In a global survey by the Society for Clinical Research Sites, 83% of sites said they preferred payment terms of 30 days or less, and sites said payment timeliness affects which sponsors and CROs they choose to work with (Clinical Leader).
Most payment delays do not start in finance. They start in the gap between the visit and the payment: a visit is entered in EDC, someone confirms it in CTMS, someone else exports a visit report, and finance matches it to the site budget by hand. When EDC, CTMS and CTFM share one platform, that chain becomes a flow.
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The visit drives the payment from start to finish; only the site's own invoices for pass-through costs go through a reconciliation step, where people approve exceptions.
Step by step
1. The visit is completed in EDC. The coordinator enters the visit data. On a shared platform, the visit's completion is visible to the other modules straight away.
2. CTMS updates the subject visit. The subject's visit status changes in CTMS without a separate entry, so the study manager and CRA see the same status as the site.
3. CTFM calculates the earned amount. The completed visit and its procedures are matched to the site's contracted budget, including any visit-specific or procedure-specific fees. The amount is now earned and ready to bill.
4. The invoice is generated, with holdbacks applied. Earned amounts are grouped into an invoice or payment run on the agreed schedule, with holdbacks and overhead applied as the contract defines.
5. The site is paid and sees the status. Payment status is visible to the site through the portal, so coordinators and site finance do not need to email the study team to ask.
For pass-through costs, the site's own invoice is reconciled. Costs such as travel or local lab fees arrive on the site's invoice. These are compared with the budget and the proforma, and exceptions go to a person to approve.
What changes compared with separate systems
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Step
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Separate systems
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One platform
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Visit confirmation
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CRA or CTM confirms visits from EDC reports
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Visit status shared from EDC
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Earned amount
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Finance matches visits to budgets in a spreadsheet
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Calculated from the contracted budget
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Invoice
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Built manually each payment cycle
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Generated from earned amounts
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Holdbacks
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Tracked separately
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Applied per contract
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Site visibility
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Emails and calls to the study team
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Status visible in the portal
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Amendments
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Fee changes updated by hand in each place
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Budget change applies to affected visits
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Payment workflow checklist
- Site budgets are built at visit and procedure level, not as lump sums
- Holdback and overhead rules are set per contract
- Visit completion in EDC is the trigger for earned amounts
- Payment schedule agreed with each site and configured
- Pass-through costs have a defined invoice and approval route
- Sites can see payment status without contacting the study team
- Amendments that change fees are applied to the affected visits
What this means by role
- Clinical operations directors: faster site payments help keep experienced sites on your studies.
- Study finance leads: earned amounts are calculated, not compiled, so the payment cycle is about approval rather than assembly.
- CTMs and clinical operations managers: no more confirming visits for finance by hand.
- CRCs and site finance teams: payment status is visible, and pass-through costs have a clear route.
- QA and compliance: every payment traces back to the visit that earned it.
How Cloudbyz approaches this
Cloudbyz CTMS, CTFM and EDC are built natively on Salesforce as one platform. Site budgets in CTFM are built from templates by study arm, with visit and procedure fees, and completed subject visits generate invoices. Amendments are applied to the affected visits and procedures, and sites and sponsors can see status through portals. How each payment rule works depends on how budgets and payment terms are configured for the study.
See the payment flow
Book a demo or visit cloudbyz.com.
