Introduction
Order-to-cash automation on Clarity Payment Hub extends ERP integration beyond invoice payment to the full order-to-cash loop: payment at the point of order entry, whether the order comes from a sales rep in the ERP, a customer in the B2B portal, a shopper at eCommerce checkout, a counter clerk on a POS terminal, a field-service tech in the field, or a phone-in order. Because Payment Hub is wired into your ERP through Clarity Connect, the same integration that captures invoice payments also captures deposits and authorizations at order entry, then posts every cash event to the ERP in real time. Capturing cash earlier in the order-to-cash process shortens the cash conversion cycle and improves cash flow without adding manual work. Order-to-cash automation, often shortened to O2C automation, turns the order-to-cash process into one connected flow rather than disconnected steps, with payment and cash application handled at every stage.
What order-to-cash covers, and where most tools stop
Most merchants think of Clarity Payment Hub as the tool that takes invoice payments. That is half the picture. Because Payment Hub is wired into your ERP through Clarity Connect, it does not stop at processing invoices and their payments. It covers the whole order-to-cash (O2C) loop, starting at order entry and running through fulfillment, invoicing, payment capture, and cash application. O2C automation is what connects those steps.
The difference matters because a meaningful share of B2B revenue moves through a different rhythm than invoice first, then collect. Sales reps take a phone order and need to collect a deposit during the call. A customer self-serves an order in the B2B portal and pays with a saved card on file. A shopper checks out on eCommerce and pays upfront. A counter clerk rings up a walk-in pickup with a card-present terminal. A field-service tech collects at the customer site when the job ends. In each of these cases, payment happens at or near the point of order, not in the weeks-later invoice-collection cycle. Payment Hub is built to handle that, because the same ERP integration that pulls invoices and posts cash receipts also works at the order-entry side of the order-to-cash process.
Capturing payment earlier changes the cash math. When a deposit or full payment lands at order entry instead of weeks after an invoice, days sales outstanding (DSO) falls, the cash cycle shortens, and cash flow improves. Finance teams gain cash flow visibility across the order-to-cash process, because every deposit, capture, and cash application posts to the ERP in real time. The result is improved cash flow, less revenue leakage from lost authorizations, and fewer billing errors and billing mistakes, with no added manual effort for finance and operations teams. O2C automation is what makes that cash flow improvement repeatable order after order.
The six order-to-cash stages, and where Payment Hub sits at each
A full order-to-cash process moves through six stages from quote to cash in the GL, and the O2C process touches payment at each one. Each stage has a moment where payment-relevant activity can happen: a deposit, an authorization, a capture, a refund, a settlement. Payment Hub sits at every stage of the O2C process, integrated with your ERP through Clarity Connect.
Quote. A quote is created in CRM, CPQ, or the ERP, and Payment Hub exposes acceptable methods and terms.
Order. The order is created through any channel: rep, portal, eCommerce, counter, field, or MOTO.
Payment at entry. A deposit, full payment, or authorization-only is captured at order entry, and the ERP sees it immediately.
Fulfillment. The order ships, in full or in part, and the shipment event triggers capture timing and invoice generation.
Invoice. The invoice lands in the ERP. The deposit applies, the authorization captures, and the balance is invoiced.
Cash application. The cash receipt posts to the ERP, the GL updates, and accounts receivable ages any remaining balance. The loop closes.
The legacy pattern, where payment only happens once an invoice has been generated, emailed, and chased, leaves the first three stages of the loop as payment-acceptance dead zones. Deposits get tracked in spreadsheets. Sales reps email invoice links for customers to pay later. Orders get authorized through a separate non-integrated virtual terminal, and the authorization gets lost by the time the invoice posts. Payment Hub closes that gap by acting as the payment-acceptance layer at every stage of the O2C process, with the ERP-side integration keeping each stage's cash event synchronized and cash application clean.
Every order channel, one payment layer
Orders originate from different places depending on your business, your customer base, and the type of order, and O2C automation has to capture payment on customer orders from every one. Payment Hub handles all of them with the same integration, the same gateway relationships, the same ERP posting, and the same tokenized customer-method infrastructure. There are no channel-specific rebuilds and no fragmented payment tooling.
Sales rep in the ERP
The rep builds the order inside your ERP's sales-order screen. Payment Hub embeds in that screen, so the rep selects a saved customer method or keys the card right in the ERP UI.
