CFOs & AI: Accelerating Emerging Enterprise 'Time to Cash'™

In today's dynamic economic landscape, the agility with which emerging enterprises convert sales into tangible cash is no longer merely a back-office metric. Instead, it has emerged as a fundamental measure of an organization's resilience, competitiveness, and overall business velocity. This critical shift was recently underscored by a comprehensive PYMNTS Intelligence project, the Time to Cash Index™, which highlighted its profound impact on firms generating between $250 million and $2.5 billion in annual revenue.

Central to this acceleration is the evolving role of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Modern CFOs are increasingly taking ownership of decisions that directly enhance cash flow, improve liquidity, and strengthen financial control. As Jeff Feuerstein, SVP of Paymode Product Management and Market Strategy for Bottomline, aptly noted during a recent PYMNTS Roundtable, "CFOs are in the business of control." This expanded mandate positions CFOs as strategic architects, pivotal to navigating the complexities of modern finance.

The Transformative Power of AI and Automation

The integration of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) is deepening the CFO's strategic responsibilities. Feuerstein emphasized that technology's capacity to "take care of decisions rather than just provide insights" marks a significant paradigm shift in how finance leaders operate. This move from descriptive analytics to prescriptive actions streamlines operations and reinforces why CFOs are increasingly anchoring these transformative efforts, ensuring that payment and receivables processes function with unwavering reliability and transparency.

Bridging the Liquidity Gap: The Imperative of Supplier Readiness

A practical challenge at the core of maintaining robust liquidity is the structural readiness of suppliers to be paid. Karen Webster, CEO of PYMNTS, articulated this as a "first-mile problem" in receivables, where efficient onboarding, meticulous documentation, and comprehensive data readiness are preconditions for buyers to approve payments swiftly. Any lapse in these conditions inevitably introduces friction, decelerating the entire cash cycle.

Prashanth Ravishankar, SVP for Coupa Advantage and Supplier Offerings, corroborated this, pointing out that supplier readiness is frequently misunderstood. While many suppliers believe they are prepared to transact, the requirements for truly being "ready to get paid" are considerably more intricate. He explained that transitioning from merely being "ready to do business" to "I am ready to get paid" involves establishing trust, ensuring clarity, and adhering to compliance standards well before an invoice even enters the workflow.

Streamlining the Cash Journey: Onboarding and Transparency

Ravishankar identified onboarding as the critical initial step for shortening "Time to Cash." Coupa's extensive marketplace, which connects millions of buyers and suppliers, is specifically engineered to mitigate early friction. The objective is to "seamlessly automate the onboarding of suppliers," thereby assuring buyers that all requirements are met and that incoming invoices are inherently trustworthy.

Following effective onboarding, invoice transparency becomes the next crucial component. Ravishankar highlighted the necessity for buyers to be confident that an invoice precisely reflects the purchase. Automation plays a pivotal role in establishing this confidence. When both onboarding and invoice validation are automated, the subsequent journey to cash becomes remarkably more predictable and efficient. Furthermore, Bottomline's Paymode-X, with its network of over 550,000 authenticated suppliers, significantly bolsters trust between trading partners.

Data-Driven Front Ends: Elevating Buyer Expectations

Pamela Novoa Ralli, Head of Product Management at FIS, emphasized that this financial transformation originates at the data "front end." She noted a significant shift in buyer expectations, particularly since 2025, with customers now demanding real-time analytics, superior accuracy, and more intelligent utilization of their data. As Ralli put it, customers "expect analytics and the insight and the intelligence that you deliver to be 95% plus accurate."

This heightened expectation profoundly influences the entire buyer-seller relationship. Firms now seek both enhanced control and accelerated speed. While some prefer human intervention in every decision, others desire automation to operate autonomously in the background. Ralli acknowledged that these preferences often stem from organizational culture, necessitating flexible solutions capable of accommodating diverse approaches.

Overcoming Inertia: The Persistent Challenge of Paper-Based Processes

Feuerstein identified inertia as the most pervasive obstacle to improving "Time to Cash." Many organizations, he explained, are hindered by their "inability to stop doing the things that they have been doing for so many years." These deeply entrenched practices include manual approvals, paper-based invoicing, and spreadsheet-driven reporting. He critically described the U.S. B2B payments landscape as a "fragmented ecosystem of paper-based processes."

The core issue is not a lack of technological availability but rather a prevailing mindset. If processes are not perceived as strategic, they are often not prioritized for modernization. Organizations that recognize the back office as a strategic function are the ones successfully transitioning from manual routines to automated workflows, thereby supporting faster and more efficient cash cycles.

The Cost of Manual Work and Integration Debates

Manual processes inherently slow down every aspect of financial operations. Without automation, invoice validation takes longer, suppliers experience extended wait times for payment confirmation, and buyers struggle with accurate forecasting. These compounding frictions create avoidable delays that impact overall financial health.

Ravishankar addressed the strategic question of whether firms should consolidate their operations into a single system or leverage multiple specialized tools. He conceded that there is no universal answer, as companies often operate with a complex mix of legacy and newly acquired systems. While end-to-end control is appealing, he noted that "end to end is a tricky question" because selling, buying, and treasury functions do not always align perfectly within a singular platform. Instead, firms should prioritize the metrics that matter most and assemble tools around those specific objectives. Feuerstein concurred, emphasizing that accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) ecosystems rarely integrate flawlessly, making a robust data hub essential for comprehensive visibility.

Progress and Remaining Gaps: A Look at Industry Trends

Webster highlighted a significant finding from PYMNTS Intelligence: "71% of the CFOs that we talk to are doing well," indicating an improvement in their "Time to Cash" over the past year. However, the remaining segment of firms typically struggles due to outdated processes, unclear ownership of financial workflows, and the adoption of technology without complementary process redesign.

This represents a substantial market in urgent need of modernization. Ralli stressed that successful transformation requires balanced investment across people, processes, and technology. She cautioned that many companies invest heavily in technology but neglect the crucial organizational changes required to harness its full potential. Without dedicated champions, strong governance, and thoughtfully redesigned workflows, even advanced tools alone cannot effectively accelerate the cash cycle.

Feuerstein further underscored that real-time forecasting is entirely achievable with currently available tools. He pointed to advanced payment hubs and dashboards that consolidate data across various bank accounts and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, stating, "We are here and able to deliver and develop these systems." Firms that embrace these tools gain unparalleled visibility that is simply unattainable through traditional spreadsheets or manual reporting methods.

The Trust Curve of AI and Future Outlook

Ravishankar affirmed that AI is already delivering tangible returns on investment (ROI). On the buyer side, Coupa observes "about 5.8% savings" and "over 270% ROI" over three years. However, trust in AI develops gradually. Firms typically begin by applying AI in areas where they feel comfortable allowing autonomous action, progressively expanding its role as confidence grows.

Looking ahead, the executives collectively agreed that 2026 will necessitate enhanced data standardization, superior orchestration across disparate systems, and highly targeted AI capabilities designed to accelerate onboarding, invoice coding, and supplier verification processes. Feuerstein advised firms to re-evaluate their payment strategies and concentrate AI deployment in areas where it can yield the most significant impact.

Ralli concluded by emphasizing that CFOs require clear understanding of "what a machine can do versus what a human can," enabling them to make informed investment decisions. The consensus among the group was that the path for emerging enterprises to accelerate "Time to Cash" is a strategic blend of robust data, stringent control, and intelligent automation. By meticulously optimizing people, processes, and technology, firms can substantially compress the cash cycle, positioning themselves for superior, more predictable financial performance in the coming years.