Post 1: Why It’s Time to Accelerate Your AR Workflow
Read Time: 4 minutes
This post kicks off our Accelerate AR series—a four-part guide to transforming your invoice-to-cash process using embedded payments inside your ERP.
First up: Why manual Accounts Receivable (AR) is slowing you down, and what to do about it.
In a perfect world, invoicing would be instant, payments would post immediately, and reporting would offer a crystal-clear view of cash flow. But for many mid-market B2B companies, the reality is different: invoices get delayed, payments arrive late, and reporting feels more like guesswork than a decision-making tool.
These inefficiencies often stem from outdated, fragmented processes. Despite investing in ERP systems to centralize operations, many companies still rely on spreadsheets and manual workarounds for AR tasks. If your team is switching between tools, manually entering invoice data, and chasing payments without clear visibility, your AR process is likely holding you back.
The results can be painful:
- Payments trickling in well past due dates
- Hours lost each week to reconciliation and follow-up
- Limited insight into Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and cash flow forecasts
- Mounting frustration across finance, sales, and customer service
It’s a common reality, and it’s costly. Businesses in the Americas lose over 50% of unpaid receivables that aren’t settled within 90 days. On average, 4% of accounts receivable are written off entirely.
Source: Atradius & U.S. Census Bureau
The Hidden Cost of Staying “Good Enough”
Too often, AR workflows are seen as a back-office task—not a business growth opportunity. But in an environment where speed and accuracy matter more than ever, staying stuck in outdated processes puts your financial health at risk.
Even incremental delays can cascade into:
- Missed revenue opportunities
- Cash flow shortfalls that impact budgeting or expansion
- Lower customer satisfaction due to billing confusion or payment friction
It’s not just about operational efficiency—it’s about unlocking real financial performance.
What If AR Could Move as Fast as Your Business?
That’s where true transformation begins—not just faster workflows, but smarter, more connected ones that accelerate every step of your AR process.
When you embed payments into your ERP environment, you create a single, frictionless AR system that works across your invoicing, payment collection, and reporting functions. You reduce touchpoints, minimize errors, and gain full control over your cash cycle.
Imagine:
- Invoices sent the moment a sale closes
- Customers paying instantly using their preferred method
- Payments posting automatically to the correct account
- Finance having real-time visibility into every step
This isn’t a future-state—it’s what embedded AR can deliver today.
Why Now?
Companies that haven’t modernized their AR systems are feeling it: longer collection cycles, higher operating costs, and a lack of data clarity to plan effectively. In contrast, businesses that integrate payments within their ERP are reclaiming time, reducing DSO, and scaling with less friction.
Modernizing AR isn’t just a technology decision—it’s a growth strategy.
Turning Strategy into Action
Fragmented AR processes don’t just slow you down—they make it harder to plan, respond, and grow. When invoicing, payments, and reporting operate in silos, inefficiencies compound and visibility fades.
But for companies using embedded payment solutions within their ERP, the story looks different.
With a single, connected workflow, finance teams can streamline invoicing, enable easier payments, and monitor key AR metrics in real time—all without switching platforms or adding new tools to manage.
That’s the power of embedded AR—and it’s what Fortis is built to support.
Where to Go from Here
Accelerating AR starts with recognizing the friction—and then replacing it with smart, embedded processes that work the way your business does.
In this four-part series, we’ll explore how Fortis helps finance teams automate the full invoice-to-cash journey:
- In our next post, we’ll break down the hidden costs of manual invoicing—and how native ERP automation speeds up billing and reduces errors.
- Then we’ll look at the payment experience: what’s slowing it down and how to eliminate the barriers that frustrate customers and delay revenue.
- Finally, we’ll dive into AR reporting—and how real-time visibility transforms AR from a reactive function into a strategic growth driver.
Each post will offer practical insights and examples to help you modernize your AR process—and set your team up to scale.
Ready to uncover hidden inefficiencies in your AR process? Talk to a Fortis expert to see how embedded payments can streamline invoicing, reduce delays, and give your finance team time back.