B2B customer portal
The customer logs into the portal, builds an order against their ERP contract pricing, and pays with a saved tokenized method or a new card.
eCommerce checkout
A direct-to-consumer or B2B shopper checks out on your eCommerce storefront. The order places in the ERP with payment captured upfront at checkout.
POS counter
A walk-in customer at the parts counter, will-call window, or store pays on a certified card-present terminal or Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android.
Field service and mobile
A tech collects at the customer site using Tap to Pay on a phone or a Bluetooth-paired terminal. The payment attaches to the work order.
Phone and MOTO
A phone-in or email-in order is keyed through the Virtual Terminal, with the same ERP posting and the same tokenized saved-method support.
EDI and automated B2B
Orders arriving by EDI or API from trading partners land in the ERP, and Payment Hub applies the trading partner's stored terms and payment method automatically.
Quote-to-order conversion
A quote generated in CRM or CPQ converts to an order when the customer accepts. Accept and pay can happen in one customer action through a pay-ready quote link.
Whatever channel an order enters through, Payment Hub handles the payment-acceptance side with one integration, one set of security controls, one admin, and one reporting dashboard. Finance teams and financial operations get one view of the whole order-to-cash process. Sales reps, counter staff, field techs, portal customers, and eCommerce shoppers all transact through the same infrastructure, and the ERP receives clean order, payment, invoice, and cash-application records from every source, so the O2C process and the order-to-cash process stay connected end to end.
How Payment Hub powers order-to-cash
Eight capabilities turn order-to-cash into process automation. They extend Payment Hub's ERP integration from accepting invoice payments to covering the whole O2C loop, so order-to-cash process automation handles each step rather than leaving gaps. Each capability is the connective tissue between an order event and a payment event, the part that most payment tools do not handle.
Embedded payment in ERP order entry
Clarity Connect exposes Payment Hub's payment-capture form inside your ERP's sales-order screen, so a sales rep builds the order, selects take payment, and captures without leaving the ERP. There is no app-switching, no copy-paste of card numbers, and no emailed-link-and-wait.
Deposit and authorization-only support
Capture a deposit percentage at order entry, posted as a customer deposit in the ERP. Or authorize the full amount without capturing, held against the card and captured later. Or take 100 percent upfront. All three post correctly and drive accounting events cleanly.
Shipment-triggered capture timing
When an authorization is captured at shipment rather than at order, Payment Hub listens for the shipment event in your ERP and fires the capture at the right moment: full capture on full ship, partial capture on partial ship, and release of the authorization if the order is canceled.
Multi-channel tokenized methods
A customer's saved payment method tokenizes once and is available to every channel. The rep in the ERP, the customer in the B2B portal, the counter clerk, the field-service tech, and the eCommerce checkout all use the same token vault. The customer keys their card once, and it is usable everywhere after that.
Quote-to-order-to-pay continuity
A quote accepted by the customer can include a pay-now link. Accepting and paying collapse into one customer action: the order converts in the ERP, the payment captures through Payment Hub, and both post to the ERP at the same moment. There is no three-separate-emails dance.
Partial-shipment payment handling
A single order shipping in three waves triggers three partial captures against a single authorization, or three draws from a deposit, each correctly allocated to the specific line items shipped, each invoicing correctly, and each posting cash in real time. There is no end-of-month reconciliation between shipment events and payment events.
Level III enrichment on ordered transactions
Orders paid with commercial cards automatically qualify for Level III interchange optimization. Line items, unit of measure, product codes, tax, and freight are pulled from the order data in your ERP and packaged into the Level III envelope. The same 0.3 to 1.0 percent savings that apply to invoice payments apply to order-time payments.
Real-time ERP posting at every stage
Every event, including order entry, deposit posting, authorization creation, shipment capture, invoice linkage, cash receipt, and refund, writes to your ERP through Clarity Connect the moment it happens. There is no end-of-day batch, no CSV upload, and no manual journal entries. The ERP always reflects what Payment Hub has done, so cash application is immediate and revenue recognition stays accurate.
