$276M in One Quarter
How disciplined backlog management, real-time governance reporting, and PO consolidation rules unlocked $276 million in stagnant unbilled AR, in a single quarter.
— THE SITUATION
A significant unbilled AR backlog had accumulated through fragmented billing processes, normalised processing delays, and an absence of reporting visibility that prevented leadership from seeing the scale of the problem or assigning accountability for it.
The result: earned revenue locked on the balance sheet. The work was delivered. The cash never moved.
— WHAT CHANGED
Three pillars rebuilt the billing discipline: a structured backlog management process to systematically identify, prioritise, and clear unbilled AR; real-time reporting dashboards and governance checkpoints to make the backlog visible and owned; and PO consolidation rules to eliminate the transaction-level delays that had been extending the cycle.
— THE DELTA
$276M cash unlocked in Q4 | Improved DSO and working capital | Permanent governance framework in place |
$276 million in stagnant capital converted to active liquidity in a single quarter. Working capital strengthened. DSO improved. And a permanent governance infrastructure established to prevent the same backlog from accumulating again.
— THE TAKEAWAY
"Stagnant capital is not a billing problem, it is a governance problem. The revenue was earned. What was missing was the system to collect it."
Make the backlog visible. Assign accountability. Build the rules that prevent the pattern from recurring. The revenue was always there.
