Can your tech stack handle the pressure?

Aligning accounts payable with accounts receivable is vital, but are you confident your technology works to create a resilient cash engine? 

In its simplest form, the Oxford English Dictionary defines resilience as the capacity to withstand or recover from difficulty. For the modern C-suite, however, resilience is not a reactive state; it is a pre-emptive architectural choice.

I was having a conversation recently with a very tenured global treasurer who has served in industries including agriculture, entertainment and a $10bn+ global financial media company. Being resilient, in any industry, means being able to handle change, he said. To best handle change, the treasurer needs to be confident in the data, and be able to tell and see the story through reliable metrics.

So, how can you best do that in our current operating environment? In my experience, which ranges from the complex infrastructure of billion dollar global organisations to the lean agility of early-stage startups, the most critical question an executive can ask is: “How do I know whether my tech stack is best positioned to benefit my organisation today, tomorrow and 10 years from now?” 

 The treasurer should serve as the moderator between the two functions to ensure a unified, consistent process by communicating clear expectations  

Drive alignment

The product of a resilient tech stack is more alignment between accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP). In a traditional siloed model, AR and AP act as independent functions, often resulting in trapped liquidity and forecasting gaps.

As the cash engine, AP and AR are arguably the most vital functions not only within finance, but also within the entire corporate structure. Because cash management and forecasting fall directly under the treasurer’s purview, the reliability of these flows is non-negotiable. Through getting paid faster, you have more payables options. You can focus on options within supply finance, use compatible investments, pay down debt faster, and more. This can transform the cash conversion cycle from a timeline to be managed into a competitive asset.

To drive alignment in practice, good communication is your greatest ally. The treasurer should serve as the moderator between the two functions to ensure a unified, consistent process by communicating clear expectations. The most successful treasury (and finance) organisations I’ve worked with have achieved this.

Here are a few ways to put this into action:

• Establish early-warning systems (proactive vs need to be resilient): Misalignment often stems from surprises that are avoidable. A treasurer acting as a moderator ensures that treasury is pulled into business strategy from the start, rather than just at the execution phase, which will result in unnecessary friction.
• Build the early-warning habit: Establish a weekly, 15-minute ‘liquidity sync’. If AR sees a major client is delaying payment, AP needs to know immediately so it can throttle non-essential outflows.
• Serve as the neutral link or architect: The treasurer’s role is to align the incentives of both departments. Usually, AP wants to hold cash (days payable outstanding extension) and AR wants to get cash (days sales outstanding [DSO] reduction). Without moderation, they can work against each other. In my experience, treasurers who are able to be a true moderator/architect between teams are most successful.

Stress test for resilient stacks

A tech stack that helps an organisation best handle change can:

1. Reduce FX risk: Remove the need to hold volatile currencies on your balance sheet that may be unnecessary and can significantly reduce the needs for hedging, currency forwards and options.
2. Enable predictive intelligence to remove cash flow roadblocks: Use customer payment trends and behaviours to forecast disruptions before they hit your general ledger. This will empower your team to proactively work with vendors on reducing DSO, with concrete data being used as the argument. When you decrease DSO, you’re essentially unlocking liquidity that can be used in several different beneficial capacities for your company.
3. Consolidate your banking and payment partner relationships: When you’re juggling many banking and payment partners, you aren’t just managing money; you’re managing multiple APIs, multiple sets of compliance standards, multiple relationships and a fragmented view of your global receivables.
4. Automate manual work: Use global invoice-to-cash tech to maintain performance even when headcount is scarce or budgets are restricted. This automates everyday tasks such as manual collection outreach and manual cash reconciliation and application.
5. Ensure high levels of compliance when pursuing global business: Reduce the complexity of entering new markets with different banking systems, as well as the need to manage additional entities and local bank accounts, all of which slow down time to revenue.
6. Prepare for change and scale: To maintain long-term resilience, treasurers must treat emerging modalities, such as stablecoins and digital assets, as strategic optionality. Your payment partner should act as a critical intelligence layer, managing the underlying technical and regulatory complexity so you can adapt to new sources of value without operational disruption.

Remove friction to reduce risk

In a hyper-competitive global economy, customer loyalty is fragile; the ‘switching cost’ for a vendor is lower than ever. You want to be able to take away as much friction as possible, simplifying their experiences and the touchpoints they have with your company. Simplifying the payment journey reduces transactional friction and directly bolsters customer retention, further reinforcing treasury’s status as a critical driver of the firm’s commercial success.

Operating across multi-currency environments, fragmented banking systems and lack of automation requires a level of resilience that cannot be adjusted quickly after a crisis begins. It must be woven into the fabric of your financial operations. By leveraging battle-tested technology to manage the parts of the puzzle that fall outside your core wheelhouse, you allow your team to focus on what matters most: strategic growth and long-term stability.

About the author

Jonathan Luce is senior account executive (B2B) for Flywire