Boosting Revenues
According to the Boston Consulting Group, companies that deploy Order to Cash software like Corrivo and reengineer the O2C process as they do generally boost annual revenues by between 1% and 3%. Not bad, considering that this was reported in 2020 when there were very low expectations about healthy sales volumes and favourable debt levels. Last year, consultants expressed a singular sense of gloom for the business outlook, especially in manufacturing where production had been suppressed by lockdowns. According to the BCG, Order to Cash software ‘is the future’.
The Boston Consulting Group is not alone in its views about Order to Cash software. Implement Consulting Group and WNS are just two others who last year urged CEOs and CFOs to undergo digital transformation in their Oder to Cash processes with a view to building resilience and fortifying the organisation’s finances against further upheaval and a long period of economic depression to come. A decade appears to be the conservative estimate of how long it will be before individuals and businesses are less likely to go under. Until then, bankruptcy, insolvency and fire sale buyouts at one end of the scale, and redundancies, credit issues and rising debt becoming at the other end are likely to be commonplace, not rare.
Being able to reengineer your Order to Cash or Invoice to Cash processes in tough times such as these and come out of it with revenues higher than before has to be something worth considering. It is highly likely that if you have not thoroughly overhauled your O2C or I2C processes in the last 18 months, there are further efficiencies waiting to be discovered. Please get in touch for a free consultation or speak to the neutral experts in the UK who will guide you through the options with impartiality when it comes to software. Try Kinetic Consulting.
Where to start?
Many companies believe that the best way forward for software is to select pieces of the puzzle that can easily be replaced over time, thus cloud-based, rather than installed software is favoured. Likewise, the piecemeal approach allows for costs to be spread so that each year’s annual IT budget is relatively similar, providing much-needed stability. For this reason, modular software like Corrivo allows businesses to tackle their greatest challenge area within the Order to Cash process and additionally spread risk and the effort of change. Many of our clients take this focused approach but quickly gain an appetite for further transformation and improvement. We always recommend eInvoicing as the best starting point for businesses still dependent on paper or emailed PDFs for more than 20% of their invoicing as the cost savings alone pay for the initial investment.
End to End Transformation
In the Receivables area, a “rip and replace” approach can be seen as too great a risk to the continuity of finance operations. Replacing everything across the Order to Cash process threatens the sensibilities of those responsible for collecting and applying cash. One client said it would be like the whole company holding its breath while running up a hill: cash for the business is as vital as breath to the body. The same client actually proceeded to replace each part of their Order to Cash process but, unsurprisingly, not in one go. They did so sequentially and much more quickly than they had foreseen. The step by step approach de-risked the project but did not protract it. Nor did it slow down the return on investment, which in their case led to far greater improvements than just 3% higher revenue. Operating costs fell by 23%, meaning that their bottom line profitability was significantly higher than anticipated. They were in good hands.
When you have been helping large businesses improve their Order to Cash processes for over twenty years, as we have at Data Interconnect, you are confident that you can make a difference that amounts to something truly worthwhile. We all enjoy seeing companies we work with thrive using our Order to Cash software, and we are also pleased to know that whether it is one module or a complete end-to-end solution, Corrivo has transformative power in areas of a business that are often reluctant to embrace change.
