As anyone in the sharp end of any sort of business soon learns, the order-to-cash (O2C) cycle is essential for competitiveness, liquidity and customer experience.

It covers all the processes that happen around fulfilling customer orders and banking the cash. Because it’s so core, one might be forgiven for thinking there’s little room for improvement.

In reality, optimising it can be transformative. Yet only 5% of mid-sized firms have fully automated their accounts receivable processes.

In practice, this translates to a lot of Excel, siloed systems and manual data entry. Leaving a core B2B business process behind in this way leads to inefficiencies and cash flow risks. The result is weak control over working capital, customers frustrated by slow and inaccurate processes and limited visibility into the business to deliver fully accurate financial forecasts.

A groundswell of O2C evolution

It’s no wonder many industries are moving to modernise O2C. Doing so not only mitigates risks like inefficiencies and cash-flow issues, but also ensures a tremendous business advantage all on its own: a seamless experience for customers. This is critical as most merchants operate online and in physical locations, and buyers, especially digital natives, expect a consistent experience across all channels. So what’s the next step?

Unsurprisingly, the catalyst for this optimisation is integrated, digital business software. Modern platforms let you optimise individual O2C steps (e.g., receiving orders, fulfillment or shipping etc.) or support a more ambitious end-to-end automation. AI is increasingly providing practical tools and insights by analysing payment data to spot anomalies, predicting defaults and proactively mitigating risks.

AI can also be used to personalise communications for small and large buyers, significantly reducing the manual burden on account teams while improving the overall O2C customer experience.

A positive vision for O2C improvement

Automated communication also streamlines disputes and improves the buyer experience. AI boosts fraud detection, particularly in AML (anti-money laundering) and KYC (know your customer) checks—speeding up payment posting, freeing up credit capacity and enabling buyers to continue purchasing without delay. On the horizon, AI models can predict potential customer loss based on account, purchasing and payment history, enabling a brand to proactively re-engage and preserve key relationships.

The to-do list:

• Reframe order-to-cash transformation as a potential growth engine and CRM (customer relationship management) tool, not merely a back office workhorse.
• Use technology automation to enhance the entire O2C process or improve it step by step, learning as you go.
• Set up strong cross-functional teams so the O2C vision takes hold and remains sustainable.
• Build momentum through small wins and incremental improvements.
• Decide whether to manage internally or draw on some third-party expertise to save time.

Reconsidering the role of O2C will make or break business performance in 2026.

Inez Berkhof-Hollander is EMEA Vice President for TreviPay, the global B2B payments network