The world of accounts receivable management (ARM) is evolving at a quickening pace that is becoming increasingly impossible to ignore. Whereas healthcare had this acceleration thrust upon it legislatively via the HITECH Act and entertainment saw their trajectory driven by the emergence of a singular technological breakthrough in the form of scalable direct-to-viewer streaming, I would argue that the quickening of the pace in our industry has been less “abrupt;” not terribly different than the frog in boiling water analogy. Rather than a singular event, the intersection of digital communication norms, both state and federal legislation, and cultural sentiment towards perceptions of debt have all exerted a force on the collections ecosystem that may have begun slow but has gained tremendous momentum.  

Yet, despite this momentum and the adaptation it absolutely demands, many agencies still rely on legacy software or conventional SaaS platforms while navigating the challenges ahead. Without question, these systems served their purpose admirably in the past. Today, however, they have come to represent significant limitations that hinder growth, agility, and compliance – often in silent or other hidden ways that nonetheless compound to place very direct headwinds in front of an agency and its growth ambitions. 

The Hidden Costs of Legacy Software

Legacy software, often necessarily customized over years to meet the challenges of the moment, becomes unavoidable fragile and costly to maintain as these customizations stack one on top of the other. Ultimately, even minor changes like updating a compliance rule or adjusting a workflow condition can trigger complex development cycles, inject unnecessary downtime, and create otherwise avoidable risk. As a result, agencies spend a disproportionate amount of their literal IT budgets and figurative IT bandwidth simply maintaining these systems, leaving little room remaining (both literally and figuratively) for any semblance of forward-looking innovation. In fact, according to industry reports, up to 80% of IT budgets are consumed by maintaining legacy systems, which means strategic initiatives are often sidelined. 

What is more, these systems also tend to accumulate very real technical debt over time. As new clients, regulations, and operational needs arise, agencies are forced to either layer on custom code or create manual workaround processes (or worse – both!). The inevitable result is a brittle environment where even minor updates can cause cascading failures or require extensive testing and coordination across departments. 

The Limitations of Conventional SaaS 

Conventional SaaS platforms do offer a degree of relief from these infrastructure burdens but introduce new constraints. Their rigid architecture and vendor-controlled roadmaps invariably limit flexibility. Agencies are too frequently forced to resort to manual workarounds or shadow systems to meet operational needs, increasing exposure to both risk and inefficiency. These workarounds, such as spreadsheets, side tools, or disconnected processes, not only create audit gaps but slow down response times across virtually all operational functions. 

While SaaS solutions in general promise simplicity and do often rise to meet that promise, they unfortunately tend to fall short in industries like collections, where compliance and operational complexity are high. Agencies may find themselves waiting for vendor updates that don’t align with their timelines or struggling to implement jurisdiction-specific rules within a one-size-fits-all system. 

A Technology Landscape in Need of Change 

The result? A technology landscape that artificially slows an agency’s adaptation speed, complicates compliance, and drains resources. Agencies are forced to choose between waiting for vendor updates or investing in costly custom development, neither of which supports the speed and specificity required in today’s collections environment. 

This lack of agility has real consequences. Regulatory changes, such as updates to medical debt reporting or state-specific disclosure requirements, demand rapid system adjustments. When technology can’t keep up, agencies risk non-compliance, reputational damage, and – ultimately – lost revenue. 

The Need for a New Approach 

As the ARM industry faces increasing regulatory scrutiny on top of shifting consumer expectations, the need for a more adaptable, resilient platform is clear. Agencies must move beyond systems that merely support operations; they need platforms that empower transformation. 

An emerging technological approach termed Composable Enterprise (CE) platforms offer a compelling alternative. These platforms are deliberately and intentionally built for change, enabling agencies to configure workflows, compliance logic, and integrations without code or vendor dependency. They combine the best of both worlds: the customization of legacy systems (now in the form of “configuration”) with the simplicity and scale of SaaS — all without the cumbersome trade-offs traditionally existing between the two. 

CE platforms are, in short, designed to evolve with your business. They support modular architecture, no-code configuration, and seamless integration with ecosystem partners. This means agencies can respond to change quickly, reduce operational overhead, and maintain compliance with confidence. 

Looking Ahead 

In the next article in this series on the Finvi blog, we explore how CE platforms deliver operational agility, cost efficiency, and innovation velocity that legacy and SaaS models simply can’t match.

For agencies ready to modernize, the shift to composable architecture isn’t just a technical upgrade, it’s a strategic transformation.

Want to take a deeper dive? Download Finvi’s new whitepaper, Composable Enterprise Platforms: The Future of Collections.