If you think accounts receivable (AR) is just a pile of financial paperwork, it’s time to rethink. Beyond the bookkeeping lies a powerful lever for cutting costs, fast-tracking revenue, protecting corporate financial health, and enhancing customer experiences. The key? AR automation. As companies search for ways to shed waste and drive growth, 75% of finance leaders have made AR automation a high or very high priority for 2025.
That’s just one eye-opening takeaway from independent research performed by global market intelligence provider IDC. Their team explored the proven gains from AR automation and groundbreaking advancements in AI. Their conclusion: Companies that use Billtrust’s AR automation solutions report a 384% ROI with payback happening in just 9 months. Users recognize millions in cost savings, efficiency improvements, and working capital – all thanks to an AR platform that’s AI intelligent, fully integrated, and built for the way business works today.
What else did they find? Get a free copy of the full IDC Business Value Report, and keep reading to see the real, measurable results reported by companies using Billtrust.
IDC’s Findings on Accounts Receivable Automation
IDC’s study of Billtrust customers shows just how powerful AR automation can be when done right:
384% ROI on average
For every dollar spent on Billtrust, companies got roughly $4.84 back
9-month average payback period
For most, it took less than a year for the savings and benefits to cover what was spent
Companies gained $3.6M in annual benefits
(things like lower payment-related costs and greater staff efficiency)
Those benefits translate to about $164,500 in value per 100,000 transactions processed.
$1.8M annual savings
on credit card processing fees
52% more transactions supported
per accounts receivable team member
34% efficiency gains
recognized in AR teams and 32% in customer support
These aren’t projections. They’re real results from companies across multiple industries that are using Billtrust to modernize their AR operations. The financial value is massive and undeniable. The right solution pays for itself.
Strategies Behind the Results: How Companies Hit these Numbers
The study points to four essential areas of focus.
1. Faster Cash Flow
The goal: Speed up how quickly payments come in and how fast those remittances are applied to each client account – all with the larger aim of making working capital more predictable.
How: Billtrust’s invoicing and payment solutions and automated cash application solutions
- Automate invoice distribution and payments, allowing customers to receive invoices through their preferred AP portals and pay through a secure, user-friendly online payment portal, reducing reliance on slower, manual methods like checks, phone payments, and invoices sent through the mail.
- Flag payment exceptions for quick review while processing most remittances using fully automated, straight-through processing, which eliminates bottlenecks and reduces manual reconciliation efforts.
- Automatically match incoming payments to the right invoices and accounts, even when remittance data is incomplete or comes through multiple channels.
The average results:
- Payments that used to sit unreconciled for 4-5 days are now applied within 24 to 48 hours
- Companies are lowering the number of days invoices are outstanding by 16% on average
2. Lower Payment Costs, Less Waste
The goal: Reduce the cost of getting paid and eliminate unnecessary expenses tied to payment processing.
How: Billtrust’s Payments automation solution
- Expand customers’ payment methodologies with virtual credit cards and ACH options.
- Guide customers to more cost-efficient payment channels through clear options.
- Automate payment processing workflows, reducing the hidden costs of manual handling and payment errors.
- Apply surcharges to credit card transactions, encourage customers to share the cost, or switch to lower-cost methods.
The average results:
- An average of $1.8M saved per year on credit card processing fees
- 6% fewer bad debt write-offs on average
- Smoother, faster payments that better facilitate and control cash flow
See how one Billtrust customer cut their credit card fees in half with greater adoption of ACH.
3. Breakthroughs in AR Efficiency
The goal: Eliminate repetitive manual work so finance teams can handle more volume with fewer human resources and focus on higher value tasks.
How: Billtrust’s automated invoicing, collections, and cash application solutions
- Connect and automate invoicing, payments, and collections activities, so teams aren’t buried in spreadsheets and manual tracking tasks.
- Streamline collections communication workflows using virtual assistants to summarize situations and draft emails as follow-ups.
- Scale to support growth without needing to expand headcount (or maintain output and quality while decreasing headcount).
The average results:
- 34% efficiency gains for AR teams
- 32% efficiency gains for customer support teams
- 20-25% efficiency gains for employee onboarding
4. Superior Payment Experiences for B2B Buyers
Accounts receivable is one financial function that directly touches the customer. That’s why AR modernization can strengthen customer loyalty and drive long-term value for business-to-business (B2B) buyers.
The goal: Deliver a smooth, transparent, and convenient payment experience that strengthens relationships among business partners.
How: Billtrust’s self-service portals and AI-powered, real-time analytics tools
- Easy-to-use self-service portals let customers view and download invoices, make payments online, and check their payment status anytime – this way everyone is on the same page.
