Rethinking Receivables: Why Selective, Bilateral, and Scalable is the Future
By • Published May 22, 2025 • 4 minute read
In boardrooms and treasury departments alike, a new question is gaining urgency: Are we doing enough with our receivables?
At Working Capital Forum Americas 2025, one message resonated clearly—receivables finance is no longer a niche tool or a tactical fix. It’s a strategic pillar in how companies manage liquidity, mitigate risk, and maintain agility in a changing capital environment.
For years, supply chain finance has taken center stage in working capital conversations. But now, with rising interest rates and increasing scrutiny on leverage, more finance leaders are rediscovering the untapped value of the receivables side of the balance sheet.
From Passive to Proactive: Rethinking AR
Traditionally, accounts receivables (AR) has been treated as a static asset, monitored for collections, aged for risk, and occasionally used in last-resort factoring. But that approach underserves what receivables can deliver.
Forward-thinking companies are now segmenting AR portfolios, selectively financing strategic obligors, and tailoring funding structures to match regional needs. Why? Because liquidity isn’t just a buffer anymore. It’s a growth enabler.
What Today’s Leaders Are Doing Differently
Across industries, several trends are redefining how receivables finance is deployed:
- Selective financing over blanket programs: Rather than trying to finance the entire ledger, teams are targeting specific obligors or markets where financing adds the most value.
- Bilateral over pooled funding: To maintain privacy and optionality, corporates are increasingly favoring funder arrangements that isolate counterparties.
- Minimal IT lift, maximum speed: The best programs avoid deep integrations and allow finance to launch initiatives without heavy internal resourcing.
- True sale, not just short-term liquidity: Companies are prioritizing off-balance sheet, non-recourse treatment to preserve borrowing capacity and credit metrics.
Each of these shifts reflects a broader move: from tactical use cases to strategic deployment.
Complexity Is the Rule, Not the Exception
If your receivables are spread across currencies, geographies, and entities, you’re not alone. Most multinational companies are navigating complex AR portfolios, yet few have the tools to manage them dynamically.
This is where modern platforms and funding models come in. By embracing solutions that support multi-obligor, multi-region, and multi-funder structures, organizations are reclaiming control and unlocking liquidity that was once trapped in administrative friction.
It’s Not About Financing Faster. It’s About Financing Smarter.
In the current market, it’s not enough to accelerate cash flow. Finance teams need to optimize how that acceleration happens: who gets financed, under what terms, and with what implications for the balance sheet.
The most successful programs are equal parts operationally efficient and strategically intelligent. They treat receivables as part of an integrated liquidity strategy, not a standalone function.
What Comes Next
As more organizations shift from short-term liquidity grabs to long-term financial resilience, receivables will play a central role. The capital locked in AR is too significant—and too flexible—to sit idle. The question isn’t whether to modernize receivables finance. It’s how fast you can start.
The next generation of working capital strategies will be built on smarter use of existing assets—and that starts with receivables.
