Bridging the Automation Gap
A 15-page Baker Ing paper on why receivables automation stalls in the “hard tail” of disputes, complex billing and cross-border cases, and how to close the gap with a practical three-layer AR operating model combining systems, a finance CoE, and specialist execution.
Description
Bridging the Automation Gap examines why most finance teams overstate their level of automation, and where the real barriers to end-to-end receivables automation remain.
Built on current benchmarking data and frontline operational evidence, it maps the space between automation rhetoric and actual cash performance.
It covers:
- Automation maturity reality check: Findings from 2025 transformation studies showing 45% of finance teams claiming automation, but only 6% achieving advanced maturity.
- The hard-tail problem: Why 10–20% of invoices drive most of the workload, risk, and anxiety, and how automation typically breaks down across dispute, milestone, and cross-border cases.
- Three-layer operating model: A pragmatic structure for blending systems, finance centres of excellence, and specialist AR support to achieve full-ledger coverage.
- AI and coverage: Where agentic and conversational AI raise efficiency—and why human expertise remains essential at the high-value end of the ledger.
- Implementation roadmap: Steps to align automation, policy, and escalation logic around real-world working-capital outcomes.
For finance leaders, and credit-to-cash professionals, this paper defines what a genuinely automated receivables environment looks like – and how to bridge the gap between promise and practice.
Details
Length: 15 pages
Format: PDF
Published: January 2026
Publisher: Baker Ing
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Factsheet: USA
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