How AI Is Changing Payment Reconciliation in AR is a story of transformation, driven by intelligent systems that replace outdated manual methods with powerful automation. By blending AI reconciliation with Accounts Receivable (AR) automation, businesses are redesigning financial operations to achieve reduced manual workload, enhanced accuracy, and faster cash flow cycles. This article explores every dimension of the change, covering technologies such as transaction matching, data extraction & cleansing, machine learning algorithms, predictive analytics, and real-time reporting—all woven into modern AR process transformation.
Introduction to AI Reconciliation and AR Process Transformation
In the traditional finance office, reconciliation meant hours of manual work: matching payments to invoices, cross-checking records, resolving exceptions, and preparing compliance reports. Accounts receivable teams spent valuable time on repetitive tasks that added little strategic value. Errors were common, Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) stretched longer, and the lack of real-time visibility made forecasting difficult.
AI reconciliation is the breakthrough that changes this landscape. By applying workflow automation, data extraction & cleansing, and machine learning algorithms, AR teams can now move beyond spreadsheets and delayed updates. AI not only performs tasks faster but also learns from patterns, adapts to new formats of remittances, and proactively highlights discrepancies for exception handling.
This shift represents more than just efficiency. It’s the start of AR process transformation. Digital payment workflows, automated invoice delivery, electronic payment presentment, and remittance matching ensure businesses handle transactions with speed and reliability. As finance leaders adopt AI reconciliation software, AR is evolving from a reactive function into a proactive driver of business growth.
Key Benefits at a Glance
- Enhanced accuracy through predictive analytics
- Reduced manual workload with automation
- Real-time reporting and cash visibility
- Adaptive AI models that evolve with data
- Compliance & audit transparency built-in
Core Technologies Powering AI in Payment Reconciliation
At the heart of modern AI reconciliation are several interconnected technologies. Each plays a vital role in moving financial workflows from reactive correction to proactive management. Let’s explore them in detail.
Machine Learning Algorithms
Machine learning algorithms analyze historical payment data, invoice patterns, and customer behavior. These models continuously improve their accuracy in payment matching rules. Over time, they adapt to irregularities such as partial payments, bulk and credit note payments, or even mislabeled remittances. This adaptive AI approach reduces human error and improves long-term accuracy.
Predictive Analytics
Predictive analytics is a game changer for AR. Instead of waiting for late payments to occur, finance teams can now forecast potential delays and take proactive measures. This capability allows early intervention through customer communication AI, automated reminders, or adjustments in credit policy. Predictive insights also enhance financial close automation and cash forecasting.
Data Extraction & Cleansing
Every AR team struggles with inconsistent remittance formats, mismatched invoice numbers, and data spread across multiple systems. Data extraction & cleansing powered by AI ensures clean, standardized inputs. This improves automated reconciliation and prepares data for downstream processes like discrepancy detection, compliance safeguards, and fraud detection.
Text Analytics & NLP
Natural language processing (NLP) is vital in interpreting unstructured remittance advice, emails, and even handwritten payment notes. AI reconciliation software equipped with text analytics converts these inputs into structured formats that can be matched against invoices. This reduces manual review and accelerates reconciliation timelines.
Generative AI for Communication
Beyond automation, generative AI enhances customer communication. It drafts personalized emails, payment reminders, and dispute management responses that align with company tone. This application humanizes automation, turning AR into a customer-friendly process while maintaining efficiency.
Adaptive AI
Adaptive AI evolves with business needs. For example, when a company expands globally and begins accepting new payment methods or currencies, adaptive AI recalibrates reconciliation rules automatically. This ensures scalability and long-term sustainability without constant reprogramming.
Automated Cash Application and Payment Matching
One of the most critical pain points in AR is cash application—the process of matching customer payments to open invoices. Traditionally, this involved manually reviewing bank statements, payment files, and remittance advice, then updating ERP systems. This not only consumed time but also delayed visibility into working capital.
The Role of AI in Cash Application
AI-powered cash application automates the entire cycle. Payment matching rules, enhanced by machine learning, automatically link payments to the correct invoices. Even complex cases such as bulk payments or partial settlements are handled with precision. The outcome is faster reconciliation, improved accuracy, and near real-time cash visibility.
