From Monthly Delays to Daily Intelligence

The Situation

Working within the Accounts Receivable department at a major corporation, I noticed a critical gap between what managers needed and what they could access. The department monitored cash application cycle times - a key metric where every day of delay represented lost revenue - but could only get monthly reports from the mainframe system delivered on pallets of printed paper.

The Discovery

Through my role supporting executive briefings, I learned that leadership wanted daily cycle time data to optimize cash management. The monthly lag made it impossible to respond quickly to bottlenecks or performance issues. With the cash volumes involved, each day of delayed application had real financial impact.

The Solution

Recognizing an opportunity to bridge this gap, I proposed building a prototype using the department's new PC with MS Access. Working with colleagues who had mainframe data access, I secured a flat file export of the raw A/R data.

I designed and built queries to calculate cycle times at multiple levels - individual clerk performance, team aggregations, and department-wide metrics - with the daily granularity leadership required. The solution included automated reporting and visual dashboards that transformed how managers could monitor performance.

The Impact

The prototype impressed both department leadership and the executive team. More importantly, it provided the concrete demonstration needed to build a business case for permanent IT infrastructure changes. The director was able to quantify the operational benefits and secure resources for a scalable, integrated solution.

The Outcome

While I moved to a new role before the full implementation, my prototype became the foundation for the department's new daily reporting capability - transforming a monthly batch process into real-time operational intelligence.