Customer-to-Cash Receivables Software – Digital World Class Matrix™ Research

What factors enable some customer-to-cash (C2C) receivables software providers to deliver far greater value and breadth of capabilities than others? How are C2C software providers integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI into their offerings? A discussion of findings from The Hackett Group’s new Digital World Class Matrix™, with The Hackett Group Associate Principal Bryan DeGraw and Senior Director Rick Gardner.

Welcome to The Hackett Group’s “Business Excelleration Podcast,” where week after week we hear from experts on how to avoid obstacles, manage detours and celebrate milestones on the journey to world-class performance. This episode is hosted by Gary Baker Global Communications Director at The Hackett Group. Today’s episode will discuss the factors that enable some customer-to-cash (C2C) receivable software providers to deliver greater value and capability than others, how C2C software providers are using artificial intelligence (AI), and more. We’ll discuss The Hackett Group’s new Digital World Class Matrix™ research covering C2C receivables creation. Gary is joined by The Hackett Group’s Associate Principal Bryan DeGraw and Senior Director Rick Gardner.

To begin, Bryan explains that this research is part two of a series covering C2C. In 2023, The Hackett Group released a report focusing on cash application, collections and dispute management. In the latest research, they looked at the front end of the process, including software vendors providing solutions for credit management and customer billing, especially electronic invoice presentment and payment (EIPP) technology. They analyzed 18 vendors in the space – some of which focused on multiple areas and processes, and some were specialized. Three of these 18 companies were Digital World Class^® within credit management, two Digital World Class in order management and three in the EIPP space.

Participating companies focused on credit-to-cash or order-to-cash ecosystems, including order capture, billing, credit scoring, cash applications, payments to customers, disputes and more. Eight of the companies had different models – some of which were focused on chief financial officers, some focused on supply chain and logistics, and some enterprisewide enterprise resource planning solutions. What The Hackett Group has brought from this matrix is looking at measuring and capturing the value realization from this software. In the report, they include insights around automation levels, cycle time levels, accuracy and customer/employee experience. For organizations that are leveraging three types of technologies, they saw a 40% increase in automation for credit, management and billing. Completion of transaction cycle times reduced on average by three days and accuracy improved. They also noted improved staffing, process cost savings and an average increase of $7 million for $5-$10 billion annual revenue organizations in their account receivables collected on time and accurately.

One of the largest innovations from these software companies is that they have evolved beyond transactional automation. Bringing elements of AI and machine learning have helped with this, being leveraged to analyze and make decisions around credit management, order management, and customer billing. The software solutions that are excelling are creating ease with integration and staying up to date with evolving requirements. Then, Rick highlights some of the key criteria that buyers should consider when shopping for a solution. In the report, The Hackett Group ranked each solution provider in capabilities and categories. They identified approximately eight broad areas of interest, including geographic scope, ecosystem, key value drivers and channels they support. Selecting software based on the individual needs and plans of your company is crucial.

Each of the companies included in the report have plans or a road map in terms of how they will embrace AI. We did see different levels of AI use among them. In the software today, there are elements of machine learning and AI that can be taken advantage of right away. These include robotic process automation in the credit management area, case management and dispute solutions, and more. In both credit and collections, we are seeing the ability for  unstructured processes to handle insights and judgments thanks to cognitive automation. We are still only at the very beginning of seeing what Gen AI will be capable of.

Time stamps:

0:49 – Welcome to this episode hosted by Gary Baker.

3:08 – The types of companies that participated in the study.

4:40 – The impact these providers are having on their customers.

7:00 – The innovations delivered by these solutions.

10:00 – Key criteria buyers should consider.

12:02 – Where C2C software vendors are leveraging AI.

17:50 – More resources on the topic.