The quote-to-cash (QTC) process lies at the heart of revenue generation for every company. It begins with the initial quote a company sends a potential customer and ends with the final payment.
During this process, some of your business's most critical elements are connected: sales tactics, contracts, and revenue management. Given its complexity and all the manual aspects traditionally involved—each prone to delays and errors—automating QTC has become essential for maintaining a competitive edge.
Quote-to-cash automation reduces mistakes, accelerates sales cycles, and streamlines workflows, creating smoother transitions from deal closure to revenue recognition. Businesses that automate QTC unlock significant benefits, including improved revenue accuracy, healthier cash flow, and heightened operational efficiency.
This guide explores the ultimate strategies for automating QTC, helping companies harness their full potential for market growth and success.
What is quote-to-cash (QTC)?
Quote-to-cash (QTC) is the end-to-end process that covers every step, from creating a customer quote to receiving payment. It includes the following stages:
- Quoting accurate prices
- Contracting terms
- Fulfilling orders
- Issuing invoices
- Processing payments
The QTC process integrates sales, finance, and operations, uniting revenue generation, contract management, and multiple aspects of the sales lifecycle. Each stage plays a vital role in company efficiency, order accuracy, and the establishment of a reliable revenue flow for a company’s operations.
Benefits of quote-to-cash automation
Companies that invest in quote-to-cash automation software experience many transformative benefits that can boost their bottom lines.
Increased efficiency
Quote-to-cash automation simplifies key parts of the sales process, like quoting and customer approvals. It eliminates bottlenecks caused by manual tasks, enabling teams to work more efficiently and generate quotes faster.
Similarly, payments are processed more swiftly, reducing delays and improving cash flow. When businesses automate these critical steps, they save time and boost productivity as their employees focus on strategic initiatives rather than laborious administrative processes.
Reduced errors
Another benefit of quote-to-cash process optimization is fewer mistakes caused by manual data entry. Automated QTC systems make it easier to eliminate human errors as information flows throughout all stages of the process, helping businesses avoid disputes and costly mistakes in their quotes, contracts, and invoices.
When companies consistently operate fast, precisely, and transparently, they build trust and satisfaction among their customers and vendor partners. Automation also frees teams from repetitive tasks, giving them more time to spend on projects that deliver value—like marketing initiatives, systems-building, and nurturing client relationships—rather than correcting errors.
Increased cash flow
QTC automation offers small businesses a significant advantage: increased cash flow via an accelerated revenue cycle. Faster quote generation, quicker approvals, and more efficient invoicing translate into timely payments and fewer delays.
Likewise, by shortening the time between a closed deal and receiving payment, companies can establish a healthier cash flow that promotes financial stability and opens doors to more opportunities. Additionally, fewer errors mean fewer payment disputes and outstanding invoices.
An improved customer experience
Quote-to-cash automation often improves the customer experience by making every interaction at each stage more convenient and organized—from accurate quotes to timely payments. Customers benefit from quicker responses, error-free transactions, and greater transparency in their contracts and invoices.
These improvements help build trust with clients and vendors, giving them a better, more seamless journey from initial inquiry to payment completion. By reducing friction and delays, businesses create a more positive customer experience.
Better data management
Another perk of QTC and sales automation tools is that they improve data management by centralizing and standardizing information across quoting, contracting, payment, and other business processes. The tools also boost the quality of the data by eliminating manual processes that can introduce errors.
The increased data visibility and advanced reporting accompanying QTC automation also help business leaders make informed decisions and more readily identify growth opportunities.
The main takeaway? Streamlined data management supports collaboration, efficiency, and improved alignment among teams, driving better overall business performance.
The quote-to-cash automation process
Given all of its benefits, it’s critical that companies fully understand the various aspects of QTC automation across sales, finance, and operations tasks.
1. Quoting and proposal generation
The first step in the QTC automation process involves creating a tailored quote or proposal for the customer. This traditionally required manual calculations, multiple drafts, and various approval workflows that were time-consuming and prone to errors.
ConnectWise CPQ, a leading quoting tool, offers unparalleled efficiency and an even more streamlined quoting process. WisePay has an exclusive integration with ConnectWise CPQ, enabling businesses to turn quotes into cash quickly and seamlessly. This integration simplifies workflows, saves time, and enhances the accuracy of quotes while facilitating faster approvals and payments.
2. Customer acceptance and contract management
After generating the quote, it’s time to finalize the agreement and secure customer approval. Historically, this step required drafting by hand, lengthy negotiations, and various approval processes, all of which often led to delays and inconsistencies.
Automation speeds up the entire process by standardizing contracts, simplifying change tracking, and facilitating electronic signatures. Additionally, it helps companies comply with industry regulations by incorporating pre-approved terms and conditions while providing real-time updates to stakeholders.
