CRF conducted a survey on a variety of the components of the Order to Cash process. The intent was to help process managers measure the state of American of  businesses in their effort to manage the various functions of: Order Processing, Billing, Credit and Collections, Accounts Receivable, Deployment (or shipping), Dispute Resolution, Compliance and Customer Data Management.

 

 

 

Definitions used for terms in this survey:

 

Order to Cash Process: The functions of Order Processing, Billing, Credit & Collections, Cash Application, and Customer Relationship Management.


Deployment (i.e., Demand Planning): Planning and managing the physical movement of inventory to /from your organization’s warehouses, suppliers’ warehouses, or consignment warehouses.


Compliance: Regulatory and statutory requirements at the federal, state or local levels necessary to sell your product.


Inventory Accounting: The financial and physical impacts to inventory records.


Customer Data Management: Customer master file data usually maintained in ERP system, i.e. name, address, contact, etc.

 

    
1. Number of Annual Sales Orders

< Than 10,000


4
4%
10,001 to 50,000
22 25%
> Than 50,000
63 71%
  89 100%

 

    
2. Value of Annual Sales Orders (annual sales)

< Than $250 Million


14
16%
$251 Million to $1 Billion
35 39%
$1 Billion to $10 Billion
34 38%
> Than $10 Billion
6 7%
  89 100%

 

    
3. Average monthly ending Accounts Receivable balance

< Than $50 Million


20
23%
$51 to $100 Million
25 28%
$101 to $250 Million
17 19%
> Than $250 Million
26 30%
  88 100%

 

    
4. Currency used for data in question 2 & 3.

USD


84
94%
CDN
2 2%
GBP
2 2%
Euros
1 1%
  89 100%

 

    
5. Where are the following functions mainly performed within your organization:
1
Headquarters (Centralized) 		2
Shared Services (Consolidated) 		3
Business Unit (Decentralized) 		4
Regional Office 		5
Plant / Facility 		6
Outsourced 		7
Other
1. Order Processing 45%
41 		11%
10 		30%
27 		8%
7 		7%
6 		0%
0 		0%
0
2. Billing 52%
47 		16%
15 		21%
19 		5%
5 		4%
4 		1%
1 		0%
0
3. Deployment 30%
26 		7%
6 		25%
22 		3%
3 		28%
24 		7%
6 		0%
0
4. Credit & Collections 59%
54 		21%
19 		11%
10 		8%
7 		1%
1 		0%
0 		0%
0
5. Customer Payments (Cash Application) 59%
54 		23%
21 		8%
7 		5%
5 		1%
1 		3%
3 		0%
0
6. Dispute Resolution 48%
44 		18%
16 		23%
21 		8%
7 		2%
2 		0%
0 		1%
1
7. Inventory Accounting 48%
43 		13%
12 		22%
20 		3%
3 		10%
9 		0%
0 		2%
2
8. Compliance 75%
68 		9%
8 		11%
10 		3%
3 		1%
1 		0%
0 		1%
1
9. Customer Data Management 60%
55 		20%
18 		13%
12 		4%
4 		2%
2 		0%
0 		0%
0

 

    
6. The geographic management for these processes is:
1
Global 		2
Regional 		3
Multi-Country 		4
One Country 		N/A
1. Order Processing 22%
20 		15%
13 		24%
21 		38%
34 		1%
1
2. Billing 28%
25 		10%
9 		25%
22 		36%
32 		1%
1
3. Credit & Collections 31%
27 		9%
8 		25%
22 		34%
30 		1%
1
4. Customer Payments (Cash Application) 28%
25 		10%
9 		24%
21 		37%
33 		1%
1
5. Deployment 23%
20 		14%
12 		25%
22 		36%
31 		2%
2
6. Compliance 41%
36 		8%
7 		16%
14 		33%
29 		1%
1

 

