Corporate finance has spent the past several years pursuing a straightforward ambition. Get cash moving faster.

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And by many measures, the strategy is working. Data in “Time to Cash: What Two Years of Data Say About Faster Cash and Rising Risk,” a PYMNTS Intelligence report produced in collaboration with J.P. Morgan, found that nearly 9 in 10 CFOs surveyed (87%) say their overall cash flow cycle improved over the past year, while 80% shortened their cash conversion cycle.

But during that same period, the Time to Cash™ study’s Velocity Index fell from 73 to 70, and the share of high-velocity companies dropped from 29% to 20%.

The bigger threat to working capital, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report, may no longer be customers paying invoices late. It may be customers negotiating contracts that allow them to pay much later without ever becoming delinquent.

What’s happening: Just 38% of CFOs reported improvement in customer payment-term behavior, down from 73% a year earlier. Meanwhile, improvement in overdue payments barely changed.

Payment terms are becoming a competitive instrument in commercial negotiations. A company can improve collections efficiency and still sacrifice liquidity through concessions made by its sales organization.

Finance teams today typically have artificial intelligence capable of recommending what to do with cash. Far fewer have deployed agents capable of autonomously carrying out financial tasks.

What’s happening: Among those firms surveyed by PYMNTS Intelligence, AI adoption in cash management reached 94%, generative AI usage climbed to 80%, and 64% of companies now use AI-generated insights in cash decisions.

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