How Nordic companies improve cash flow and reduce DSO

Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) represents the financial pulse of any organization. When DSO improves by just three days, the impact ripples through every aspect of business operations: reduced financing costs, improved liquidity, and stronger cash flow. For a company with €50 million in annual revenue, this equals roughly €53,000 in annual financing savings* – money working for growth rather than sitting idle in receivables.

*Calculated using a 13% weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

Yet reducing DSO requires more than hoping customers pay faster. It demands systematic process optimization that addresses every friction point in the cash conversion cycle. The Ropo One™ platform provides a strong foundation enabling companies to streamline their entire invoice lifecycle from multichannel invoice delivery to sales ledger management, as well as reminder and collection procedures on a single system.

Two Nordic companies, A-Katsastus Group and Oomi, demonstrate how this works in practice. Both have already achieved significant DSO improvements – reaching three days in cash conversion acceleration – through targeted operational enhancements on the Ropo One™ platform. Their approaches, however, highlight different aspects of what drive cash flow performance.

How A-Katsastus streamlined the B2B invoice flow

A-Katsastus Group, Finland’s leading vehicle inspection and registration service provider, serves a significant B2B client segment that pays by invoice. Before partnering with Ropo, the company managed invoice delivery, sales ledger management, and payment monitoring in-house, while relying on a third-party partner whose role was limited to debt collection.

The late payment process was far from smooth. The B2B invoicing operated across multiple touchpoints, requiring extensive manual effort at each handoff. The process lacked a systematic approach to reminding clients about overdue payments, leaving gaps in follow-up. This fragmentation led to delays and an unclear overall picture of outstanding receivables, ultimately constraining cash flow performance and forecasting accuracy.

“The operational model was demanding for our finance unit,” explains Sanna Virkajärvi, Financial Manager at A-Katsastus. The fragmentation meant manual work at every stage: payment allocation, unclear payment processing, customer inquiries about invoice status.

The resource-intensive processes did not scale effectively to meet the size and volume of A-Katsastus’s operations.

The transformation began with unifying all invoice-related workflows. The existing invoicing system was seamlessly integrated with Ropo One™, bringing every function from invoice delivery to sales ledger management, receivables handling, and reporting into Ropo’s comprehensive invoice lifecycle service.

“We now have a clear and efficient process where invoices automatically progress from one stage to another according to predefined rules and thresholds,” Virkajärvi continues.

The automation delivered immediate impact across multiple areas. Payment allocations that previously required manual processing now happened automatically. Unclear payments – historically a significant drain on resources – are now handled by Ropo. Customer service inquiries about invoices shifted to Ropo’s specialized teams, freeing internal resources for strategic work.

Most significantly, the Ropo One™ platform enabled automating the entire late payment process based on predefined triggers. Sales ledger management, payment reminders, and receivables monitoring now operated systematically without manual intervention.

This transformation changed customer payment behavior: the automated reminder process encouraged faster payments from customers who had forgotten due dates and created clear consequences for those who habitually paid late. Payment delays decreased as customers quickly learned that timely payment was both expected and encouraged consistently.

Learn how Ropo’s invoice lifecycle service streamlined A-Katsastus’s finance operations

Oomi leverages real-time intelligence for full visibility

Finnish energy company Oomi approached cash flow optimization from a different angle. Serving over 500,000 customers, their scale demanded sophisticated tools for managing payment patterns, credit risks, and processes effectively.

The challenge wasn’t fragmentation – it was the lack of real-time visibility into what was actually happening with their receivables.

“We needed to understand our capital behavior in real-time,” says Oomi’s Head of Invoicing and Credit Management Sanna Kilpeläinen. “Historical reports couldn’t reveal early signs of payment delays or show which customer segments required closer monitoring. By the time issues surfaced in monthly reviews, valuable days had already slipped away,” she adds.

Oomi’s solution centered on the intelligent analytics in Ropo OneView Pro. The platform’s traffic light system – green for on-time payments, yellow for occasional delays, red for continuous problems – transformed payment monitoring from reactive to predictive.

“We can now see immediately where issues are developing and prioritize our actions accordingly,” Kilpeläinen adds.

Real-time payment visibility through advanced banking integrations eliminated another friction point. The enhanced payment visibility accelerated cash recognition from days to hours, significantly reducing the capital buffer needed for payment processing.

Electronic invoice delivery acceleration played an equally crucial role. Oomi expanded its digital delivery channel offering, while maintaining traditional options. As a result, their electronic delivery ratio improved dramatically.

According to Ropo’s broader industry data, electronic invoices are paid 5.1 days faster in B2C transactions and 0.4 days faster in B2B on average – a difference that accumulates significantly across hundreds of thousands of monthly invoices.

Increasing invoicing frequency was another key optimization measure. By sending invoices more frequently, Oomi improved cash flow predictability and reduced the risk of large overdue balances, ensuring smoother financial operations and enhanced customer experience.

