Lead-to-Cash (L2C) spans Marketing -> Sales -> Order -> Billing -> Cash. Salesforce can power most of this, integrated with ERP/billing.
The full flow:
1. Lead (Marketing)
- Marketing channels create Leads (web forms, events, MQL imports).
- Pardot/MCAE / Marketing Cloud Engagement nurtures and scores.
- Lead converts to Opportunity when qualified.
2. Opportunity (Sales)
- Reps work the deal: stages, activities, account team collaboration.
- Salesforce CPQ (or native Quote) generates the quote.
- Approval Process for non-standard pricing.
- Closed Won triggers downstream.
3. Quote -> Order
- Quote becomes Order on Closed Won.
- CPQ/Revenue Cloud or native Order object.
- Order syncs to ERP (Mulesoft / iPaaS).
4. Provision / Fulfilment
- Subscription / SaaS: provisioning system (often custom or third-party).
- Physical goods: warehouse system, shipping integration.
- Services: project / implementation kickoff.
5. Billing
- Salesforce Billing (part of Revenue Cloud) or separate billing system (Zuora, Stripe, NetSuite).
- Invoice generation and delivery.
- Recurring billing for subscriptions.
6. Cash
- Payment received; recorded against invoice.
- Collections workflow for overdue.
- Cash applied to Account.
7. Renewal / Expansion
- Contract / Subscription tracked.
- Renewal opportunities auto-generated.
- Expansion opportunities tracked separately.
Architecture decisions:
- CPQ vs native quoting — CPQ for complexity; native for simple price books.
- Salesforce Billing vs external billing system — depends on volume, complexity, existing tooling.
- One org or multiple — global businesses sometimes split L2C across orgs.
- Integration layer — Mulesoft / iPaaS / direct REST. Almost always Mulesoft for complex L2C.
Reporting:
- Funnel metrics: Lead -> MQL -> SAL -> SQL -> Closed.
- Pipeline: open opportunities by stage.
- Forecast: rep / manager / VP roll-up.
- Booked: closed-won revenue.
- Billed: invoiced revenue.
- Collected: paid revenue.
- Renewal rate, churn rate, expansion rate.
Common pitfalls:
- Treating each step as separate — without end-to-end view, gaps appear.
- Underestimating CPQ complexity — easily a 6-month project.
- ERP integration as afterthought — should be designed early; touches every transition.
- Reporting silos — Marketing reports separate from Sales separate from Finance. Should be one funnel.
A complete L2C implementation is rarely one project — it's a multi-year program. Senior consultants design phase boundaries that deliver value progressively.