Jan 30, 2026
Finance leaders are done waiting. After years of bloated transformation projects that overpromise and underdeliver, the Office of the CFO is demanding a different approach to AR technology in 2026. The question is no longer "What can this platform do?" It's "How fast can we see results: and what will it cost us to change course if we need to?"
Welcome to the era of Low Cost of Change.
If you're a CFO or Credit Risk manager still locked into a 12-to-18-month implementation roadmap, you're already behind. The businesses pulling ahead this year are the ones treating agility as a core metric: not an afterthought.
Let's be blunt: most enterprise AR projects fail to deliver value on time.
The typical ERP-led transformation follows a predictable pattern:
By the time you're live, the market has moved on. Your competitors have already optimised their cash collection. And your team? They're exhausted, disillusioned, and quietly building workarounds in spreadsheets.
This isn't a technology problem. It's an architecture problem.
General-purpose ERPs were designed for the ledger: recording transactions, maintaining compliance, producing reports. They were never built for the messy, exception-heavy, relationship-driven reality of modern accounts receivable.
When you try to force operational AR workflows into a system of record, you pay the price in time, cost, and team morale.
The economic landscape has shifted. Interest rates remain elevated. Working capital is under pressure. And CFOs are being asked to do more with less: faster.
In this environment, a transformation project that takes 18 months to deliver value isn't just inefficient. It's a strategic liability.
Here's what finance leaders are waking up to:
The old model: where you committed to a rigid system for five years and hoped for the best: is dead. In 2026, the winners are the organisations that can implement fast, iterate continuously, and change direction without burning the budget.
Low Cost of Change isn't just about the initial price tag. It's about the total cost of adapting your AR operations over time.
Think about it this way:
When your cost of change is low, you're not afraid to experiment. You can pilot a new collections strategy, test a different segmentation model, or onboard a new entity: without filing a change request and waiting three months.
This agility compounds. Over time, organisations with low cost of change don't just save money: they outperform. They spot cash opportunities faster, respond to market shifts quicker, and keep their AR teams focused on value-add work instead of fighting the system.
Let's talk about Speed to Value: because this is where the rubber meets the road.
Speed to Value measures how quickly your investment in AR technology starts delivering measurable results: reduced DSO, improved collector productivity, better cash visibility, lower cost to serve.
For most ERP-led projects, Speed to Value is measured in years. You're deep into year two before you see meaningful movement in your cash metrics: if you see it at all.
For a purpose-built operational layer like Invevo, Speed to Value is measured in weeks.
Here's why:
The result? You're seeing cash flow improvements within the first quarter: not the first fiscal year.
Here's the objection we hear most often: "If it's faster and cheaper, surely we're sacrificing quality?"
It's a fair question. And the answer is no: provided the architecture is right.
The reason traditional ERP projects are slow and expensive isn't because they're "thorough." It's because they're forcing a square peg into a round hole. General-purpose systems require heavy customisation to handle operational AR, and that customisation is where the time and money disappear.
A purpose-built AR platform like Invevo doesn't need that customisation. The workflows, integrations, and data models are already designed for accounts receivable. You're not paying consultants to reinvent the wheel: you're configuring a system that was built for your exact use case.
This is what we mean by superior, highly personalised software architecture. It's not about cutting corners. It's about cutting out the waste.
Imagine this scenario:
Your business acquires a new entity. Under the old model, integrating their AR operations into your ERP would take months: new fields, new workflows, new reports, new training.
With a Low Cost of Change platform, you configure the new entity in days. The team is onboarded within a week. Cash visibility is immediate. And if the integration requirements change six months later? You adapt without a budget meeting.
Or consider a more common situation: your collections strategy isn't working. You want to test a new segmentation approach, prioritising high-value accounts differently.
In a rigid ERP, that's a project. In Invevo, it's a Tuesday afternoon.
This is the competitive advantage of Speed to Value. It's not just about the initial implementation: it's about staying agile as your business evolves.
If you're evaluating AR technology in 2026, here's the lens you should be using:
The businesses that win in 2026 are the ones that treat working capital as a strategic priority: and back that priority with technology that moves at the speed of the business.
Low Cost of Change isn't a nice-to-have. It's the metric that separates the leaders from the laggards.
If you're tired of waiting for value, it's time to talk.
Invevo is built for finance leaders who need results now: not in 18 months. Our sector-ready platform deploys in weeks, integrates with your existing ERP, and gives your AR team the operational layer they've been missing.
Let's make 2026 the year you stop fighting your technology and start winning with it.
