Can finance teams continue to rely on manual workflows when the world around them is moving toward AI-driven precision?
The SSON Future of O2C 2025 Market Report offers a reality check: nearly half of global organizations are still battling manual inefficiencies, while high-performing enterprises are already embracing AI-powered Order-to-Cash (O2C) automation to build resilience and speed.
This blog explores the five most important insights from the SSON report and reveals how Emagia’s Autonomous Finance Platform empowers global enterprises to overcome inefficiencies, accelerate cash flow, and deliver superior financial performance.
The Cost of Manual Processes Is No Longer Sustainable
Manual processes are no longer a small inconvenience; they’ve become a critical constraint. The report highlights a 19% year-over-year increase in organizations struggling with manual O2C workflows. Economic uncertainty and rising costs have made efficiency a business necessity. In fact, 68% of O2C teams now identify automation as their top priority for 2025 and beyond.
Organizations bogged down by manual data entry, remittance matching, and reconciliation find themselves losing both time and money. It is becoming increasingly difficult to deny that automation is becoming more a fundamental necessity for business continuity and competitiveness than a sort of “forward-looking” option.
Emagia’s Advantage:
Emagia’s AI-powered digital assistant, Gia, automates over 95% of cash application processes, minimizing manual intervention and ensuring seamless data capture from diverse sources, check images, lockbox files, emails, and PDFs. This intelligent automation drastically reduces processing times, improves accuracy, and allows finance professionals to focus on strategic decision-making.
Selective Automation Delivers Maximum Value
While automation adoption is growing, the report reveals that 57% of organizations have automated cash application, the highest among O2C functions. Yet, challenges such as legacy system integration (29%) and unclear ROI (28%) persist, often limiting scalability.
The new trend emerging in 2025 is selective automation, focusing investments where automation delivers the greatest and most measurable impact. Organizations that adopt a “value-driven precision” approach rather than blanket digitization are seeing faster ROI and more sustainable transformation.
Emagia’s Advantage:
With pre-built connectors to more than 170 global and local banks and seamless integration with SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, JDE, and PeopleSoft, Emagia eliminates the integration barriers that stall many projects. Its single, AI-powered cash application engine enables automation across multiple ERP systems, achieving agility, consistency, and scalability across global enterprises.
Balancing Efficiency with Customer Experience
Automation should never come at the cost of relationships. Yet, the report finds that 44% of organizations have only moderate focus on customer-centricity within O2C. Finance teams are now realizing that faster collections and improved satisfaction go hand-in-hand.
Modern O2C transformation requires combining digital efficiency with empathy. Businesses that deliver quick responses, proactive communication, and easy issue resolution will differentiate themselves through superior customer experience.
Emagia’s Advantage:
Emagia’s AI copilot, Gia, transforms customer engagement by enabling digital assistance through chat, voice, and email. Gia automatically follows up on payments, collects remittance data, and triages support tickets intelligently. Clients have reported CSAT improvements from 2.1 to 2.9, illustrating that Emagia’s AI can humanize automation—enhancing satisfaction while driving operational excellence.
Cash Flow Acceleration and DSO Reduction Remain Top Priorities
The SSON report reaffirms that reducing Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and improving cash flow are still at the core of finance transformation. Late payments and liquidity constraints continue to challenge businesses.
A key finding from the report: a leading med-tech company achieved a 7.6-day DSO reduction, unlocking $125 million in cash inflow. However, leading organizations powered by intelligent automation are achieving far better results.
Emagia’s Advantage:
Emagia’s clients consistently report 25% DSO reduction within nine months, outpacing industry benchmarks. The platform’s AI-driven collections automation, predictive matching, and analytics ensure prioritized follow-ups and faster recoveries. In one case, a manufacturing company reduced DSO from 55 to 40 days, saving nearly $1 million annually and cutting bad debts by $750,000. Emagia proves that when cash flows freely, growth follows naturally.
Data-Driven Decision-Making Defines the Future
In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) market, organizations can’t rely on intuition. The report highlights that while leaders recognize the importance of advanced analytics and forecasting, nearly 50% still use basic segmentation and reactive analysis.
Finance teams that can see beyond the numbers, predicting customer payment behaviour, identifying risks early, and forecasting liquidity, will have a clear competitive edge.
Emagia’s Advantage:
Emagia’s AI-driven O2C Analytics brings advanced predictive capabilities to finance teams through 50+ pre-built dashboards. From real-time DSO monitoring to cash flow forecasting and collector performance tracking, Emagia transforms raw data into actionable insight. CFOs gain real-time visibility into working capital health and can make faster, data-backed strategic decisions.
How Emagia’s Autonomous Finance Platform Drives Industry-Leading Outcomes
While many organizations are still experimenting with partial automation, Emagia has already demonstrated the power of true autonomy in the Order-to-Cash process. Across industries, companies using Emagia’s platform have achieved over 95% touchless cash application, far exceeding the industry average of 57%. They have reported more than 25% reduction in Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), accelerating cash flow and strengthening working capital. Customer experience has also significantly improved, with CSAT scores rising from 2.1 to 2.9, reflecting faster responses and smarter communication.
Emagia and its organically built, end-to-end platforms and systems provide hard-to-find seamless connectivity with over 170 global and regional banks and all major ERP systems, ensuring scalability and agility for global enterprises. Financially, the impact is transformative—organizations are realizing $5 miillion to$10 million in additional order acceptance, directly contributing to revenue growth.
Emagia’s autonomous finance platform is redefining what world-class O2C performance looks like, empowering businesses to move beyond automation toward true financial autonomy and excellence.
Conclusion: From Automation to Autonomy
The Future of O2C 2025 Report underscores one clear truth: finance transformation is no longer about partial digitization, it’s about end-to-end autonomy.
As the global business landscape becomes more complex, Emagia’s AI-powered O2C automation platform enables organizations to not only adapt but to lead, with measurable results in efficiency, customer experience, and cash flow.
Emagia continues to set the standard for what’s possible when intelligence, innovation, and impact converge, powering the next era of autonomous finance.
FAQs
What is Order-to-Cash (O2C) automation?
O2C automation streamlines the entire process of receiving and applying customer payments using AI and digital technologies, improving cash flow and operational efficiency.
How does AI improve DSO reduction?
AI predicts payment behavior, prioritizes collections, and accelerates cash application—helping organizations achieve faster DSO reductions and improved working capital.
What makes Emagia’s platform unique?
Emagia offers an AI-powered autonomous finance platform with over 95% automation, 170+ bank integrations, and advanced analytics that provide complete visibility into cash flow and customer risk.
Can Emagia integrate with existing ERP systems?
Yes. Emagia seamlessly integrates with leading ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, JDE, and PeopleSoft, ensuring smooth implementation without disruption.
Who benefits most from Emagia’s O2C automation?
Enterprises with complex, high-volume receivables processes—especially in industries like manufacturing, CPG, telecom, and technology—see the greatest ROI from Emagia’s solutions.
