m3ter and PwC UK Survey Finds Software Companies Won’t Fully Realise Value of AI Due to Legacy Billing and Finance Infrastructure

Core systems must modernise to fully capture revenue as 63% of UK executives lack full confidence in billing operations, study finds

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--m3ter, a leading provider of infrastructure to implement and monetize usage based pricing at scale, today announced a survey in collaboration with PwC UK that shows United Kingdom (U.K.) business leaders’ focus on AI is outpacing their companies’ ability to accurately charge for those services or make money from them. Almost half (44%), report challenges in capturing and measuring customer usage in increasingly popular pay-per-use models.

Companies are turning to usage-based pricing to adapt to the way customers consume AI features and think about value. But, according to the research, almost two-thirds of U.K. software executives lack full confidence in their finance and business systems to capture customer usage data and invoice correctly, creating a risk that revenue will be lost.

The survey results, presented in m3ter and PwC UK’s joint report, Revenue integrity and optimisation in the era of AI and usage-based pricing, found just over a third had introduced pay-per-use alongside traditional pricing for AI. Half have changed pricing at least twice in the past year. The most common approach to introduce AI has been through premium products or embedded within standard offerings with accompanying price increases.

Yet the research, which surveyed 350 software executives across the U.K., shows core financial systems and operations have not kept pace with complex pricing structures and billing metrics. Almost 9 in 10 (87%) reported a lack of integration between billing platforms and ERP or general ledger systems, while 48% report no integration between billing and CRM. Many rely on manual workarounds including spreadsheet calculations to set prices, track usage, and reconcile revenue–all of which makes it difficult for both the software provider and the customer to reap the benefits of pay-per-use models.

PwC’s 29th Global CEO Survey from January 2026 illustrates the challenge faced converting AI’s revenue potential into income. The 2026 survey found just 30% experienced an increase in revenue from AI in the last year.

“AI is transforming what companies sell but outdated billing and finance means they aren’t getting paid properly. For businesses to capitalise on AI, they need the operational infrastructure to accurately measure, track and recoup income. Companies that lack such infrastructure won’t realise the full value of the products and services they sell,” said Griffin Parry, m3ter CEO and Co-Founder.

Revenue leaking away

UK executives report a number of consequences in situations where billing and finance have failed to keep pace: Eroded customer trust through increased billing disputes, limited scope to experiment on pricing and lingering concern over firm’s ability to withstand audit and regulatory attention.

Revenue leakage is the most tangible issue - running at 4-7% of annual recurring revenue.

Revenue leakage is defined as unrealised value in products and services. It can take many guises, but includes usage that exceeds contracted limits not captured or monetised, pricing clauses that are not properly reflected in billing workflows, and discounts or credits applied incorrectly or missed.

The UK survey found nearly two thirds (62%) lack confidence in their exposure to revenue leakage – a figure that hit 72% with introduction of usage based pricing.

“Packaging and pricing are changing faster than ever with AI, making it harder to ensure every penny is captured,” said Jonny Donnelly at PwC UK. “Modern pricing depends on accurate billing but fragmented systems are widening the gap between pricing strategy and realised revenue. Without stronger foundations, software companies risk amplifying existing revenue leakage as they move toward more complex AI-driven pricing models.”

m3ter and PwC UK announced a strategic collaboration in 2025 to help organisations reduce commercial risk, modernise billing operations and strengthen revenue integrity. The collaboration combines m3ter’s advanced technology with PwC UK’s expertise in commercial controls, contract governance, and managed services, delivering a risk-informed, tech-enabled approach to revenue integrity at scale.

A full copy of the report is available here.

About m3ter

The m3ter platform processes usage data (metering), performs complex bill calculations (rating), and automates data flows relating to usage and billing around the quote-to-cash stack. It is principally used by enterprise software and technology customers to complement and modernize existing quote-to-cash stacks, as business models incorporate usage, or consumption-based, pricing. m3ter was founded in 2020.