Remittance Matching and Bulk Payments
Remittance matching has historically been a bottleneck because customers often submit remittance advice in various formats. AI reconciliation software reads PDFs, emails, spreadsheets, and portal data, then maps them to invoices automatically. For bulk and credit note payments, AI applies advanced logic to split amounts correctly across multiple invoices.
Dispute Management and Exception Handling
When payments don’t match invoices, exceptions arise. Traditionally, this required back-and-forth between AR staff and customers, leading to delays. AI reconciliation tools now flag discrepancies, categorize them, and even suggest resolutions. Some systems escalate disputes automatically with customer communication AI, ensuring faster resolution and reduced Days Sales Outstanding (DSO).
Workflow Automation for Payment Matching
Workflow automation ensures that once a payment is received, the matching, posting, and reporting steps happen seamlessly. Integrated with ERP and CRM systems, AI reconciliation software delivers real-time updates across finance, sales, and customer support teams. Automated alerts notify stakeholders about high-value payments, discrepancies, or pending disputes, improving transparency.
Case Study: Reducing Manual Workload by 80%
A multinational manufacturer adopted AI reconciliation software integrated with ERP and payment gateways automation. Within six months, the company reduced manual workload by 80%, shortened reconciliation cycles from days to hours, and improved compliance & audit transparency. The finance team shifted focus from manual data entry to strategic tasks like forecasting and proactive fraud prevention.
Exception Handling, Fraud Detection, and Discrepancy Detection
In the world of accounts receivable, exceptions are unavoidable. Customers make partial payments, invoices are misapplied, or payment references arrive in non-standard formats. Traditionally, resolving these issues required days of detective work. AI reconciliation changes this by identifying patterns, detecting anomalies, and routing exceptions to the right stakeholders.
AI-Powered Exception Handling
Exception handling is one of the most resource-intensive areas of AR. AI reconciliation software monitors all payment streams in real time. When a mismatch occurs, it doesn’t just flag the issue—it categorizes the type of discrepancy. For example, the system may identify a missing invoice reference, an incorrect amount, or a duplicate payment. This structured categorization saves time and ensures issues are escalated to the right person immediately.
Fraud Detection and Proactive Fraud Prevention
Fraud detection is no longer about spotting issues after the damage is done. AI systems combine predictive analytics, data extraction & cleansing, and behavioral modeling to monitor transactions as they happen. Suspicious activities—like unusual payment amounts, new account details, or mismatched vendor records—trigger automated alerts. This enables proactive fraud prevention before financial losses occur.
Advanced AI reconciliation software uses machine learning algorithms to establish a baseline of normal activity for each customer. If a transaction deviates significantly from the expected behavior, the system raises a red flag. Over time, the models learn and refine themselves, reducing false positives while increasing detection accuracy.
Discrepancy Detection
Discrepancy detection goes beyond exception management. AI compares payment information, remittance advice, and invoices across multiple systems—ERP, CRM, and bank statements. Any inconsistencies are highlighted in real time. For example, if a customer pays using a different bank account than usual, the system checks compliance safeguards and flags the discrepancy for review.
Compliance and Audit Transparency
Regulators and auditors demand visibility. AI reconciliation creates digital audit trails, logging every decision the system makes. Exception handling, fraud detection, and discrepancy detection steps are all recorded. This audit transparency not only satisfies compliance requirements but also improves internal governance, making financial close automation faster and more reliable.
Real-Time Reporting, ERP Integration, and Workflow Automation
For years, finance teams struggled with delayed reporting. Monthly or quarterly reconciliation left leaders blind to real-time cash positions. Today, AI reconciliation integrates with ERP systems, CRM platforms, and accounting software to deliver live reporting and instant alerts. This ensures decision-makers always have the latest insights.
Real-Time Reporting and Dashboards
Real-time reporting transforms how AR teams operate. Dashboards powered by AI provide continuous updates on collections, open invoices, and discrepancies. Executives no longer wait for end-of-month reports—they can see key performance indicators in real time, including Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), dispute resolution times, and fraud detection alerts.
ERP and CRM Integration
ERP integration is at the core of effective AI reconciliation. Automated invoice delivery, electronic payment presentment, and automated alerts all rely on data synchronization across systems. With ERP and CRM & accounting software integration, every department—finance, sales, operations—shares a unified view of payment activity. This improves collaboration and reduces silos across the business.
