How do you measure the impact of cash application automation on your OTC cycle?

Calculate auto match percentage asa measure. Ensure there is correct rules in automation and re visited frequentlybased on bank statement data . Move your customers to e payment method Educate customers to provide the right reference while sending the e-payment

The right job starts from the right place. The cash application process is the very beginning of OTC and Credit Control, so its efficiency impacts overall OTC results. Although it's fashionable nowadays to concentrate on the level of automation, the real improvement comes through quality and timing, right in line with Jim Collins' motto: 'Technologies = Accelerators.' Therefore, two basic components in the process are: - Accuracy of allocation of incoming payments on customers' accounts and against corresponding invoices. - Time by which all payments are allocated and cleared. As soon as it is defined how to ensure the achievement of these two goals, technical embodiment ceases to be a problem.

One metric you can use to measure the efficiency of automating cash collection is the Cash Application Automation Rate. You can calculate this metric by dividing the number of payments applied automatically by the total number of payments received in a given period

While highly automated cash application really does lead to increased back-office efficiency, it relies on the quality and completeness of data on bank statements, remittances and OCR. Understanding the quality of this data and setting improvement goals is a pre-requisite for an automation program and improvement can also drive better outcomes even with lower automation.

Here are 5 top ways to gauge the impact of your cash application automation on the order-to-cash (OTC) cycle ⏱️➡️: *DSO Days Shaved Off *Straight-Through Processing Power *Error Reduction Bullseye *Team Efficiency *Improved Working Capital By tracking these metrics, you can clearly see the positive impact of cash application automation on your OTC cycle. It's a win-win for both efficiency and accuracy!

Unfortunately, Days of Sales Outstanding provides a very preliminary view of the OTC process, especially when it comes down to the so-called 'classical DSO' - the product of total receivables divided by sales and so on. Being affected by the so-called 'sales bias,' it provides substantially incorrect results at both individual customer and portfolio levels. The concept of using DSO as a universal KPI for OTC has been intensively criticized over the recent years. In particular, it has been proven that DSO fluctuates regardless of overdue outstanding, so it could not serve as a reliable indicator of the repayment period. With all its deficiencies, DSO could not be helpful in any way in monitoring and optimizing cash allocation.

An amazing KPI to use is Average Days Delinquent (ADD) ADD is an essential cash flow metric. It offers data on the effectiveness of your collection efforts by measuring the average number of days it takes to collect overdue payments. A high ADD score for a particular client may simply mean financial issues on their end. But continually high ADD scores across clients may indicate poor collection efficiency on your side. Here’s the formula for Average Days Delinquent: ADD = Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) – Best Possible Days Sales Outstanding (BPDSO) Note the role of the DSO metric in this calculation. Many companies evaluate these two KPIs in tandem because it offers a broader understanding of how long it takes to convert invoices to cash.

Taking into account that Return On Investment presumes some kind of profit to be used in calculation and fact that payment allocation does not presume any of it, this rations doesn't seemed to useful as it is. At the same time, process automation/robotisation, suppose to save working time of employees performing this job. The latter is quite straightforward and should involve: - salaries - bonuses - social beenfits - taxes paid by an employer - office space - equipment - other relevant This everything should be recalculated into cost-per-hour and multiplied by time spent on payment allocation and clearing. On the other side of equation should be total cost software implementation project including post implementation support.

Automation of cash applications is a huge enabler of better performance but in of itself can lead to increased issues if it leads to mis-application. Stay ahead of trends in payment types among your Customers and keep strong focus on unapplied payments which do not age well. Prioritize addressing unapplied payments within the first week of receipt as they become harder to address over time.

Similarly to any other system, the cost of payment allocation system includes at least the following components: Development of technical specifications. Development, implementation, and integration. Usually this involves both external and internal costs. Post-implementation. There is no perfect product, so support, training of personnel, finding and repairing system bugs, and many other things Re-engineering. Every system, no matter how perfect it is now, is subject to obsolescence. Finally, it is highly desirable to make all calculation BEFORE the implementation of payment allocation software. Sometimes such exercises prevent overspending.