Order-to-Cash Optimization: CFO’s 60-Day Cash Plan

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You walk into a mid-market manufacturing company as the new CFO. The mandate is clear: free up cash. Fast.

The company’s cash conversion cycle is running over 75 days. Liquidity is tight. Invoices are slow to go out. Collections are behind. And there’s no clear owner of the order-to-cash process.

There’s no time for system overhauls or multi-year transformations. What the business needs is immediate working capital relief. One of the fastest and most effective levers is Order-to-Cash (O2C) optimization.

This article outlines how CFOs, particularly interim leaders brought in under pressure, can deliver real cash results in just 60 days. No fluff. No jargon. Just execution.

Why Order-to-Cash First?

Manufacturing companies typically have long production and delivery cycles. Even when sales are strong, cash often lags far behind due to fragmented processes, invoicing delays, and weak collections discipline.

The best-performing companies in working capital optimization have a cash conversion cycle under 30 days. But many industrial businesses sit above 70–90. That gap represents millions in cash that could be used to fund operations, reduce debt, or avoid external financing.

Focusing on the order-to-cash process is one of the few moves a CFO can make in the first 60 days that:

Frees up working capital quickly
Requires no capital expenditure
Builds credibility with the board and internal teams

And it doesn’t require a full digital transformation. It requires focus, leadership, and a hands-on plan.

Phase 1: Diagnose and Plug the Leaks (Days 1–30)

The first 30 days are not about building systems. They’re about buying time.

You need to understand where cash is getting stuck, and fix what you can control right now.

Start with the accounts receivable (AR) aging report.
Break it down. Which balances are overdue? Who are your top late payers? Focus first on the largest balances with the easiest path to resolution.

In manufacturing, disputes are a cash trap. Mismatched POs. Short shipments. Unclear payment terms. These don’t get solved with polite reminders. You need cross-functional coordination — and sometimes, a direct call to the customer with a clean invoice in hand.

Once collections are moving, shift your focus to credit terms.
If 60- or 90-day terms have become the default, it’s time to reset. New agreements should anchor at 30 days. Add early-payment discounts where needed, and enforce late fees consistently. Your teams need to know that terms are not optional.

Now fix the invoicing delay.
Too many firms wait until month-end to issue invoices — losing two to four weeks of collection runway. Make invoicing on shipment the new default. Check your ERP settings, retrain your teams, and monitor exceptions. Every delay has a cost.

At this stage, you’re not solving everything. But you are stopping the bleeding.

If you’ve done this right, by Day 30 you should see:

Faster cash collection
Drop in average DSO
Backlog of delayed invoices cleared
Disputes resolved or escalated with ownership

The urgency won’t go away — but now you’ve bought yourself enough room to fix the system.

When pressure is high and time is short, many companies bring in external support to take control.
Firms like CE Interim can deploy an interim CFO or transformation lead within 72 hours, focusing entirely on order-to-cash stabilization while senior management handles the bigger picture.

Phase 2: Rebuild and Optimize (Days 31–60)

Once the immediate leaks are under control, it’s time to build a system that doesn’t leak again.

Start with a rapid process mapping of your O2C cycle — from order entry to cash collection. Sit down with sales, credit, fulfillment, invoicing, and AR. Walk through each handoff. Identify where things break: manual credit checks, missing PO data, invoicing delays, dispute loops.

Your goal isn’t to design a perfect process.
It’s to remove friction that’s slowing down cash.

Begin implementing small, high-impact fixes:

Turn on e-invoicing to eliminate batching and errors
Enable digital payment options like ACH or card
Set up automated reminders and dispute tracking
Use light RPA or scripting to eliminate rekeying and sync disconnected systems

None of this requires an ERP overhaul.
It just needs focus and the willingness to fix what slows you down.

Next, align on credit discipline. Sales shouldn’t default to generous terms for every customer. Introduce risk-based limits. For high-risk accounts, use deposits or upfront milestones. You can’t manage cash if you’re giving it away on Day 1.

Then tackle incentives.

If sales gets paid on booking, not collection — guess what happens?
If customer service isn’t accountable for clearing disputes, they linger.
Tie functional goals to DSO. Make cash a shared responsibility.

By Day 60, you should have:

A shorter, cleaner O2C cycle
Lower DSO
Better customer experience around billing and payment
Internal processes aligned around cash, not just sales

Embedding a Culture of Cash Discipline

Fixing the process is one thing. Keeping it fixed is another.

Discipline fades fast after the urgency is gone. That’s why the habits you build in the first 60 days matter even more than the systems.

Weekly cash reviews.
Clear visibility on DSO and dispute trends.
Recognition for teams that drive results — and correction when things slip.
No quiet resets on credit terms or late fee waivers.

If the business is preparing for a sale, a refinancing, or investor scrutiny, a clean order-to-cash function sends a strong message. It shows control, alignment, and operating maturity.

And in high-velocity industrial environments, that message doesn’t come from dashboards.
It comes from consistent leadership, clear priorities, and the discipline to hold the line.