For finance teams, O2C automation means less manual reconciliation and cleaner books. Financial operations see every order, deposit, and capture in one place, so accounts receivable handles dispute resolution and payment reconciliation instead of data entry. Order management and order fulfillment stay tied to payment on every customer order, which cuts revenue leakage and keeps revenue recognition accurate at period close. Customer orders move from quote to cash without the manual processes and dispute resolution backlog that build up when order management and payment live in separate systems. Across the order-to-cash process, process automation replaces the manual processes that used to sit between systems, and O2C automation keeps cash application current. This is O2C process automation end to end: from quote to cash, the order-to-cash automation runs without manual steps. Order-to-cash automation pays back fastest for finance teams that work the order-to-cash process every day. With O2C process automation handling capture and cash application, financial operations close faster and finance teams forecast cash flow with confidence. O2C automation runs the same way whether the order came from a rep, a portal, or a counter, and order-to-cash automation keeps every channel on one ledger. Process automation across the order-to-cash process turns a stack of manual processes into one connected flow, with cleaner dispute resolution and accurate revenue recognition at close. The same O2C process automation gives financial operations the cash flow visibility they need.
A sales-rep order workflow: phone order with 30 percent deposit to delivered and paid
A worked example of the O2C process: an inside-sales rep takes a $12,400 phone order for custom-manufactured widgets with a 30 percent deposit at order entry, followed by a partial shipment, a full shipment, and final balance capture. Every stage happens inside the ERP with Payment Hub embedded. Total elapsed time to close the loop is two weeks, with zero manual reconciliation.
Sales rep takes a phone order for $12,400. The rep opens the ERP's sales-order screen, pulls up the customer (Acme Widgets Inc., account #4021), and enters the order line items (10 custom widgets at $1,240 each). The customer asks to pay a 30 percent deposit now with the balance at delivery. The rep clicks take deposit inside the sales-order screen, and Payment Hub's embedded form appears.
Customer authorizes the deposit over the phone. The rep keys the customer's corporate Visa purchasing card into the Payment Hub form, or selects the customer's saved tokenized method if they have paid before. The 30 percent deposit is $3,720. Payment Hub identifies the BIN as Visa Purchasing, applies Level III enrichment from the sales order (line items, unit of measure, product codes, tax breakdown), captures the $3,720 deposit, and tokenizes the card for later capture of the balance.
The ERP posts the deposit immediately. Clarity Connect writes back to the ERP: the sales order attaches to the deposit ($3,720 customer deposit posted to GL 2310 Customer Deposits), the tokenized card is saved on the customer record, and the remaining order balance ($8,680) is marked as pending on shipment. All of this happens within one second of the card authorization.
A partial shipment goes out (5 of 10 widgets). A week later, 5 of the 10 widgets are manufactured and ready to ship. The ERP generates a partial invoice for $6,200 ($5,000 widgets plus tax and freight, with line items). Payment Hub is notified of the shipment event: the existing $3,720 deposit applies to the partial invoice, leaving $2,480 on the invoice, then the saved tokenized card auto-captures the remaining $2,480.
The invoice settles and cash posts. Clarity Connect posts to the ERP: the $6,200 invoice closes ($3,720 from deposit plus $2,480 fresh card capture), the cash receipt lands in the cash GL, the deposit liability GL decrements, and the sales order's remaining open balance shows $6,200 for the 5 un-shipped widgets with their tax and freight.
The final shipment ships (remaining 5 widgets). A week after that, the remaining 5 widgets ship. The ERP generates the second partial invoice for $6,200, and Payment Hub auto-captures the $6,200 from the same saved tokenized card. Both invoices on this order are now fully paid.
The ERP sales order closes fully paid. The sales order in the ERP closes with a status of fully shipped and paid. The customer deposit GL is cleared, two invoice records are settled, and the customer's accounts receivable shows $0 outstanding on this order. Two Level III-optimized commercial-card transactions settled for this order, saving roughly $165 in interchange against the Level I fallback.
The controller reviews in the dashboard. At the end of the week, the controller opens the Payment Hub dashboard, filters by sales-rep channel, and sees all order-entry deposits and balance captures for the week. The ERP's sales-order detail shows the full lineage from deposit to partial invoice one to partial invoice two to closed. No reconciliation spreadsheet exists, and no reconciliation meeting is scheduled. The O2C process closed itself.
Payment timing patterns, and when to use each
O2C automation does not force one payment timing, and not every order wants the same timing. A configured-to-order manufacturing deal needs a deposit at order time. A phone-in B2B order on Net terms does not collect at the call. An eCommerce shopper pays 100 percent at checkout. O2C automation supports five common timing patterns, all against the same ERP integration, switchable per order or per customer as policy demands.