- A single payment can be applied to multiple invoices. Plus, security and eInvoicing compliance are built-in, eliminating time-consuming phone calls and risky email exchanges.
- Gain complete, real-time visibility into invoice delivery, payment status, and customer collections activity to proactively solve problems and respond to customer issues with contextual intelligence.
The results: Fewer support calls, quicker issue resolution, and more satisfied, loyal customers.
IDC pulled out this customer quote in their research:
“What used to be contentious became collaborative. Greater visibility means less questions coming in, enabling our team to focus on solving real problems – identifying trends in the data and delivering an even better experience for customers.”
What Sets Billtrust Apart? Automation is Just the Start
The ultimate goal is to shift AR from a reactive, manual process to a proactive, revenue-generating engine. Automation is essential – a box Billtrust checks with ease – but we go further by combining a fully unified AR platform with groundbreaking AI innovation. Let’s take a closer look.
Unified AR: End-to-end Integration
Billtrust’s unified AR platform connects seamlessly with nearly any ERP system, AP portal, or financial partner, bringing data from across your ecosystem into one integrated view. That means true end-to-end visibility and control over your entire AR process – credit management, invoicing, payments, cash application, and collections – all from a single, easy-to-use dashboard.
Whether you want a high-level snapshot, need to drill down into the details, or want to benchmark your AR performance metrics against others in your industry, it’s all at your fingertips. And because Billtrust keeps customer data clean, organized, and continuously refreshed, you always have a clear, reliable view of AR operations.
This solid foundation sets the stage for the gains we’re exploring today, and for even bigger innovations that reinvent AR altogether.
AI-powered Automation – Your Quick Win
From automated cash application to automated reminders and escalations to stay on top of exceptions and collections, Billtrust infuses AI across the entire order-to-cash (O2C) lifecycle to improve productivity and cash flow.
Predictive Analytics – From Process to Strategy
Advanced AI analytics dashboards go beyond static charts and reports. They analyze patterns in AR metrics like DSO, payment trends, and team performance to surface insights, flag risks, and predict future outcomes and risks. With AI doing the heavy lifting, teams can spot issues before they escalate, forecasting cash flow with greater accuracy. Whether tracking performance month to month, planning staffing levels, or preparing for future business shifts, teams have the intelligence they need to plan with more confidence.
Human-like Reasoning – AI that Thinks Like You
Over 80% of AR leaders would be willing to pay a premium for AR software with embedded intelligence, according to IDC. That’s why Billtrust leads the way with groundbreaking advancements like Agentic AI and virtual assistants.
Agentic AI is a multi-agent AI ecosystem that uses specialized agents to collaborate in real-time across your financial operations, reasoning through requests and surfacing meaningful insights. It’s like having dedicated experts on call 24×7 who know about your financials and AR process. More advanced than Generative AI and large language models, Agentic AI is the next big thing – you can explore the research that backs it here.
A powerful example is Billtrust’s agentic email capabilities, which can boost productivity by up to 80%. AI agents automatically categorize incoming messages and then generate personalized, context-aware responses. Accenture estimates that only 6% of companies are truly at this level, and that’s a generous figure.
Challenges with Accounts Receivable Automation
IDC’s research highlights three main challenges with AR automation:
Challenge #1: Integration complexity, especially for legacy or highly customized systems.
Even with broad integration capabilities, connecting to legacy or heavily customized systems can pose significant challenges. Each project brings its own complexities, from mapping data and aligning workflows to ensuring smooth communication between systems that weren’t built to work together. The right partner can help you move faster and lift the burden on your IT team.
Challenge #2: Change management and training to help teams embrace new tools and workflows.
Customers should receive more than just a software platform. A trusted and experienced partner can help navigate these nuances through online and in-person training as well as a menu of professional services.
Here’s one example. A leading provider of industrial supplies wanted to increase their cash application match rate and productivity using automation and machine learning, but employees were concerned the shift would devalue their role. The company collaborated with Billtrust experts to create an incentive program that tied match rate improvements directly to team performance measurements, turning automation from a perceived threat into a shared success story. The program worked, helping the company increase their match rates by 42% and achieve productivity gains equivalent to 9 full-time employees.
Challenge #3: Data readiness so automation and AI can deliver accurate, actionable insights.
This is where the right data foundation is crucial. Billtrust safeguards customer data and powers its AI engine with insights from the industry’s largest network, backed by 25 years of AR software expertise specifically for finance operations. You can learn more about data readiness in this article: AI for AR.
What’s Your Next Move?
The payoff is hard to ignore. Read the full IDC Busines Value Report for all the insights, strategies, and results from companies pulling ahead with accounts receivable automation.
