5 AR Gaps to Watch Out for When Dealing with ERP Complexity

Most ERPs do exactly what they're built to do: record transactions and close the books. What they weren’t built to do, however, is running accounts receivable (AR). The actual work of turning an invoice into cash, reviewing credit, sending and confirming invoices, chasing payments, applying cash, and resolving deductions is its own world that a standard ERP can’t manage.

Added to this, running more than one ERP, whether through acquisitions, different systems in various regional entities, or a migration still in progress, only widens any gaps in your processes.  

Closing any of these gaps doesn't require a huge ERP overhaul. It can be achieved by connecting the AR work and integrating it with the existing ERP landscape. It doesn’t even really matter what ERPs you use: SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, or all three at once.  

Here are five examples of how to connect your AR processes and streamline the data exchange with your ERPs.

1. Credit: The decision that shapes everything that comes after  

When credit review criteria shift depending on who's looking, and visibility over risks is hazy, the impact isn’t restricted to the credit domain. It can show up much later in the process, as a delayed order or an account that should never have cleared.  

A single, governed view of risk, pulled from every ERP instance rather than being manually reconciled, lets credit teams make confident decisions without going back and forth between systems. AI adds an analytical layer that can forecast a customer's likely exposure days before an order is at risk of being blocked. This way, credit teams have a window of time to adjust a limit or flag collections before the order actually stalls.  

This is pretty much what TEC experienced once credit reviews were no longer dependent on manual crosschecks: The turnaround for open account credit applications dropped from 7-10 days down to 3-4 days.  

Interested in learning more about credit automation success stories? Learn how TEC streamlined their Credit and Collections automation. 

2. Invoicing: Where the cash clock actually starts  

An invoice sent isn't the same as an invoice received and confirmed, and that gap is where a lot of AR friction begins. Fragmented delivery means that collections teams inherit a situation in disarray, and disputes can surface quickly over something as simple as "we never got this."  

Traceability from invoice creation to receipt confirmation, regardless of which ERP the invoice originated from, removes most of that friction before it ever reaches collections. It also gives every team — not just AR — the same status as a reference point to work from.  

Lennox EMEA faced a version of this gap frequently. Running three ERPs, including SAP, and without a solution that connected these systems effectively, Lennox felt the repercussions well beyond invoicing. With a software solution like Esker that centralized the information across all three systems, every team working from that shared status noticed the difference.

"One of the first things Lennox EMEA noticed was the visibility that the unified platform brings. All information is centralized, which provides every team with the ability to promptly and accurately reply to inquiries from suppliers, customers, and internal stakeholders."  

Read our customer story to learn how Lennox EMEA Standardizes Across 3 ERPs with Esker.

3. Collections: Turning data into a priority list  

ERPs show how old a balance is. But understanding who to call first, and why, is a different story. That determination usually lives in spreadsheets and institutional memory. Not only does this approach make decisions inconsistent, it also creates havoc once an experienced team member leaves their role.  

A shared, prioritized view, fed by all collective ERP data, replaces any guesswork with something collectors can actually rely on, regardless of who owns the account. AI strengthens it further: It can predict which invoices are genuinely at risk of late payment and identify customers whose payment behavior is starting to shift.  

Northfleet knew they wanted a collections management software solution that would integrate directly with the ERP, rather than sitting on the sidelines. The result of implementing the Esker solution was quickly reflected in the health of Northfleet’s receivables. The share of balances in the “current” bucket rose from 70% to over 95%, which in turn eased cashflow strain and strengthened the company's financial stability  

"Implementing Esker Collections Management wasn't just about automation; it was about creating a systematic approach that scales. We're now prepared for continued growth."  

TEC saw a similar shift on the collections side: DSO went down by an average of 10 days, and the volume of inbound calls and emails from customers requesting status updates dropped from as many as 15 to just one to two per day.  

4. Cash application: Where AI imperceptibly earns its keep

Payment matching remains the most manual, thankless AR task. Which is exactly why it can be handed over to AI. But with one caveat — AI needs to be embedded in the workflows, not simply bolted on like an extra arm. Incomplete remittance details, multiple payment channels, and payments that need to be matched against open items (this one is especially pertinent when dealing with more than one ERP) can all be sitting in various queues that can quickly become chaotic to manage.  

Centralizing the matching logic above the ERP layer means it works in the same, consistent way, regardless of which system the invoice or the open item lives in. AI does a lot of the heavy lifting here, too, for example by pulling data from a remittance advice or from payment details written directly into an email thread and then using that information to match the payment automatically.  

This is an area where cash visibility can improve the fastest. With a centralized automation platform, the finance team sees what's been cleared practically in real time instead of waiting for month-end. Additionally, auto-match rates can climb to well above 90% and unapplied cash cut by as much as 95%.  

5. Deductions: When the process stalls, it's rarely about the actual claim  

Resolving a deduction usually means pulling in someone from the sales team to provide context or customer service for a transaction history. When teams can’t work with the same and complete information, or are pulling data from different ERPs entirely, claim resolution can stretch from days to weeks, while revenue leakage quietly hides in the background.  

A shared workflow with visible ownership, built on top of whatever ERPs are in play, is what the phrase "connected departments" actually means. With the help of AI, the claim itself gets routed and classified automatically, whether it's a pricing dispute, a missing product, a promotional deduction, or a mixed claim with more than one issue. From here, finance, sales, and customer service collaborate on the same case with the same context. That means resolution time speeds up because nobody's chasing information across departments.  

TEC's experience with claims handling mirrors this effect: Once their process ran on a shared, ERP-agnostic workflow, resolution time dropped by 88%. Eagle Foods saw a comparable result, specifically by connecting departments better: Open deductions were cut by 80%.  

What the “connected layer” looks like in practice  

None of these gaps can be closed by replacing the ERP or by automating individual steps in isolation. What does work is placing a single layer on top of the entire AR cycle: credit, invoicing, collections, cash application, and deductions. When all of these are working with the same customer data on top of SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, or any combination of these, the systems of record underneath these layers remain undisturbed.  

Esker's Accounts Receivable suite is designed to be this layer, providing one unified view of AR execution across complex, multi-system landscapes, with standardized processes, shared customer context across each team that touches AR, and real-time cash visibility rather than accounts that are only accurate at month-end.  

Embedded into this layer is Esker Synergy AI, which seamlessly handles those parts of the AR cycle that eat up the most time, such as forecasting credit exposure, prioritizing collections, reading and matching remittance data, and classifying claims. Esker Synergy is built into the workflow itself, rather than being a separate tool teams have to remember to open.  

The ERP will always remain the keeper of the records. What Esker’s AI-powered automation solution changes is how fast the processes surrounding the ERP turn those records into cash.  

Want to see more results like these? Explore Esker’s full customer story library to learn more about how other finance teams are closing their AR gaps, or get in touch to talk with us about what the story could be for your team.  

Already on the SAP S/4HANA roadmap? Migration timelines don't have to put AR modernization on hold. Get the ebook: Unlocking AI-Orchestrated Finance During the Transition to SAP S/4HANA.  

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