These efficiencies typically result in shorter contract cycles, an elevated customer experience, and increased productivity.
3. Order fulfillment and billing
The next step in the QTC process involves processing orders, delivering products or services, and generating invoices. Without automation, this stage usually requires extensive department coordination, which can slow things down.
QTC automation streamlines order fulfillment by integrating various systems to ensure that every product is delivered correctly and on time.
With automation tools, businesses can also accompany their orders with real-time updates.
Automated billing processes, meanwhile, generate invoices with a lower likelihood of error and efficiently track payments. These improvements help businesses fulfill orders faster, ultimately maximizing their cash flow and customer satisfaction.
4. Payment collection and revenue recognition
Finally, the business must collect payment for its goods or services and recognize the revenue. Done manually, their finance team will enter the payment in several spreadsheets and perform complex and time-consuming calculations by hand to comply with accepted accounting standards.
B2B payment automation tools, on the other hand, process payments automatically and seamlessly integrate revenue recognition, ensuring that the company complies with accounting principles. This takes a huge weight off the finance team’s shoulders, liberating them from hours of tedious bookkeeping work. Not to mention the other benefits: fewer errors, clearer financial visibility for the C-suite, and improved revenue cycle management.
Best practices for implementing quote-to-cash automation
Implementing QTC automation requires careful planning and execution. The best practices below can help businesses successfully deploy it across their operations.
Select the right tool
Choosing the right QTC automation tool starts with assessing the company’s needs and considering scalability, ease of use, and functionality. It’s equally important to select software that will work well with existing systems, including professional services automation (PSA) and accounting tools (like Quickbooks Online or Xero).
The ideal software solution will minimize disruptions during the transition, facilitate a smooth data flow, boost accuracy, and maximize organizational efficiency.
Integrate with existing systems
Next on the agenda? Confirming that the new QTC tool integrates with the company’s current tech stack, such as its:
- Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms
- PSA
- Accounting programs
When a business chooses tools that play nicely, there are fewer data silos and less manual work is required. IT teams should be involved early to ensure a well-orchestrated transition that avoids workflow disruptions.
Ensure data security and compliance
While evaluating possible QTC automation solutions, data security and compliance should be a top priority. Companies should choose software that meets industry-specific security standards and regulations, such as GDPR or HIPAA.
Businesses are also recommended to implement robust encryption and access controls. In addition, performing regular audits can help teams safeguard their sensitive financial and customer data.
Business leaders collaborating with legal and compliance teams will find it easier to choose QTC automation software that meets all relevant data protection laws and requirements.
Train employees effectively
When companies first introduce QTC automation, it’s imperative that they provide frequent employee training. Offering in-depth sessions that cover the tool’s features and functionality—including interactive, hands-on practice—will help the staff confidently adopt the system.
Businesses should also employ change management strategies to address concerns and demonstrate the new system's benefits. Continuous support and resources will give employees the tools they need to incorporate the tool into their daily routines.
Optimize based on learnings
Once the new QTC automation tool is in place, companies should continually gather employee and customer feedback and analyze performance data to identify areas for improvement. By monitoring system usage and understanding pain points, they can fine-tune the tool to improve the user experience and optimize workflows.
Regular reviews and updates will also help ensure that the automation tool grows with the business and continues to meet its ever-changing needs.
Case study: Successful quote-to-cash automation
CreativeIT, a dynamic managed service provider (MSP), upgraded its financial operations using WisePay’s QTC automation and reaped the rewards. After acquiring the once-struggling business, Managing Director Caleb Anderson implemented WisePay to streamline invoicing and payment processes.
Within just one week, the integration of WisePay, ConnectWise PSA, and Xero gave him access to real-time financial insights that revealed how he could transform the company’s cash flow management.
The partnership with WisePay has since led to a cascade of benefits for CreativeIT, including:
- Saving $26K in financial administration costs
- Reducing bookkeeper hours from 20 to eight per week
- Shortening end-of-month processes from five to three days
These efficiencies, coupled with better cash flow visibility, helped CreativeIT overcome a monthly deficit of $5K. Days sales outstanding (DSO) eventually exceeded the industry average by ten days. This is the power of WisePay in action.
Automate your quote-to-cash process with WisePay
Businesses simply can’t dismiss all the benefits of quote-to-cash automation. Streamlining their quoting, contracting, invoicing, and payment processes leads to substantial labor savings, happier employees, increased accuracy, and a far superior customer experience, among many other advantages.
WisePay’s QTC automation capabilities integrate seamlessly with existing systems, provide real-time financial visibility, and simplify business operations. Are you ready to transform your business processes and drive growth?
Learn more about WisePay’s quote-to-cash automation today and discover how it can elevate your company’s cash flow management.
