Specialist chemicals manufacturer automates cash application worldwide
Achieving 80% cash application automation rates in after S/4HANA migration.
- Industry: Specialty chemicals R&D
- Revenue: $10bn+
- Employees: 20,000+
- Headquarters: USA
Business need
Business need
By implementing Serrala FS² AutoBank, our customer successfully restored and exceeded its previous automation levels. Within one year, the organization increased its high automation (HIT) rate from 38% to 74%, reaching 80% globally, establishing a scalable, flexible, and business-owned automation model that supports global operations.
Following the transition to a new SAP system (CFIN, based on SAP S/4HANA) and the migration of bank statements from MT940 to the ISO 20022-compliant CAMT053 format, this specialist American developer of chemicals for the global food industry faced significant challenges maintaining efficiency and automation rates in its cash application.
The migration caused a substantial drop in automation performance, threatening processing speed, scalability, and operational stability.
Solution implemented
Solution implemented
To bring automation rates back up to a high standard and help the business adapt to its new finance operations protocols, the company knew it would need to adopt a two-pronged approach:
First, it would need to redesign its general ledger structure within CFIN to accommodate the switch to CAMT053. Second, it would need a solution capable of supporting complex global payment scenarios to enable its AR teams to build and adjust its own rules and processes independently, without relying on internal IT support.
The company set clear performance and operational goals. Most importantly, the new solution would have to achieve at least a 67% hit rate for automation (the pre-migration benchmark), with a best-in-class target of 80% to follow. Any new system would also need to increase flexibility to help the cash application team adapt quickly to changing payment patterns, and allow the creation and management of automated rules and processes directly in SAP.
The company selected Serrala FS² AutoBank based on prior positive experience and its ability to handle advanced, real-world payment scenarios. Key decision factors included proven functionality for global cash application management across a variety of banking partners, support for complex rule logic and conversion tables, enhanced handling of bank detail communication to improve matching accuracy, and seamless, scalable integration with SAP.
Results achieved
Results achieved
After the CFIN data restructure, CAMT053 transition, and implementation of FS² AutoBank to manage the new architecture, automation hit rates initially dropped to 38%. With FS² AutoBank optimization and rule refinement, the business rapidly recovered and exceeded its original targets. Within a year, automation rates in cash application were already at 74%, surpassing the pre-migration baseline. By May 2025, the global automation rate had hit 80%.
This level of automation in cash application translates to a significant reduction to manual posting and clearing, accelerated reconciliation cycles, a high level of operational efficiencies, and reduced dependency of the finance team on IT.
The company attributes its strong results to a simple technical setup combined with expert guidance from our teams at Serrala and a thorough and robust change management process. This included in-depth preparation mapping incoming and outgoing payments prior to any system changes, and clear documentation of both legacy rule logic and existing requirements, and clear alignment between internal IT stakeholders and Serrala’s expert recommendations. Further, the company benefited from strong end user involvement, with the entire cash application team empowered to participate in identifying automation logic and opportunities and create their own optimized rules.
