A new research report details accounts receivable ERP limitations, showing that ERP systems alone are falling short in modern accounts receivable (AR) operations. The study, ERPs Alone Aren’t Enough, was conducted by Vanson Bourne and commissioned by Billtrust. The findings suggest structural gaps in automation, analytics, and cross-system visibility emerge as AR operations grow more complex and transaction volumes rise.
ERP Fragmentation Creates Structural AR Constraints
According to the report, finance teams operate an average of three ERP systems, yet only 23% of respondents said their ERP environments support all AR processes.
Nearly seven in 10 finance leaders said their ERP systems do not fully meet AR needs, citing limited automation, weak analytics, and fragmented cross-system visibility.
Capability constraints extend beyond configuration issues. The study found that 47% of respondents pointed to insufficient automation or AI capabilities, while 42% cited a lack of advanced reporting and analytics. Another 41% said limited integration across multiple ERP and financial systems continued to hinder AR performance.
Nearly all respondents said purpose-built AR software is essential to achieving predictable cash flow and supporting AI-driven financial insight.
ERP Augmentation Improves Cash-Flow Execution
Organizations that augmented ERP systems with dedicated AR software reported average reductions of 23% in Days Sales Outstanding and 25% in Days to Pay.
Respondents also reported higher invoice accuracy and faster collections, with most agreeing that third-party AR tools delivered stronger returns than ERP-native capabilities.
About half said they expect to invest in third-party AR solutions within the next 12 months, indicating that these performance gains are translating into near-term adoption plans.
These outcomes reinforce a shift away from treating AR as a static, back-office process. Instead, finance teams are focusing on execution speed, visibility, and predictability across the invoice-to-cash lifecycle.
AR Execution Moves Into System Design Decisions
Finance leaders are increasingly turning to specialized AR platforms to complement ERP systems, reflecting a broader move away from single-system approaches to AR execution.
Rather than consolidating processes inside ERP environments, finance teams are restructuring AR around workflow automation, cross-system visibility, and execution speed, particularly in collections, cash application, and dispute management.
The research also points to growing emphasis on predictive insight as transaction volumes rise and working-capital pressures increase.
As finance teams expand their use of AI and automation, the report shows how AR capabilities are being treated as a design consideration within finance system architectures.
What This Means for ERP Insiders
ERP limits surface as AR complexity increases. ERP systems remain reliable systems of record. Their constraints emerge as AR volumes, exceptions, and cross-system dependencies grow, making workload complexity the real test of fitness.
AR modernization is an operating model decision. The move toward specialized AR platforms reflects how finance teams organize work, decision rights, and execution speed. That shift signals a move away from ERP-centric process design toward modular, workflow-driven architectures.
AI pressure exposes structural, not technical, gaps. Predictive and automated AR use continues to expand. The constraint now lies in data flow, orchestration, and governance, pushing AR capabilities into system design discussions rather than incremental upgrades.