Workflow Automation and Live Reconciliation Interfaces
Workflow automation eliminates manual handoffs. Once a payment is received, AI automatically matches it, posts it to the ledger, and updates dashboards. If exceptions occur, automated alerts trigger dispute management workflows. Live reconciliation interfaces allow AR teams to monitor transactions as they happen, with AI agents resolving most tasks without human intervention.
Automated Alerts for Key Stakeholders
Automated alerts ensure stakeholders stay informed without drowning in unnecessary data. For instance, the CFO may receive alerts about high-value discrepancies, while AR clerks are notified about customer communication needs. This targeted communication improves efficiency and reduces noise, ensuring the right people take action at the right time.
Case Example: ERP Integration at Scale
A global logistics company implemented AI reconciliation with ERP integration across 12 countries. Previously, reconciliation cycles took up to 10 days. After adopting workflow automation and real-time dashboards, the company achieved same-day reconciliation. DSO dropped by 15%, and financial close automation reduced the workload during quarter-end reporting by 40%.
Efficiency, Scalability, and Reducing Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
Efficiency and scalability are the ultimate promises of AI reconciliation. By automating repetitive tasks, AR teams gain more time for strategic work. Scalability ensures that as transaction volumes grow, processes don’t collapse under pressure. Perhaps most importantly, AI directly impacts cash flow by reducing Days Sales Outstanding (DSO).
Efficiency Through Reduced Manual Workload
Manual reconciliation is error-prone and exhausting. With AI reconciliation, tasks such as remittance matching, discrepancy detection, and exception handling run automatically. This reduces human error and frees finance teams from data entry. Employees can now focus on higher-value activities like compliance analysis, strategic planning, and proactive fraud prevention.
Scalability With Adaptive AI
Businesses rarely remain static. As companies expand into new markets, adopt new payment gateways, or process bulk and credit note payments, AI reconciliation adapts seamlessly. Adaptive AI adjusts payment matching rules and updates workflows automatically, ensuring scalability without additional IT overhead.
Impact on Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
DSO measures the average time it takes to collect payments. High DSO ties up working capital and strains liquidity. AI reconciliation shortens DSO by accelerating payment matching, improving dispute management, and enabling faster exception resolution. Automated invoice delivery and customer communication AI also encourage customers to pay on time, further reducing DSO.
Enhanced Accuracy and Forecasting
Accuracy is essential for strategic decision-making. AI reconciliation enhances accuracy by ensuring invoices and payments are always aligned. This precision improves forecasting models, enabling CFOs to predict cash flows with confidence. Predictive analytics and real-time reporting create a proactive financial culture instead of a reactive one.
Efficiency and Scalability Case Study
An international retail chain faced seasonal spikes in transaction volumes, overwhelming its AR department. After deploying AI reconciliation software with workflow automation, the company scaled effortlessly during peak seasons. Manual workload dropped by 70%, and reconciliation cycles were completed in hours instead of weeks. Cash flow improved significantly, and DSO fell from 55 days to 35 days within one fiscal year.
Customer-Centric Outreach and Communication
Payment reconciliation isn’t just about internal efficiency—it directly affects customer relationships. Inaccuracies or delays in applying payments can frustrate customers and damage trust. AI-driven reconciliation systems play a vital role in creating a customer-centric approach to collections and dispute management.
Personalized Customer Communication
One of the most powerful ways AI improves accounts receivable is through personalized communication. AI systems analyze past interactions, payment behavior, and customer preferences to tailor outreach. Instead of generic reminders, customers receive communication that speaks to their specific circumstances, whether it’s a personalized payment plan, a reminder about early payment discounts, or a follow-up on a pending invoice.
Predictive Analytics for Customer Behavior
Predictive analytics enables finance teams to anticipate customer payment behavior. By examining historical data and current trends, AI models can forecast when a customer is likely to pay, who might need a reminder, and who poses a collection risk. This proactive approach ensures resources are allocated efficiently and customer outreach is both timely and effective.
Reducing Disputes and Enhancing Transparency
Disputes are a major cause of delayed payments. AI reconciliation reduces disputes by enhancing transparency in communication. Automated invoice delivery ensures customers receive accurate documentation, while real-time reconciliation interfaces give them visibility into their account status. This transparency builds trust and reduces friction in the payment process.
