in the current environment, “automation is no longer optional.”

Automation offers transformative benefits that streamline operations and drive efficiency, fundamentally changing how companies manage their financial workflows.
Enhanced Efficiency and Productivity
Automation dramatically reduces the need for manual intervention, speeding up the entire I2C cycle. Tasks that once took hours to complete can now be accomplished in minutes. This efficiency gain frees staff to focus on strategic activities, such as analyzing financial data and improving customer relations, rather than getting bogged down in repetitive administrative tasks.

Cost Savings
Automation translates to significant cost reductions. By minimizing manual processes, businesses can cut labor hours and reduce the incidence of costly errors. Fewer errors mean fewer resources spent on corrections and reconciliations, leading to substantial savings over time.

Improved Compliance and Control
Automated systems provide comprehensive audit trails and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. This built-in compliance reduces the risk of penalties and legal issues. Automation also enhances control by standardizing processes, which leads to more consistent and reliable outcomes.

But the benefits aren’t just felt by the processing teams. Automating the invoice-to-cash process benefits the entire business and the end customer, who ultimately decides a business’s success.

Improved Cash Flow Management
Automation accelerates the collections process and reduces DSO, enhancing cash flow. Improved visibility into future cash flows aids financial planning and ensures the business maintains a healthy liquidity position.

Enhanced Customer Experience
Automation ensures that invoices are accurate and sent out promptly, reducing the frequency of disputes and improving customer satisfaction. Furthermore, automated systems can facilitate better customer communication regarding their account status, reinforcing a positive customer experience.

Customers no longer receive calls chasing them for payments they have already made but are sat in the
queue waiting to be processed. This stops them from receiving unnecessary calls and ensures their credit utilization keeps them able to trade with your business.

Data-Driven Insights
Automation tools are adept at collecting and analyzing vast amounts of data, providing valuable insights
into payment behaviors and trends. These insights enable businesses to optimize their credit policies and collections strategies, tailoring them to their customers’ behaviors.

Building on the final point from the previous chapter, automation in the I2C process does more than streamline operations—it unlocks a wealth of data and insights that can be harnessed for strategic advantage.

Businesses using automation software benefit in multiple ways:

• Real-Time Dashboards and Reporting: Automation translates to significant cost reductions. By minimizing manual processes, businesses can cut labor hours and reduce the incidence of costly errors. Fewer errors mean fewer resources spent on corrections and reconciliations, leading to substantial savings over time. 

  

• Predictive Analytics for Cash Flow Forecasting: Advanced analytics tools integrated into automation systems can predict future cash flows based on historical data and current trends. These predictive capabilities allow for more accurate financial planning and resource allocation, helping businesses anticipate cash flow shortages or surpluses and plan accordingly. 

  

• Insights into Customer Payment Behaviors: Automation tools collect and analyze vast amounts of data on customer payment behaviors. Understanding these patterns helps businesses identify high-risk accounts and tailor their credit and collections strategies accordingly. By anticipating which customers might be late on payments, businesses can take proactive measures to mitigate risks.
  

When you remove the effort it takes to process data, you can start to layer in even more data from multiple sources, safe in the knowledge the software will take over the burden of the number crunching and analysis, leaving you to benefit from the intelligence gleaned from the process:

Integrating automation in the I2C process is not just an
operational enhancement; it’s a strategic imperative.
IDC, R2R Vendor Assessment, 2024

By leveraging automation’s power, businesses can unlock new levels of efficiency, cost savings, and financial intelligence. This transformation ultimately drives better financial performance and ensures long-term success, positioning companies to thrive in the face of future challenges and opportunities.

“With BlackLine AR automation, all parts of the process—application rates, turnaround time, unapplied cash, and team performance—are monitored and measurable. When we see an area for improvement, we can identify exactly what needs to be done and predict how the customer will benefit.”

Christoph Koenig, Director I2C, Service Delivery EU & Global Process Owner

Despite the clear advantages of automation in the Invoice-to-Cash (I2C) process, many businesses remain hesitant to transition.

The perceived difficulties and risks associated with implementing new technologies often overshadow the promise of enhanced efficiency, reduced costs, improved compliance, and data-driven insights.

Understanding and addressing the barriers to adoption is essential to realizing automation’s full potential.

BlackLine’s AI-driven Invoice-to-Cash platform ensures clients can invoice, collect, and apply
customer payments faster using intelligent automation to achieve operational excellence.

Digitally transform the invoice-to-cash process and optimize cash flow, boost profitability, mitigate risks, attain strategic flexibility, strengthen customer relationships, and generate shareholder value.

BlackLine customers trust us to partner with them to achieve operational excellence. We blend technology with expert experience to create a proven blueprint for success.

Hit the Ground Running

With automation, accounts receivable professionals can focus on managing risk and collecting cash with full visibility and control rather than performing manual rework or chasing customers for remittances.

As a result, our customers achieve world-class match rates and benchmark standards faster than the industry average.

BlackLine Invoice-to-Cash is the solution for increasing cash flow, improving customer relationships, unlocking resource capacity, and ensuring compliance with modern mandates — all while driving strategic business outcomes.

At BlackLine we blend technology with expert experience to create to provide a solution that meets regulatory demands, scales globally as you grow, and drives lasting finance transformation.

Brambles helps organizations in more than 60 countries move goods worldwide. Previously, the brand outsourced its cash application process, which was costly and difficult to manage.

With so many global sites, each geography had unique processes and requirements. Having separate systems wasn’t an option, as Brambles’ primary goal of bringing cash management in-house was to gain complete visibility and control.

Introducing BlackLine was part of an overall operational improvement strategy that freed up cash flow and reduced capital spending while the company continued to grow.

Brambles chose to systematically implement the solution region by region, applying lessons learned as they went. This enabled Brambles to standardize the process while still adhering to local requirements. Teams could move from manual processing to an automatch rate of over 75%.

Overall, company-wide auto-match rates rose from less than 38% to over 80%, as high as 92% in some places.

Customers Already Breaking the Limits