Finance Leaders: It’s Time to Take Control of Your Cash Flow

Cash flow isn’t just a number on a spreadsheet—it’s the lifeblood of your business. And for mid-market companies across Australia and New Zealand, navigating inflation, market volatility, and supply chain uncertainty makes cash flow management more important and more complex than ever. 

If you're in finance or business leadership, you already know the feeling: money going out faster than it comes in, late invoice approvals, zero visibility into real-time spend. It’s reactive, stressful, and ultimately, risky. 

But here’s the good news—smarter tools and processes can turn your cash flow strategy from a pain point into a performance driver. 

Are You Accidentally Trapping Cash Inside Your Business? 

Many organisations are sitting on thousands—sometimes millions—in trapped working capital. Why? Because of slow approvals, disconnected systems, and manual processes that create bottlenecks. 

Here are just some of the ways small, mid and large-sized businesses lose cash flow control: 

• Lack of real-time insight into payables and expenses 
• Manual invoice processing delays 
• Poor visibility into upcoming cash obligations 
• Fragmented systems that don’t talk to each other 

The result? Finance teams are stuck reacting to problems instead of preventing them.

How to Improve Your Cashflow - Top Tips for Finance

Learn about the smarter tools and processes that can turn your cash flow strategy from a pain point into a performance driver.

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What Does a Cash-Flow-Confident Business Look Like? 

The key shifts the top-performing finance teams are focusing on three are: 

✅ Visibility: Knowing what’s been spent, what’s coming, and what’s overdue 
✅ Automation: Cutting out the lag between receipt, approval, and payment 
✅ Control: Creating flexible but clear policies that support smarter spending 

These aren’t just “nice to haves.” They’re essentials if you want to move from reactive cashflow management to a proactive, strategic position. 

Finance Automation Wins That Put Cashflow on Autopilot 

Cash keeps the lights on, and growth plans alive, yet many organisations still rely on manual processes that hide where money really sits. Lost invoices, late reimbursements and spreadsheet-driven reporting create blind spots that drain liquidity. Our latest SAP Concur cashflow guide breaks down exactly how automation removes those barriers and turns data into daily clarity.  

1. Near Real Time Visibility — No More Guesswork 

Finance leaders need to know where every dollar is at any moment. Automated expense and invoice solutions capture spend as it happens, smooth the peaks and troughs of employee claims and surface outstanding supplier bills before they turn into late fees. With live dashboards the team can spot gaps early and adjust working capital rather than scrambling after month end.  

2. Standard Reports That Arrive Like Clockwork 

Most departments ask finance for the same core metrics every month. Automation schedules those reports to run automatically so analysts spend their energy on interpretation instead of data mining. The result is consistent insight delivered on time, giving leaders the numbers they need for faster, better decisions.  

3. Transparency That Sparks Proactive Action 

When data is easy to share, managers act sooner. Automated dashboards reveal how much each budget holder spends with key suppliers and flag overspending in a single click. Armed with facts, teams negotiate better discounts and cut waste before it snowballs. These quick interventions translate directly into stronger margins and healthier cash positions.  

4. Empowered Teams and Higher Morale 

Nobody chooses a career in finance to chase receipts. Automation removes manual entry and status-update emails, giving professionals time for value-added analysis. A joint SAP Concur and Analysys Mason study found that travel and expense automation saves an average of one hundred thirty two hours each week for every finance or accounting team, while invoice automation saves one hundred twenty two hours. Those reclaimed hours go straight into forecasting, supplier collaboration and scenario planning.  

5. Continuous Cashflow Improvement 

Smooth cash movement is a sign of operational health. By monitoring inflows and outflows in real time, finance can tweak payment cycles, chase early-settlement discounts and avoid emergency borrowing. Automation creates the feedback loop needed to tweak policies, tighten approval rules and measure the impact in days rather than quarters.  

How to Start Your Automation Journey 

• Map current expense and invoice workflows to identify manual touch points 
• Prioritise processes that delay payment cycles or obscure spend visibility 
• Choose a platform that integrates with your ERP and scales as volumes rise 
• Set clear adoption targets and train users with simple role-based guides 
• Track saved hours and reduced late fees to build momentum for phase two 

Early adopters report shorter month-end closes, stronger supplier relationships and higher employee satisfaction — proof that automation is no longer optional. 

We created a practical, no-fluff guide that shows ANZ finance leaders how to unlock hidden efficiencies, streamline AP processes, and improve liquidity—without sacrificing control or employee experience. 

🎯 Perfect for: 

• CFOs and finance managers in businesses of all sizes
• Procurement and AP leaders looking to optimise processes 
• Business owners needing tighter cash visibility 

👉 Download the guide here 

Take a smarter path to stronger cash flow—because healthy finances don’t just happen. They’re built with the right tools, insights, and policies.