The five patterns are full payment at order, a deposit at order with the balance on delivery or Net terms, authorization at order with capture at shipment, invoice-then-pay on Net terms, and milestone payments across a long project. Payment Hub does not force any single pattern. Many B2B merchants run two or three in parallel: full payment from counter walk-ins and eCommerce, a deposit at order for custom manufacturing, and invoice-then-pay for Net 30 repeat customers. The pattern is set at order entry, by the rep, by the customer profile, or by order-size rules, and the rest happens automatically. Matching the timing to the order is what tightens the cash conversion cycle and keeps cash flow steady, and the cash application posts to the ERP the moment the payment clears. Healthy cash flow comes from collecting at the right moment, not from chasing invoices later.
Industries where order-to-cash wins most
Order-to-cash automation pays off most where orders originate from channels other than emailed invoice, customer pays later. By closing the loop, O2C automation reduces work for accounts receivable and finance teams: fewer disputes to work through dispute resolution, cleaner payment reconciliation, and order management that ties to order fulfillment. Businesses with significant sales-rep, counter, field, portal, or eCommerce order flow, especially those with deposits, partial shipments, or milestone billing, get the biggest cash flow benefit from order-to-cash automation, because O2C automation pulls cash forward across the order-to-cash process.
Wholesale and industrial distribution
Inside-sales reps take phone orders daily, counter walk-ins need card-present acceptance, the customer portal handles self-serve reordering, and eCommerce serves smaller customers. Payment Hub covers all four channels with one integration, takes deposits on custom or configured orders, and runs Level III enrichment on commercial cards. O2C automation across these channels keeps cash flow steady and lowers days sales outstanding.
Manufacturing and configured goods
Custom-manufactured orders carry long lead times, deposits at order, partial shipments, and milestone billing. Payment Hub's deposit, authorization-capture, and partial-shipment handling matches the native manufacturing order cadence, with deposits of 30 to 50 percent typical, partial-shipment auto-capture, and milestone billing for long projects. Collecting deposits at order improves cash flow on long builds, and O2C automation tracks each milestone through to cash application.
Field service and trades
Plumbing, HVAC, electrical, locksmith, IT services, and landscape techs take orders on-site with immediate payment. Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android closes the gap between job done and cash in the ERP from days to minutes, with work-order-linked captures and dispatch-to-cash in one system. Same-day collection lifts cash flow and shortens the cash cycle.
Professional services
Engagements invoice on completion with Net terms, the classic AR pattern, but retainers and fixed-scope projects often take payment at engagement start. Payment Hub handles both against the same ERP, so the cash conversion cycle tightens on the work that can be collected earlier, and cash flow improves on retainers billed at engagement start.
Healthcare and life sciences
Copay collects at the appointment, and the procedure balance collects after insurance processing. Payment Hub captures at the point of service and posts the balance to the ERP for collection once the payer adjudicates, so the revenue cycle stays clean and cash flow holds steady.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is order-to-cash just a different way of saying invoice payment?
No. Invoice payment is one step in order-to-cash. The full order-to-cash loop starts when a quote converts to an order and runs through fulfillment, invoicing, payment, and cash application. Payment Hub is usually thought of as the invoice-payment tool, but it actually integrates across the whole loop: it can accept payment at the point of order entry (deposit or full authorization), track the authorization through fulfillment, capture against the final invoice at shipment, and post the cash receipt to the ERP. The order-to-cash use case on this page focuses on the capabilities that light up when payment is embedded at order entry rather than waiting until an invoice is generated and emailed. Most merchants benefit from both patterns, where some orders take deposits at entry and some invoice post-delivery and collect after, and Payment Hub supports both patterns running in parallel.
Where can an order be entered into Payment Hub and Clarity Connect?
Any channel where your business takes orders. Sales reps enter orders inside your CRM or ERP (NetSuite, Dynamics, Acumatica, Sage, SAP, Epicor, Infor, and others) with Payment Hub embedded in the order-entry screen for taking card or ACH on the spot. Customers enter orders through your B2B portal with self-service ordering and saved payment methods. Shoppers check out on your eCommerce storefront. Counter staff ring up walk-in orders on certified POS terminals. Field-service techs take payment on-site using Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android or Bluetooth-paired terminals. Phone-in and email-in orders key through the Virtual Terminal for MOTO. The same payment-acceptance and ERP-integration layer handles every channel.
