Order-to-Cash Automation Solution

IntelliChief’s Order-to-Cash Solution lets you electronically collect and automatically process your customer orders in your ERP, whether you receive orders in the mail or via email, fax, or EDI. You can get started with getting control of your order-to-cash process once an order is received, no matter where the sale is made.  From there, the process is streamlined and automated, ensuring orders and timely And you don’t have to waste time manually entering an order into your ERP system.

What Is the O2C Cycle Process?

Depending on the business type, the Order-to-Cash or O2C cycle might differ. For example, the O2C cycle process of an ecommerce organization might be different from that of a SaaS organization. However, there are still some fundamental steps that may be similar for each business.

Here’s a sample of an O2C cycle:

1. Order of the Customer

Once a customer places an order for products or services, whether it is through issuing a PO, online, in-store, order form, or other way, the O2C process begins. The customer’s order is first validated, verified against contractual agreement data in your ERP, and is automatically entered into your ERP before beginning the fulfillment workflow process.  The fulfillment workflow process may include credit checking and engineering sign-off before the sales order is created in your ERP.

1. Fulfillment of Order

Once a sales order has been created in your ERP, the fulfillment process begins by picking and shipping the product ordered. For operational efficiency, the goal is to fulfill the order accurately and on time to maximize customer satisfaction.

1. Invoicing

Once the product or service has successfully been processed for shipment, the invoice is generated and the collection process begins. This invoice includes itemized charges, payment terms, and due dates. The faster, more efficient, and more accurate the invoicing process is, the happier your customer becomes and the faster cash is collected, improving overall financial performance.

1. Accounts Receivable

After the invoice is generated and delivered, the accounts receivables team monitors and manages the payment receipt. The team also follows up on overdue accounts, sends reminders, and tracks aging reports.

1. Payment

The next step is collecting payment from the customer according to the terms outlined in the invoice. This may involve processing credit card payments, bank transfers, or other methods. Accurately identifying open invoices is an important part of efficiently managing customer payments.  Efficient payment collection ensures steady revenue and minimizes the need for follow-ups or escalations.

1. Cash Application and Order Closure

After the customer has made a payment, a cash application takes place. This step guarantees that accounts receivable records are updated accurately and that open invoices are indicated as paid.

The process may involve managing partial payments, short pays, or deductions and could necessitate working with the customer to clarify any discrepancies.  Utilizing order-to-cash process automation and machine learning for the automation of cash applications minimizes manual work, speeds up reconciliation processes, and enhances the overall visibility of cash flow.

Why is Order-to-Cash Automation Software Important?

For many companies, getting information into these systems is tedious, time-consuming and prone to human error.

For an ordinary transaction, the order entry process can take anywhere from just a few minutes to 30 minutes or more. (More complex orders that require further validation and approvals can take much longer to input.) The more orders you receive, the more time your team has to spend to validate and enter orders. Meanwhile, the more orders you have to enter, the longer it takes – and the longer your customers end up waiting for their products.

If on average you take 10 minutes to process a single order and you’re processing 5,000 orders a month, that’s 833 hours spent on manual data entry of orders alone. And with the typical full-time employee spending 160 hours a month at the office, you’re paying a team of at least 5 individuals to prepare your orders for fulfillment. (That doesn’t even include the employees who actually process and ship the orders, or the ones who handle returns.)

Automating the Order Entry Process

With IntelliChief, automation makes order entry into your ERP much less of a hassle and eliminates human errors too.

Our order entry automation software can instantly collect and sort your incoming orders. Your employees won’t have to be constantly “on call”, watching for new orders to arrive. Instead, they can spend their time providing valuable attention to your customers. (Meanwhile, you don’t have to worry about orders being lost or misplaced.)

From there, IntelliChief can send the details for every order straight to your ERP. For many orders, your team won’t have to get involved at all. But if there’s an issue – like an item that’s currently on backorder or an order that requires credit approval – it’s brought to their attention right away.

Once an order is validated and approved, the rest of your process will continue as it always has. But instead of manually passing documents back and forth from department to department, our order entry automation system lets you electronically route orders and related documents to your individual business teams. Your employees can review, approve, and process your order documents from a single convenient platform, connected seamlessly to your ERP.

IntelliChief Mobile Access Server even lets you manage your order entry process from a smartphone or tablet, helping you keep your workflows moving even when you’re on the go. It’s a perfect solution for on-the-go order entry at tradeshows, conferences, and customer appointments. Meanwhile, your team back at headquarters (or in your production warehouse) is instantly notified that a new order needs to be processed, and they can get started ASAP. Everyone in your organization has access to the latest, most comprehensive information and order documents.

Order Entry Automation Case Study: See How One Business Cut Their Processing Times in Half

Every company wants to work faster and more effectively – an order-to-cash solution is a great place to start. Here’s one real-life example:

One of our customers was collecting each of their orders (and preparing them for processing) by hand. Their customer service team had to manually route them to several internal departments for review, then eventually manually enter the order detail information into their ERP by hand. Only after everything was updated could they start moving each order through to fulfillment.

With IntelliChief, they were able to electronically enter and approve their orders, cutting their order processing time in half. They also streamlined their department to include just three people, instead of seven. If you wish to learn more, you can download our case study here.

Customize IntelliChief’s Order Management Automation Solution for Your Business  

Our sales order-to-cash solution puts these improvements within reach for your business as well. Our AI-enabled Automation Solution lets you:

• Collect and validate your customer orders and contact information
• Verify each line item on a customer’s order, matching price and other details on the order against contractual agreements and pricing in your ERP
• Auto-generate a sales order in your ERP system without human intervention
• Route customer orders for internal processing and approvals such as credit checking and engineering sign-offs
• Send out instant receipt notifications and order acknowledgments as orders are processed and fulfilled
• Generate and transmit invoices for each order transaction
• Track payment until each line item on the customer order is fulfilled

IntelliChief also keeps your order information and documents – from contracts and original orders to shipping confirmations and notifications and everything in between – in a neatly organized archive. Your customer service team can access this information any time you need it – without having to leave their familiar ERP screens.

To learn more about our AI-enabled automation solutions for sales order management, contact us today. Or, feel free to request a demo of our easy-to-use order entry system.