    
7. Indicate the number of sites performing these functions globally:
1
 		 2
 		 3
 		 4
 		 5
 		 6
 		 7
 		 8
 		 9
 		 10
or more 		N/A
1. Order Processing 27%
24 		7%
6 		6%
5 		9%
8 		3%
3 		2%
2 		0%
0 		2%
2 		0%
0 		37%
33 		7%
6
2. Billing 37%
33 		6%
5 		3%
3 		7%
6 		3%
3 		2%
2 		0%
0 		2%
2 		0%
0 		31%
28 		8%
7
3. Deployment 15%
13 		10%
9 		6%
5 		9%
8 		7%
6 		2%
2 		1%
1 		1%
1 		0%
0 		37%
32 		11%
10
4. Credit & Collections 41%
36 		7%
6 		7%
6 		7%
6 		3%
3 		2%
2 		1%
1 		1%
1 		3%
3 		20%
18 		7%
6
5. Customer Payments (Cash Application) 45%
40 		6%
5 		7%
6 		10%
9 		3%
3 		0%
0 		1%
1 		1%
1 		1%
1 		19%
17 		7%
6
6. Dispute Resolution 33%
29 		9%
8 		6%
5 		7%
6 		3%
3 		0%
0 		0%
0 		3%
3 		0%
0 		33%
29 		7%
6
7. Inventory Accounting 28%
25 		9%
8 		6%
5 		7%
6 		6%
5 		2%
2 		1%
1 		2%
2 		0%
0 		29%
26 		10%
9
8. Compliance Customer Data Management 47%
41 		7%
6 		6%
5 		6%
5 		2%
2 		2%
2 		0%
0 		2%
2 		0%
0 		22%
19 		7%
6

 

    
8. Select where these functions report in your organization:
N/A if not applicable
1
Finance 		2
Treasury 		3
Customer Service 		4
Sales 		5
Manufacturing 		6
Shared Services 		7
Supply Chain / Logistics 		N/A
1. Order Processing 8%
7 		0%
0 		46%
42 		27%
25 		2%
2 		8%
7 		9%
8 		0%
0
2. Billing 42%
38 		7%
6 		22%
20 		8%
7 		3%
3 		13%
12 		4%
4 		1%
1
3. Deployment 10%
9 		0%
0 		11%
10 		12%
11 		19%
17 		8%
7 		34%
31 		6%
5
4. Credit & Collections 63%
57 		14%
13 		4%
4 		3%
3 		0%
0 		12%
11 		3%
3 		0%
0
5. Customer Payments (Cash Application) 65%
59 		12%
11 		1%
1 		2%
2 		0%
0 		14%
13 		4%
4 		1%
1
6. Dispute Resolution 41%
37 		3%
3 		21%
19 		9%
8 		1%
1 		16%
15 		8%
7 		1%
1
7. Inventory Accounting 61%
54 		1%
1 		1%
1 		2%
2 		9%
8 		10%
9 		10%
9 		6%
5
8. Compliance enter 49%
43 		3%
3 		9%
8 		8%
7 		3%
3 		15%
13 		7%
6 		6%
5
9. Customer Data Management 36%
32 		3%
3 		15%
13 		17%
15 		0%
0 		20%
18 		6%
5 		3%
3

 

    
9. If you answered Customer Service or Shared Service in the last question, indicate to which part of the organization these functions report:

Finance


15
29%
Supply Chain
9 17%
Sales
16 31%
Manufacturing
1 2%
Other
11 21%
  52 100%

 

    
10. How many countries or business units are supported by these functions?
1
 		 2
 		 3
 		 4
 		 5
 		 6
 		 7
 		 8
 		 9
 		 10
or more
1. Order Processing 21%
18 		7%
6 		9%
8 		5%
4 		7%
6 		6%
5 		0%
0 		0%
0 		1%
1 		44%
38
2. Billing 17%
15 		9%
8 		9%
8 		5%
4 		9%
8 		6%
5 		0%
0 		1%
1 		0%
0 		44%
38
3. Credit & Collections 20%
17 		8%
7 		8%
7 		5%
4 		9%
8 		6%
5 		0%
0 		2%
2 		0%
0 		43%
37
4. Customer Payments (Cash Application) 18%
16 		10%
9 		8%
7 		6%
5 		9%
8 		3%
3 		0%
0 		2%
2 		0%
0 		43%
37
5. Deployment 19%
16 		8%
7 		8%
7 		6%
5 		8%
7 		6%
5 		1%
1 		0%
0 		1%
1 		42%
36
6. Compliance 24%
20 		6%
5 		8%
7 		6%
5 		11%
9 		6%
5 		0%
0 		1%
1 		1%
1 		38%
32

 

    
11. For Order Processing, indicate the number of process level employees (full-time equivalents) that perform this function:

1-3 FTE's


3