Static AR reports and inherited ERPs can no longer keep pace with a PE hold period. This guide breaks down what order-to-cash actually requires to move equity value, where traditional remedies fall short, and how seven AI agents on top of existing systems can release cash without a multi-year consolidation.
Working-capital improvement is no longer optional
Pricing, procurement and headcount have already been worked across the mid-market. The balance sheet has not. Roughly $600 billion sits trapped in receivables across the top 1,000 U.S. public companies. Top-quartile performers collect 18 days faster than the median. And 83% of firms still have not fully automated accounts receivable. Full ERP consolidation runs 18 to 36 months — often as long as the hold — with 50–75% of projects exceeding budget, timeline or expected benefits.
This guide explores how Operating Partners are moving beyond worklists and BPO to run 80–90% of O2C operations autonomously on the ERPs a portfolio company already runs.
What’s inside
- Why order-to-cash is a balance-sheet lever in the 100-day plan — and why the P&L / exit-multiple channel is usually missing from the model
- A cash-release matrix from $50M to $500M of revenue, plus the two constraints that decide whether the improvement counts: Year-1 timing and the working-capital peg
- Why ERP consolidation, offshore BPO and more AR headcount do not fit a hold period — and how an ERP-agnostic overlay produces one roll-up DSO in weeks to months
- The seven O2C AI agents (Order, Credit, Billing, Collections, Deductions, Cash Application, Payments) and the Global Command Center: leakage point, what the agent does, KPI it moves
- Outcomes modelled or observed by function, including +134% digital order intake, +138% automated credit decisions, 15–30% less invoice effort, 15–25% DSO reduction, 43% faster dispute resolution, 90–98% cash-application STP versus 40–70% rules-based, and 20–30% better digital payment adoption
- Three diagnostic questions and five data points already in any AR system, resolving to an industry entry point (deductions in CPG; order + cash application in distribution; billing + collections in industrials and professional services)
