Contract to Cash: Why Social Impact Leaders Should Care

Imagine a world where closing a sale and getting cash in your bank is as seamless as clicking a button—where contracts and invoices are updated in real-time without the burden of redundant data entry.

Yet for many social impact leaders, this remains a distant dream.

Many current workflows often resemble a complex web of emails, CRMs, invoicing systems, and legal documentation that require painstaking manual updates at every turn.

This not only slows down operations and increases errors but also makes life more difficult for mission-driven staff and leaders already struggling with limited resources.

This article explores how organizations can overcome these challenges by reviewing the main types of workflows that levels up efficiency, setting the stage for strategic growth

Most organizations rely on a combination of tools to get from sales contract to cash in bank.

This can be a challenging, as it often involves manual processes between multiple functions (operations, legal, finance, and sales).

As organizations scale, these workflows can become more numerous and complex.

A slow, error-filled process here amidst fast client growth can cause an existential financial crisis.

Slower cash (and fewer disputes around your services) mean less cash in the bank to pay your staff and invest in your programs, slowing down your mission.

Common workflows include:

• Managing sales agreements and e-signatures. For example, Ironclad integrated with Docusign for creating and managing contracts

• Managing invoices. For example, Wave for generating and tracking invoices.

• Processing payments. For example, Stripe to accept payments securely.

• Bookkeeping to record payments. For example, Quickbooks for recording transactions

• (Optionally) Centralizing client data. For example, Monday as a single source of truth around customer projects, actions, and information.

Sidebar: Confusing terminology alert

Because it is an inherently cross-functional process, there are many names for what this process is called.

These include:
• quote to cash
• offer to cash process
• revenue operations (”RevOps”)
• finance operations (”FinOps”)
• sometimes legal operations (”Legal Ops”) or sales operations (”Sales Ops).

Personally, I like calling this “contract to cash” because it is the most concrete. If forced to choose between functional categories, I like Salesforce’s definition of this as as part of “Finance Ops.”

There’s a common challenge in this contract to cash process.

Tools or manual tasks operate in silos, leading to massive inefficiencies, redundant data entry, and high room for error.

Consider the case of ImpactCare, a mid-sized social impact tech-enabled service provider specializing in health promotion.

ImpactCare relied heavily on email communication for contract negotiations and used separate systems for managing clients, invoicing, billing, and contracts.

The team found themselves bogged down by the tedious process of entering client information into multiple systems—first in their customer relationship management (CRM) system, followed by legal agreements, invoicing, and their payment processing system.

As the organization grew, the volume of contracts and invoices increased significantly, resulting in a growing pile of uncreated or unaddressed invoices and and a higher error rate, with incorrect billing information, missed payments, and delayed reconciliations becoming commonplace

For instance, a critical agreement with a group of donors was delayed by two weeks due to an oversight in data entry that resulted in incorrect billing information.

Given its time-sensitive nature, the donor expressed frustration over the delay and considered redirecting their funds to another organization.

This incident not only jeopardized a crucial funding opportunity but also damaged ImpactCare’s reputation as a reliable and efficient partner.

As a leader in social impact, it's essential to assess your existing contract-to-cash workflows and actively seek opportunities for improvement

Your financial sustainability depends on it.

But as shown above, even with the right people and processes in place, manual processes can break.

Software tools can significantly enhance your operations. But navigating the software landscape in this area can be quite perplexing.

In the next post, we’ll explore the various categories of available tools and provide clarity on how to navigate the marketplace.