How ZenHR automated the entire Contract-to- Cash process using OCTA

How ZenHR automated the entire Contract-to- Cash process using OCTA

ZenHR is a leading cloud-based Human Resources Management System (HRMS) built specifically for the MENA region, with headquarters in Saudi Arabia and operations across the GCC and Jordan. Designed to cater to local labor laws, payroll regulations, and bilingual needs (English and Arabic), ZenHR empowers thousands of companies to manage their entire employee lifecycle from recruitment and onboarding to payroll, attendance, performance management, and offboarding, all within one platform. Trusted by over 5,000 businesses, ZenHR integrates seamlessly with regional compliance systems like Mudad for wage protection and Tameeni for employee insurance, helping HR teams save time, improve accuracy, and focus on strategic workforce initiatives. Backed by growth investors and aligned with Saudi Vision 2030, ZenHR continues to scale rapidly, supporting over 100,000 users with innovative, localized HR technology solutions tailored to the unique needs of the MENA market.


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Manual invoicing and fragmented collections workflows were creating inefficiencies for ZenHR’s finance team as the company scaled rapidly across Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Jordan.

  • Contract-to-invoice complexity: With contracts stored in Planhat and invoicing managed manually in QuickBooks, the finance team spent hours each cycle reviewing data, drafting invoices, and ensuring KSA - compliant numbering before sending them to customers.
  • Limited automation for follow-ups: Chasing overdue payments required manual reminders and tracking, stretching team bandwidth and delaying collections.
  • Fragmented payment methods: A large share of ZenHR customers relied on manual wire transfers, often leading to delayed settlements, difficult tracking, and reconciliation bottlenecks. This slowed cash flow and left the finance team with limited visibility over real-time receivables.
  • Expansion billing inefficiencies: When customers wanted to add more seats or services, the entire process —from raising an expansion request, generating a manual invoice, waiting for wire transfers, and reconciling payments before activating new seats was complicated and slowed down revenue realization from upsells.

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“Managing invoicing and collections was a constant struggle before OCTA. We were juggling contract data in one system, manually creating invoices in another, and relying on wire transfers that took days to reconcile. Every billing cycle meant hours of manual work, delayed cash flow, and a backlog of expansion requests waiting on bank confirmations. It slowed down our ability to scale revenue efficiently and created unnecessary stress for the finance team. OCTA has streamlined the entire process, automating invoicing, enabling instant online payments, and giving us faster, more predictable cash flow.”

FFinance Lead, ZenHR


OCTA Helps ZenHR Automate AR and Unlock Faster Growth

ZenHR, a fast-growing HRTech platform in MENA, faced challenges with manual invoicing, delayed collections, and complex expansion billing that slowed cash flow and strained its finance team. OCTA automated the contract-to-cash cycle, delivering speed, accuracy, and scalability to its AR process.


  • Smarter Contract-to-Invoice Automation ZenHR’s finance team previously spent hours each cycle reviewing data in Planhat, manually drafting invoices, and syncing them with QuickBooks. With OCTA’s intelligent rules, contract data now flows seamlessly into automated invoice creation and approval workflows. Invoices are generated instantly, synced to QuickBooks without errors, saving the team over 110 hours of manual effort every month. “We no longer waste time cross-checking contract details and formatting invoices. OCTA does it accurately and in seconds” says ZenHR’s Finance Lead.
  • Accelerated Collections and Improved Cash Flow Payment delays were common, with many customers relying on manual wire transfers and inconsistent follow-up reminders. OCTA introduced automated reminders and online payment links through HyperPay and Paymob, allowing customers to settle invoices instantly. This shifted 55% of payments from manual transfers to online gateways and improved ZenHR’s DSO by 35%, giving the business a more predictable and healthier cash flow.
  • Unlocking Expansion Revenue in Real Time Before OCTA, adding more seats or services was a multi-step process involving manual invoice requests, bank transfers, and payment verification before activating new licenses. This often delayed revenue from upsells. OCTA’s API-driven workflow now generates expansion invoices instantly, enables online payments, and activates additional seats immediately after payment confirmation. “What used to take days now takes minutes, letting us recognize upsell revenue faster and keep customers moving without delays,” says the Finance Lead.
  • Better AR Insights and Team Collaboration With OCTA, ZenHR now has a real-time view of all outstanding receivables, automated reconciliation between QuickBooks and payment gateways, and detailed MRR and aging reports. Centralized data sharing between finance and customer-facing teams ensures faster responses to clients and fewer missed follow-ups. “OCTA has given us control and visibility we never had before,” notes ZenHR’s Finance Lead. “Our AR process is no longer reactive—it’s efficient and proactive.”

OCTA x QuickBooks x Planhat: A Seamless Contract-to-Invoice Flow

Integrating Planhat and QuickBooks with OCTA was quick and effortless for ZenHR. “The setup was fast, and we were able to start automating our invoicing process almost immediately without disrupting day-to-day operations,” says ZenHR’s Finance Lead.


With OCTA bridging Planhat and QuickBooks, all contract data including seat counts, pricing, payment terms, and customer details is automatically fetched from Planhat. Invoices are generated instantly in OCTA, reviewed through a custom approval flow, and then synced directly into QuickBooks without errors or delays.


ZenHR also leverages OCTA’s API to automate expansion billing. When customers request additional seats or services directly through the ZenHR portal, OCTA’s API captures the details, instantly generates a corresponding invoice, enables online payment via integrated gateways, and syncs the payment confirmation back into QuickBooks. This ensures real-time revenue recognition for upsells and eliminates delays that previously occurred with manual invoice creation and bank transfer reconciliation.


“As soon as an invoice is created or updated in OCTA, it appears in QuickBooks with full accuracy,” explains the Finance Lead. This automation removes manual data entry, reduces discrepancies between contracts and accounting, speeds up upsell revenue collection, and saves the finance team hours every billing cycle.


By connecting Planhat, OCTA, and QuickBooks, ZenHR now runs a fully automated contract-to-cash process, ensuring every contract and upsell translates into an accurate, compliant invoice and faster, more predictable cash flow.


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The Result: ZenHR Accelerates Cash Flow While Reducing Finance Team Workload

  • 110+ Hours Saved: By automating contract data extraction from Planhat, invoice generation, syncing with QuickBooks, and sending smart reminders, ZenHR eliminated repetitive manual tasks and saved over 110 hours of finance team time each month.
  • 35% Faster Collections: With automated reminders, real-time payment reconciliation, and integrated online payment options, ZenHR reduced Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) by 35%, leading to faster and more predictable cash inflow.
  • 53% Shift to Online Payments: OCTA’s checkout integration with HyperPay and Paymob helped transition more than half of ZenHR’s customers from manual wire transfers to online payments, streamlining reconciliation and improving overall customer payment experience.