Read how Oomi strengthens financial control with real-time insights

Connected process improvements drive bigger impacts

Both companies discovered that individual improvements create compounding effects. Streamlining the process, A-Katsastus eliminated manual work and strengthened financial oversight through systematic late-payment management. Oomi’s real-time data improved visibility and enabled segment-specific strategies that optimized payment terms and increased the accuracy of cash flow forecasting – ultimately reducing the risk of delays.

“The real advantage lies in how these improvements amplify each other,” says Ella Tuovinen, Key Account Manager at Ropo. “Digitizing invoice delivery and optimizing payment flows makes settlements faster, boosts cash flow, and sharpens forecasting accuracy. Each step strengthens the next.”

This interconnection appeared clearly in A-Katsastus’s reporting capabilities. Business intelligence that previously required manual Excel compilation now appeared automatically as clear graphs and key figures.

“With Ropo’s BI service, our reporting is more comprehensive than before and easy to follow,” Virkajärvi emphasizes. The enhanced visibility has helped refine credit policies, such as optimizing which customers are offered invoice as a payment option – a change that accelerated cash conversion and reduced credit losses.

Oomi leveraged their Ropo OneView Pro analytics for customer segmentation based on payment behavior patterns.

“The beauty of a streamlined invoicing process is its flexibility,” adds Jani Rönkkö, Key Account Manager at Ropo. “Companies can standardize core processes for efficiency while customizing approaches for different customer segments. A high-value B2B client might warrant personalized payment terms, while high-volume consumer invoicing benefits from full automation. The platform adapts to business needs rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all approach.”

The numbers that matter

The improvements both companies achieved translate to concrete financial impact, and these results reflect structural changes rather than temporary gains.

“What makes these results particularly meaningful is their long-term impact,” Rönkkö explains. “We’re not seeing temporary spikes from one-off campaigns. These are structural improvements in how cash flows through the business. When processes work this smoothly, the benefits build month after month.”

The consistent improvements in both cases demonstrate how a single, integrated invoicing flow creates predictable, high-quality results.

Learn more about invoicing automation best practices

A-Katsastus delivered:

Electronic delivery ratio growth from 83% to 91% (2022-2025)
Reminder volumes decreased from 5.3% to 4.3% of invoices (2023-2025)
Collection cases reduced from 1.4% to 0.9% (2023-2025)
Payment delays reduced to –0.09 days (down from 1.52 days in 2023), with invoices now paid essentially before the due date
Substantial resource savings as manual processing shifted to automation
Accelerated sales receivables circulation

Oomi achieved:

Electronic delivery ratio increased from 57% to 70% (2022–2025)
Reminder volumes decreased from 7.1% to 5.2% of invoices (2022–2025)
Collection cases reduced and stabilised around ~3% (down from 3.8% in 2022)
Average payment time shortened from 19.9 to 15.1 days (2022–2025)
Payment delays reduced from 1.7 to 0.52 days, with customers now paying essentially on the due date
More accurate cash forecasting enabled by real payment behaviour

Building cash flow acceleration

The patterns from A-Katsastus and Oomi reveal three essential elements for meaningful DSO improvements: a unified invoicing flow that eliminates friction points, real-time visibility that enables proactive management, and intelligent automation that optimizes performance based on actual customer behavior.

A-Katsastus eliminated fragmentation across their B2B operations. Oomi gained predictive intelligence across 500,000+ customer relationships. Both transformed cash conversion from a reactive challenge into a controlled, measurable outcome.

When every step – from invoice delivery through payment reconciliation to collection – flows through the Ropo One™ platform, acceleration happens naturally. The freed working capital, reduced manual effort, and improved payment predictability create the operational foundation that enables sustainable growth.

A-Katsastus Group is Finland’s leading provider of inspections, condition evaluations and registration services for vehicles. The range of services covers driving permit test services, road traffic licensing services and the sale of car equipment. The company has 1000 employees in approximately 250 offices in Finland. Learn more about A-Katsastus

Oomi Ltd. is one of the largest electricity retail companies in Finland. Oomi currently has more than 500,000 customers and employ over 100 people. In addition to a strong customer base, Oomi’s resources include the founding companies’ years of experience in the Finnish energy industry as well as strong, local roots. Oomi’s goal is to be Finland’s most desired and fastest-growing partner in everyday life services and energy transition solutions. Learn more about Oomi

Ready to transform your invoicing operations?

Ropo One™ provides end-to-end automation for your entire invoicing lifecycle – from invoice creation and delivery to payment monitoring and collection processes. Our comprehensive platform delivers the automation benefits discussed in this article: improved cash flow, reduced manual work, standardized processes, and full visibility across your invoicing operations.

Our expert implementation team works with you to determine the best solution for your specific needs and industry requirements. Thousands of Nordic companies already trust Ropo to handle their invoicing automation.

Learn more about Ropo