The Beginner’s Guide To Order To Cash Solutions
ACCOUNT RECEIVABLE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Comprehensive order to cash solutions, also known as AR management systems, provide an array of services and capabilities that enable businesses to more efficiently and confidently manage the often complex process of customer-initiated sales orders from product ordering to payment. C-suite executives looking for an order to cash solution to supplement their current process have much to consider and must understand the product offerings available, the efficiencies gained and the benefits each solution provides.
The purpose of this guide is to provide an overview of the order to cash process, explain the crucial functions of AR management systems and provide insight into the potential automation capabilities available. By the end of this article, CFOs and executives should have an understanding of the features and benefits of comprehensive order to cash solution, as well as better insight into their options.
What is the Order to Cash process?
Order to cash, sometimes referred to as O2C, is the process beginning when customers submit sales order, and ending when those customers make full payment. This process is generally composed of several steps and procedures, such as billing, shipping, payment and collection.
For businesses that accept orders over the phone, via email, through web store or in-person, order to cash systems streamline multitude of sales, billing, inventory and accounts receivable activities without costly delays and human errors from product selection and payment processing, to billing and report generation.
How Do Account Receivable Management Systems Work?
Accounts receivable management systems are web-based software products designed to streamline order-to-cash processes. In todays increasingly digital landscape, AR management systems solve the problems businesses once encountered with manual processes, providing comprehensive solutions that integrate seamlessly with existing applications, such as project management and accounting software. Specifically, these management systems capture customer sales orders and track inventory usage, credit compliance and payments, and consolidate reporting and other administrative processes.
Benefits of an AR Management System
Accounts receivable management systems provide variety of benefits to the finance department, including the ability to quickly identify sales orders, oversee the entire order cycle and reduce administrative costs. To name few advantages:
Reduced errors: AR management systems reduce human error by standardizing processes and automating tasks. Examples include auto-matching invoices to purchase orders, tracking pending payments, managing overdue payments and calculating deductions.
Enhanced security: The added access control and permission capabilities of AR management systems help strengthen an organizations financial security.
Optimized workflow: Through automation and integrations with existing software applications, accounts receivable management systems help increase speed and accuracy of order processing and streamline financial activities.
Real-time visibility: With AR management systems, businesses get real-time insights into essential aspects of their finances, such as accounts receivable, payments, deductions and refunds. This helps CFOs better track cash flow and identify any discrepancies.
Improved customer experience: AR management systems tend to be good source of customer service improvement, providing customers with secure, automated payment options and fast, accurate invoicing.
Benefits of Automation
For CFOs and executives, automation is huge benefit of using comprehensive order to cash solution. By taking manual processes out of the equation, businesses can reduce labor costs, improve accuracy and accuracy-based compliance, and gain valuable time that can then be devoted to critical tasks.
In addition to the advantages provided by AR management systems, automation simplifies the billing and payment cycles, enabling customers to more easily submit payments, and businesses can more quickly submit invoices and receive payments, reducing the amount of time it takes for payment cycles to complete.
Conclusion
The order to cash process is critical component of any business transaction, but it is also one of the most labor-intensive. Comprehensive accounts receivable management systems enable finance departments to reduce errors, increase security, optimize workflows, gain real-time visibility into finances and improve the customer experience all while taking advantage of automation.
Furthermore, this guide has provided comprehensive overview of the benefits of order to cash solutions, as well as the significant advantages of automation including how automation can streamline payment processing and reduce the amount of time it takes to complete payment cycle.
Ultimately, the numerous features and benefits of AR management systems, combined with the automation available, make it an increasingly attractive and accessible option for businesses of all sizes looking to take their order to cash processes to the next level.
