Survey Shows Forecasting a Rising Pain Point for Corporates, Potential Blind Spot for Banks

Forecasting tops the list of pain points this year, while bank respondents show decreasing emphasis on forecasting services.

[Atlanta, GA] October 18, 2023 — Strategic Treasurer and Corcentric recently released the results of the Modernizing AR Processing Survey. Results show a potential disconnect between corporations and their banks, rising concerns over receivables fraud, ongoing movement in lockbox locations and providers, and more.

This survey’s questions probed respondents knowledgeable about their companies’ accounts receivable (AR) processes and, accordingly, their current pain points, complexity levels, plans, and perspectives. Details were gathered about payment types, technology options, and timeframes for visibility, and the longitudinal data gathered over the past four years has revealed trends and notable shifts in the landscape.

Among the top findings were the following points:

1. Corporate View of Forecasting as a Pain Point Grows, While Bank View of Forecasting Services’ Importance Subsides. For three consecutive years, corporate respondents were asked to identify “the largest pain point in the AR process.” From 2021 to 2023, forecasting as a top pain point tripled, moving from 13% in 2021 to 39% in 2023. This moved it from eighth place to first place. Meanwhile, however, the importance banks place on their forecasting services has trended downward, dropping from 77% ranking its importance as high or very high in 2020 to only 57% in 2023.
2. Lockbox Movement Expected to Continue. As banks and third parties reduce physical lockbox locations, 35% of corporate respondents who still use physical lockboxes reported shifting locations or providers in the past three years. Another 8% expect to make a change in the coming year.
3. Inbound Payment Security a Rising Concern. A total of 70% of respondents stated that inbound payment security has become more important (45%) or significantly more important (25%) over the past two years. None noted reduced importance. There seems to be good reason for the concern, as a quarter of respondents reported suffering a loss or inconvenience due to redirected payments.

The Modernizing AR Processing Survey asked more than 50 questions and was taken by upwards of 200 respondents. More extensive results from the survey are available via a downloadable report and a webinar replay featuring Craig Jeffery of Strategic Treasurer and Anthony Mignogna from Corcentric.

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