AI-Powered Customer Self-Service Portals
Many businesses are adopting AI-powered customer self-service portals. These portals allow customers to view invoices, confirm payments, and resolve discrepancies without waiting for AR staff. AI chatbots embedded in these platforms provide instant assistance, guiding customers through payment options or clarifying common issues. This reduces AR workload while improving customer satisfaction.
Customer Communication Case Example
A SaaS provider with thousands of small business customers used to struggle with late payments and frequent disputes. After implementing AI-driven personalized communication and self-service portals, dispute volumes decreased by 40%. Customers reported improved satisfaction due to faster resolution times and transparency. At the same time, the AR team could focus more on strategic tasks instead of fielding repetitive customer queries.
Integration Scope Across Industries and Platforms
AI reconciliation isn’t limited to a single type of business—it’s versatile across industries and platforms. From global enterprises to small and medium businesses, AI-driven reconciliation integrates seamlessly with ERP, CRM, and accounting software. Its adaptability ensures organizations across verticals benefit from the same level of automation and intelligence.
Global Enterprises and Multinational Operations
Large enterprises with multinational operations face complex reconciliation challenges. Multiple currencies, diverse payment methods, and regional compliance requirements create a highly fragmented process. AI reconciliation platforms integrate across these diverse ecosystems, standardizing workflows and ensuring compliance with local and international regulations. This scalability makes AI essential for multinational corporations.
Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs)
While global enterprises gain efficiency and scalability, SMBs benefit from affordability and reduced manual workload. AI reconciliation tools are increasingly offered as SaaS solutions with modular pricing, making them accessible to smaller companies. This democratization ensures even businesses with limited AR teams can benefit from automation and predictive analytics.
Industry-Specific Use Cases
Each industry faces unique reconciliation challenges. In retail, bulk and credit note payments must be processed quickly during seasonal peaks. In manufacturing, invoice delivery and electronic payment presentment need to align with supply chain timelines. In healthcare, compliance safeguards and audit transparency are critical. AI reconciliation platforms adapt workflows to fit these specialized needs.
Integration With Banking and Payment Gateways
Beyond ERP and CRM, AI reconciliation extends to banks and payment gateways. Automated bank feeds, real-time payment notifications, and fraud detection systems feed directly into reconciliation workflows. This integration ensures a continuous flow of information from the moment a payment is initiated to its final posting in the general ledger.
Case Example: Multi-Industry Adoption
A financial technology provider deployed AI reconciliation solutions across clients in retail, logistics, and healthcare. Despite vastly different business models, the same AI engine adapted to each environment. Retail clients reduced seasonal reconciliation delays, logistics companies improved compliance across international operations, and healthcare providers achieved faster audit readiness with digital trails. The versatility of AI proved its value across industries.
Multi-Source Matching and Data Harmonization
Traditional reconciliation systems often struggled with fragmented data sources—bank statements, invoices, remittance advice, CRM records, and payment gateways. AI reconciliation overcomes this through multi-source matching and data harmonization, ensuring a unified view of financial activity.
Multi-Source Data Matching
Multi-source matching enables AI to align payment details from disparate systems. For example, a single payment may be reflected differently across a bank statement, an ERP system, and a customer remittance. AI algorithms extract, cleanse, and match this information, creating a consistent and accurate record. This eliminates manual cross-checking and reduces errors.
Data Harmonization Across Platforms
Data harmonization ensures information from different platforms is compatible. AI systems standardize formats, reconcile terminology, and create unified taxonomies. This harmonization allows for accurate reporting, predictive analytics, and compliance transparency. It also makes integration with future systems easier, ensuring organizations remain agile in their financial operations.
Enhancing Accuracy Through Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Many remittance advices arrive in unstructured formats such as emails or PDFs. Natural Language Processing (NLP) allows AI to read and interpret these documents, extracting key details like invoice numbers, payment amounts, and references. This capability dramatically improves accuracy in data extraction and reduces reliance on manual intervention.
Cross-Border and Multi-Currency Reconciliation
Multi-source matching is especially critical for cross-border transactions. Currency conversions, regional banking formats, and international remittance structures add complexity. AI reconciliation handles these seamlessly by applying exchange rates, detecting anomalies, and ensuring compliance with international accounting standards. This makes global operations significantly smoother.
