Boston, MA, September 11, 2001 -- A new report by Boston-based Aberdeen Group, a technology market analysis firm, forecasts the market for Internet-based business-to-business financial software will grow from $131 million in 2000 to $2.56 billion in 2005. Strengthening the financial operations of enterprises is critical in this economic environment, in which funding is difficult to achieve for small companies, while large companies with undiversified accounts receivable could suffer extraordinarily high amounts of bad debt, says Andrei Arkhipov, Aberdeen senior research associate and author of the report. Internet-based financial applications can help enterprises shorten trade and settlement cycles, lower administrative costs, reduce working capital requirements, and reduce financial risks, the report said.