Can a sales rep accept payment directly from inside our ERP's order-entry screen?
Yes. Clarity Connect embeds Payment Hub's payment-acceptance flow inside the ERP's sales-order or quote-to-order screen. The rep builds the order, selects take payment, and Payment Hub presents a card-entry form, or a saved-method selection if the customer has tokenized methods on file, inside the ERP UI. There is no app-switching, no copy-paste of card numbers, and no emailed invoice-link for the customer to click later. Payment captures, the transaction ID attaches to the sales order, and the deposit or full payment posts to the ERP as a cash receipt. This is especially useful for order-entry-heavy businesses: inside-sales teams taking a steady flow of phone orders, trade-show order-taking, and pre-sale deposit-capture on custom configurations.
How do deposits versus full-payment-at-order work?
Payment Hub supports three common order-time payment patterns. First, a deposit at order: the customer pays a percentage (say 30 percent) at order entry, and the balance is invoiced and collected at delivery or on Net terms. Second, full payment at order: the customer pays 100 percent at order entry, common for eCommerce, for non-account B2B, and for pre-sold services. Third, authorization at order with capture at shipment: the full amount is authorized on the card at order entry, with funds reserved but not settled, and captured when the order actually ships. The third pattern is useful for backorder situations where the merchant does not want to charge the card until goods move but wants to lock the authorization to avoid declined cards mid-fulfillment. All three patterns post to the ERP correctly: deposit as a customer deposit, full payment as a cash receipt against the order, and authorization-then-capture as a cash receipt on the invoice at the time of capture.
What happens if an order partially ships, or includes backorders?
Payment Hub handles partial shipments cleanly. When an order authorizes at entry for the full amount, Payment Hub holds the authorization, and each shipment triggers a partial capture against the authorization up to the shipped line-items' value. The last shipment releases the remaining authorization. For deposits, the deposit sits on the customer's account, and partial invoices generated from partial shipments draw against the deposit until it is consumed, then invoicing and collection continue on Net terms or through portal payment. The ERP record stays accurate throughout, with the deposit applied, partial captures logged, and the remaining balance visible, without manual reconciliation between shipment events and payment events.
Does this replace our CRM or quote-to-order tool?
No. Payment Hub integrates with whichever CRM, CPQ, or quote-to-order tool your sales team already uses, including Salesforce, Dynamics 365 CRM, HubSpot, SAP, Oracle, Acumatica CRM, and NetSuite CRM+. The integration provides payment acceptance inside the tool your team lives in rather than requiring them to jump to a separate payment system. Quotes, configurations, opportunity tracking, commissions, and sales-pipeline reporting stay where they already are. Payment Hub adds the payment-acceptance layer and the ERP-side cash-application layer, so that when an opportunity converts to an order, payment can be taken without switching contexts and the resulting cash receipt posts to the ERP automatically.
Can we accept payment at a field-service visit with the same system?
Yes. Field-service techs take payment at the customer site using Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android, Bluetooth-paired mobile terminals, or a phone-friendly web payment form sent to the customer by SMS or QR code on the service ticket. The payment attaches to the field-service work order in the ERP, applies to any deposit or existing invoice, and posts as a cash receipt in real time. For service-industry order-to-cash (plumbing, HVAC, locksmith, IT services, and similar), this closes the gap between job done and payment in the ERP from days to minutes, and it removes the I will mail you a check conversation that turns 30 percent of field invoices into 60-day aging.
How does order-to-cash look different across industries?
The channels and timing patterns vary by industry. In distribution, sales reps take phone and field orders with a 30 percent deposit, branch counters take walk-in orders with full payment, and eCommerce and the B2B portal take customer self-serve orders with full payment or authorization-capture. In manufacturing, large configured orders often take 30 to 50 percent deposits at entry with the balance on delivery, and high-dollar capital goods may take milestone-based payments. In professional services, engagements invoice on completion with Net terms, the classic AR pattern, but retainers and fixed-scope projects often take payment at engagement start. In field service, payment happens at job completion using mobile, card-present acceptance. In healthcare, copay collects at the appointment and the procedure balance after insurance processing. Payment Hub handles all these patterns against the same ERP, and industry-specific configurations dictate which patterns light up where.