Your Financial Data Is Talking. Are You Listening?

Mid-size companies are sitting on a gold mine of financial intelligence: highly valuable data on receivables patterns, payables timing, cash conversion cycles, and other key metrics. 

The problem is, many aren’t using it the right way. Companiesoften treat this data as a record of the past, but leveraging it as a strategic asset can guide intelligent financial behavior and drive growth.

Today’s business landscape is volatile. Companies that fail to capture the full potential of their financial data are at serious risk of falling behind their competitors. Those that do mine their financial data can better forecast liquidity, optimize working capital, and identify risks before they escalate—giving them a powerful competitive advantage. 

The Data Is There. The Strategy Isn’t. 

For a mid-sized business, every financial activity—whether a customer paying an invoice, a vendor changing terms, or cash building up in an operating account—generates a signal. Taken together, those signals illustrate how the company’s financial operations work in practice.

But many companies never see this complete picture. 

A survey of more than 500 finance leaders by business planning platform Pigment found that nearly nine in 10 CFOs are making monthly decisions they know are based on inaccurate or incomplete data. One in four even said they rely on gut instinct alone. 

This lack of visibility isn't a technology shortcoming; it's data storage in a highly fragmented, disorganized way across multiple ERP systems and manual spreadsheets that don't communicate. This makes it difficult to obtain a unified, interconnected view of all relevant information.

In addition to siloed data, lagging data reporting schedules mean many finance leaders receive reports only about historical data. This after-the-fact visibility can force leaders to make decisions based on information that may not be relevant to current financial conditions and dynamics.

For mid-sized companies, these issues translate into measurable costs. For example, a recent Agicap survey found that 43% of finance leaders reported flow forecasts were unreliable due to fragmented data storage and delayed reporting, leading to unexpected cash deficits of more than $50,000 every 20 days on average. 

That’s not a forecasting problem; it's a data visibility problem—and it’s costing businesses real money. The good news is, it doesn't have to. 

Data-Driven Growth

While many mid-size companies struggle to effectively leverage their financial data, others are using data-based insights to drive strategy, and are reaping handsome rewards. A Visa study found that companies run by finance leaders who use data proactively realize an average of $19 million in annual savings. They do it by turning working capital into a growth lever to enable valuable cost-saving measures.

Early payment offers an illustrative example of this framework. An organization with complete real-time cash visibility and accurate short-term forecasting can identify windows to pay suppliers ahead of schedule. This brings benefits such as discounts, locked-in pricing, inventory commitments,  extended terms, and more. 

The key to enabling this strategy is real-time visibility, such as what receivables are outstanding and when they’re likely to convert, along with accurate liquidity forecasting that can model when payables will begin to put stress on operating account balance. To gain these insights requires sharing data across departments, such as treasury, procurement, and operations.

How AI Is Changing the Game 

Significant technological work traditionally went into capturing and processing data, building predictive models, and building internal connectivity. The emergence of artificial intelligence has dramatically reduced this lift, making it easier, cheaper, and faster than ever for mid-size companies to harness the power of their financial data. 

Modern AI capabilities can flag unusual patterns in receivables, model multiple liquidity scenarios simultaneously, and automate forecasting work that previously required significant time and effort. The Visa study found that, in 2025, 58% of growth-stage companies used generative and agentic AI for forecasting, workflow automation, and supplier onboarding. That AI optimization helped drive a tripling of cash flow visibility and 66% improvement in savings, on average, since 2023, the study found.  

But while today’s AI tools are incredibly powerful, to harness their full value means acting on the financial insights they provide. That requires a partner who understands the business well enough to help translate not only what the numbers are saying, but how to turn financial insights into a strategy that fuels growth.

The Power of Partnership

The right partner can translate what key metrics reveal about critical success factors, such as potential growth opportunities, risk exposures, and capital efficiency.

That conversation typically starts with a question: What is your financial data telling you that you're not yet hearing? The answer often reveals things that have been hiding in plain sight, such as a receivables pattern that points to a potential customer credit risk, a payables cycle that’s eroding a key supplier relationship, or a cash buildup that's sitting idle when it could be used to fund growth. 

Those types of data-driven insights are vital to ensuring success and stability, particularly in today’s volatile business environment. Contact Old National's Commercial Banking team today for a partner that can help you leverage the full value of your financial data.

Key Takeaways:  

• Most mid-market companies already have the financial data they need. The gap is in how it's organized, accessed, and acted on. Fragmented systems and delayed reporting are operational problems with real financial consequences.
• Real-time visibility into receivables, payables, and liquidity turns working capital into a strategic lever, enabling smarter supplier negotiations, earlier payment discounts, and more accurate forecasting.
• AI is making financial data analytics more accessible than ever. Companies can significantly improve cash flow visibility and savings. But technology alone isn't enough without internal integration, strategic frameworks, and partnerships to support it.