Multi-Source Matching Case Example
A European e-commerce company processing thousands of daily payments struggled with discrepancies between bank feeds, customer remittances, and internal ERP data. After implementing AI reconciliation with multi-source matching, the company reduced errors by 80%. Data harmonization allowed the finance team to generate real-time dashboards, providing accurate visibility into global cash flow for the first time.
Future Trends in AI Reconciliation and Accounts Receivable
As organizations embrace digital-first strategies, AI reconciliation will continue to evolve. The technology is no longer limited to simple transaction matching; it is now shaping the future of financial ecosystems with adaptive AI, predictive modeling, and generative intelligence. Looking ahead, several key trends will transform how businesses approach AR automation and payment reconciliation.
Adaptive AI for Dynamic Workflows
Adaptive AI refers to models that continuously learn from new data and improve their accuracy over time. Instead of being static, these algorithms evolve with changing customer behavior, new payment formats, and emerging financial regulations. This adaptability ensures that reconciliation workflows remain effective even in volatile markets.
Generative AI for Finance Communication
Generative AI is increasingly being used to draft personalized customer messages, summarize financial close processes, and even generate automated compliance reports. In AR, generative AI can craft customized payment reminders, resolve customer disputes through conversational bots, and create easy-to-understand summaries for senior executives. This reduces communication bottlenecks and enhances efficiency.
Embedded AI in Payment Gateways
Payment gateways are evolving beyond transaction processors. With embedded AI, they can now detect fraud in real time, apply reconciliation rules automatically, and communicate with ERP systems instantly. Businesses using such gateways experience smoother cash application and fewer exceptions, streamlining the entire digital payment workflow.
Real-Time Financial Close Automation
The future of financial close is moving toward real-time. AI-driven automation enables organizations to close books faster by continuously reconciling transactions throughout the month. Instead of waiting until period-end, finance teams can achieve continuous accuracy, ensuring compliance and providing leadership with timely insights.
Proactive Fraud Prevention
Fraud prevention is shifting from reactive monitoring to proactive safeguards. AI-powered fraud detection tools analyze millions of transactions in real time, spotting unusual patterns and blocking suspicious activity before it escalates. This evolution is particularly important for large enterprises dealing with high transaction volumes and cross-border payments.
AI-Driven Workforce Transformation
Automation does not eliminate finance jobs—it transforms them. As AI takes over repetitive tasks like remittance matching and invoice management, finance professionals move into strategic roles. They focus on analyzing predictive analytics, improving customer relationships, and ensuring compliance. This shift enhances job satisfaction and organizational value creation.
Best Practices for Implementing AI Reconciliation
Successful AI reconciliation implementation requires more than just technology adoption. Organizations must approach the process with careful planning, integration strategies, and change management to unlock maximum benefits. Below are best practices to guide a smooth transition.
Align AI Goals with Business Objectives
Before deploying AI reconciliation software, finance leaders must define clear objectives. Is the goal to reduce Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), improve compliance safeguards, or minimize manual workload? By aligning AI initiatives with business priorities, organizations ensure measurable outcomes and stakeholder buy-in.
Ensure Seamless ERP and CRM Integration
Integration scope plays a critical role in AR process transformation. AI reconciliation systems must connect seamlessly with ERP platforms, CRM solutions, and accounting software. This ensures smooth data flow, efficient payment scheduling, and consistent reporting across business units.
Invest in Data Cleansing and Preparation
AI algorithms are only as strong as the data they process. Organizations should prioritize data extraction and cleansing to remove duplicates, fix formatting issues, and standardize transaction details. Clean data accelerates reconciliation accuracy and reduces exceptions in workflows.
Build a Change-Ready Culture
Adopting AI-driven reconciliation often requires a cultural shift. Finance professionals may initially resist automation due to fear of redundancy. Leaders must communicate the benefits clearly—emphasizing reduced manual workload, enhanced accuracy, and opportunities for skill development. Training programs should focus on new responsibilities like managing AI alerts, analyzing predictive analytics, and improving dispute management.
Monitor, Measure, and Optimize
Implementation is only the first step. Organizations must continuously monitor AI reconciliation performance using real-time reporting and dashboards. Key metrics include exception handling rates, dispute resolution times, and customer satisfaction. By measuring outcomes and fine-tuning workflows, businesses ensure long-term success.
