Less volume, more value: 7 Accounts Receivable plays chemical CFOs use when cash tightens

Read the room first

Global chemicals rebounded in 2024, then cooled. Output is forecast to slow to 2.1% in 2025 and 1.5% in 2026 as tariffs bite and trade decelerates; Europe faces structurally higher energy costs; Chinese overcapacity pressures prices—especially in basic chemicals like ethylene, polypropylene, ammonia, and methanol (Atradius, Oct 2025).

Why Accounts Receivable becomes your shock absorber

When sales soften, you protect liquidity by pulling cash forward from receivables. The fastest wins come from (1) removing friction for customers who want to pay and (2) targeting effort where it converts. That means templates that get a response, retries that work, risk signals on the debtor screen, and workflows that move without handoffs.

From the whitepaper (Seven Pillars → the 7 plays)

• Automation across O2C → plays #1, #4, #7 (one screen, fast-path disputes, tiny dashboard)

• Personalized collections → plays #2, #5 (actionable reminders, AI copy/timing)

• Payment processing & retries → play #3 (smart retries that double recovery on soft declines)

• Risk & exposure control → plays #1, #6 (behavior + D&B on one view; re-price exposure by segment)

• Forecasting → play #7 (promise metrics + DSO drift inform cash outlook)

• Data & insight → plays #1, #7 (context on screen; board-ready KPIs)

• Governance & policy → plays #1, #6 (score-banded policies; auditable actions)

How this lives in MaxCredible

• Debtor view: Payment Behavior Score beside D&B Altares (PAYDEX, failure risk, limit guidance)

• Journeys: first/second/final/pre-legal with timing by risk band

• Promises: dated follow-ups; escalation pauses/resumes automatically

• Disputes: auto-classification, routed owners, SLA timers, summaries

• Retries: timed and multi-rail where available

• Template builder: brand-true, multilingual, conditional logic

• Reporting: promise rate, kept-promise rate, time-to-cash after first reminder, recovery after retries, high-risk exposure %, dispute cycle time

1) Put the big levers on one screen

Give your team a single view with internal payment behavior beside external risk (e.g., D&B via Altares), plus open disputes and promises. When reps see context, they pick the right tone, the right limit, and the next step, without bouncing between tools. In a year when European output is flat and energy headwinds persists, clarity saves days.

How to do it

• Show a portfolio-percentile Payment Behavior Score per debtor.

• Surface PAYDEX / failure risk / limit guidance next to it.

• Lock policy by score band (who to contact, when to escalate, when to hold).

2) Make every reminder easy to act on

Keep messages short, respectful, and specific. Put invoice, amount, due date in the first lines. Offer one action: pay now, propose a plan, or flag a dispute. In a market strained by tariffs and buyer uncertainty, clarity beats pressure.

How to do it

• Use a no-code template builder to standardize tone and structure.

• Localize variants for customers in automotive vs. construction.

3) Rescue soft declines with smart retries

Don’t write off failed payments. Time your retries to a customer’s response window and switch rails when possible. This single change often doubles recovery on soft declines. With global trade fragmenting and price pressure rising, recovered micro-payments add up.

How to do it

• Retry at the hour the buyer typically responds.

• Rotate method (card → bank, bank → request-to-pay) if available.

• Stop after a sensible ceiling to avoid noise.

4) Fast-path disputes so they don’t stall cash

Disputes grow when operations are stretched. Route them to the right owner on day one and time-box each step. Summaries help managers decide without reading every thread.

How to do it

• Auto-classify issues (price, quantity, POD, quality).

• Set per-issue SLAs; pause collections while the owner works; resume automatically when the SLA expires.

• Use short summaries so leaders can unblock in minutes.

5) Let AI scale what already works

AI is not the strategy; it’s the amplifier. Use it to personalize copy, pick send-times, and propose the next best action, under guardrails that keep tone compliant and on brand. This matters when basic chemicals feel oversupply and price compression (Atradius, Oct 2025): you need more conversion per touch.

How to do it

• Feed models only the fields you’d put in a template (invoice, due date, promise date, dispute type).

• A/B test subjects and openings; promote winners automatically.

• Block risky language; log every variant sent for audit.

6) Re-price exposure by segment, not by gut

When cash inflow slows, limits and terms must reflect real risk. Tariff diversion can push cheaper imports into Europe, weakening demand for domestically produced goods—and for the chemicals behind them (Atradius 2025). Review exposure monthly by subsector; basic vs. specialty won’t behave the same.

How to do it

• Set limit + journey by external risk band; adjust cadence for watchlist accounts.

• Tighten onboarding for basic chemicals customers tied to price-sensitive buyers; keep a lighter touch for specialty with sticky demand.

7) Manage by a tiny dashboard your board will love

In a year of slower global growth and energy-cost uncertainty (Atradius, Oct 2025), track the few metrics that move cash: promise rate, kept-promise rate, time-to-cash after first reminder, recovery after smart retries, high-risk exposure %, and dispute cycle time. Share weekly. When a number drifts, fix that step—not the whole machine.

How to do it

• Daily: a “10 accounts that move cash” list for collectors.

• Weekly: promise KPIs and dispute cycle time.

• Monthly: exposure by external risk band, DSO drift by segment.

Why this playbook fits 2025–26

• Growth slows: after the 2024 rebound, output cools to 2.1% (2025) and 1.5% (2026)—you won’t grow out of AR issues; you must operate out of them

• Europe stays expensive: gas prices above pre-crisis levels erode competitiveness; facilities have closed to cut costs—work capital harder

• China bends the curve: heavy new capacity depresses prices in basic chemicals—collections must be cleaner and faster

One page you can share

Average AR = (DSO × Annual Credit Sales) ÷ 365
At €500m credit sales and 50-day DSO, ~€68.5m sits in AR. A five-day slip ties up ~€6.8m more. Fix what delays day one: unclear reminders, unresolved disputes, missed retries, and fuzzy risk rules.

Ready to make every invoice work harder?

Are you using AI-assisted dunning, smart retries, and risk-banded journeys today—or only templates and manual lists?
See how the seven pillars connect automation, personalization, forecasting, payment processing, and risk into one daily workflow. Read our online whitepaper: The Seven Pillars for Unlocking Cash Flow.