Billers are fed up with inefficient accounts receivable processes.

Nearly two-thirds of billers are dissatisfied with their receivables processes, Aite Group finds.

Their beef is the diversifying mix of payment channels, the lack of standards for remittance data, lots of unauthorized deductions, and payments and remittance documents that arrive separately.

Not surprisingly, finance executives surveyed by the Institute of Finance and Management (IOFM) in 2014 ranked accounts receivable as their second-most time-consuming and inefficient finance and administration function, behind accounts payable. The finance executives also named accounts receivable as the second-most manual and labor-intensive finance and administration function.

These inefficiencies are not news.

But what is noteworthy is that billers finally plan to do something about it in 2016.

Forty-one percent of senior finance executives say that improving accounts receivable is a top priority, and 37 percent of these executives are dedicating more capital to receivables automation.

Billers surveyed by the Institute of Financial Operations (IFO) say they want to accomplish five things through accounts receivables automation:

1. Reduce processing costs
2. Decrease cycle times
3. Improve visibility into receivables processes
4. Enhance working capital management
5. Reduce write-offs from unauthorized deductions

If billers are serious about achieving these benefits, they should take a hard look at solutions for automating cash application, which address all of the priorities of billers surveyed by IFO.

Here’s how automated cash application solutions such as Creditron’s ECP platform accomplishes this:

1. Reduced processing costs: All paper and electronic payment streams are consolidated into a single workflow.
2. Faster cycle times: Dynamic workload balancing allows managers to assign resources intelligently based on the nature and volume of exceptions.
3. Improved visibility into receivables processes: The platform offers real-time visibility, tracking and control into receivables processes. User configurable business rules and criteria accelerate workflows while ensuring proper handling of receivables.
4. Reduced write-offs from unauthorized deductions: All exceptions items are consolidated onto the platform and sent to individual work queues based on pre-defined rules.
5. Enhanced working capital management: A real-time dashboard provides management with visibility into the current day’s receivables activity.

To learn how your organization can benefit from automated cash application, contact sales at sales@creditron.com or call 1.888.721.9510