How Emagia Transforms Payment Reconciliation with AI
Emagia stands out as a pioneer in AR process transformation by embedding advanced AI reconciliation tools across its digital finance platform. Its approach goes beyond basic automation, focusing on end-to-end workflow automation and customer-centric engagement. With Emagia, businesses achieve efficiency, scalability, and transparency at every stage of the accounts receivable cycle.
Advanced AI Reconciliation Software
Emagia’s AI reconciliation software leverages machine learning algorithms, NLP, and predictive analytics to deliver unmatched accuracy. It extracts and harmonizes data from multiple sources, applies payment matching rules, and flags discrepancies instantly through automated alerts. This reduces exceptions and accelerates cash application cycles.
Seamless ERP and CRM Integration
One of Emagia’s strengths lies in its integration scope. The platform connects seamlessly with leading ERP systems, CRM platforms, and banking networks. Whether dealing with bulk and credit note payments, e-invoice generation, or payroll reconciliation, Emagia ensures financial data flows securely and consistently across all systems.
Customer Communication AI
Emagia incorporates generative AI for customer communication, enhancing dispute management and proactive reminders. Its live reconciliation interface allows customers to track payments in real time, while AI chatbots handle common queries and remittance matching tasks. This improves customer satisfaction while reducing AR team workload.
Compliance and Audit Transparency
Audit transparency and compliance safeguards are embedded into Emagia’s workflows. Every reconciled transaction is logged, traceable, and audit-ready. This ensures businesses remain compliant with evolving regulations while maintaining proactive fraud prevention strategies.
Efficiency and Scalability for Growth
As businesses scale, Emagia grows with them. Its AI reconciliation adapts to increased transaction volumes, new payment gateways automation, and complex digital payment workflows. This scalability ensures organizations remain competitive in fast-paced markets while keeping financial operations lean and efficient.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI Reconciliation
What is AI reconciliation in accounts receivable?
AI reconciliation in AR refers to the use of machine learning algorithms and workflow automation to match, validate, and post payments automatically. It reduces manual intervention and improves accuracy.
How does AI improve cash application?
AI enhances cash application by extracting remittance details, applying payment matching rules, and posting payments in real time. This speeds up reconciliation and lowers Days Sales Outstanding (DSO).
Can AI reconciliation reduce fraud risks?
Yes, AI reconciliation includes fraud detection tools and proactive fraud prevention safeguards. It monitors transactions for unusual activity and alerts finance teams instantly.
Is AI reconciliation software suitable for small businesses?
Absolutely. Many AI reconciliation solutions, including SaaS-based platforms, are designed to be affordable and scalable, making them suitable for small and medium businesses as well as enterprises.
How does AI handle exception management?
AI automates exception handling by flagging discrepancies, providing root cause analysis, and suggesting corrective actions. This reduces delays and minimizes manual workload for finance teams.
Does AI reconciliation integrate with existing ERP and CRM systems?
Yes. Leading AI reconciliation platforms are designed with broad integration scope, ensuring seamless compatibility with ERP, CRM, and accounting software for end-to-end financial visibility.
What role does NLP play in reconciliation?
Natural Language Processing (NLP) enables AI to extract data from unstructured sources such as remittance emails or PDFs. This improves accuracy in matching payments with invoices.
Conclusion
Payment reconciliation has traditionally been one of the most resource-intensive aspects of accounts receivable management. With the advent of AI reconciliation, organizations are experiencing unprecedented levels of accuracy, efficiency, and scalability. From reducing manual workload and enhancing compliance to enabling predictive analytics and customer-centric communication, AI is redefining AR process transformation.
Businesses that embrace AI-driven reconciliation are not only improving cash flow and reducing Days Sales Outstanding but also positioning themselves for long-term resilience. With adaptive AI, proactive fraud prevention, and integration across ERP, CRM, and payment gateways, the future of reconciliation is intelligent, automated, and customer-focused.
As the financial landscape continues to evolve, companies that invest in AI reconciliation will gain a competitive advantage. They will benefit from digital payment workflows, compliance safeguards, and workflow automation that drive sustainable growth and profitability in an increasingly complex market.