The global recession is on the wane, but hopefully CFOs will not forget one hard lesson forcibly brought home to them during the crisis: the need to have a 360-degree view of all available funds to be able to leverage internal cash and minimise reliance on external cash.
That lesson may be sticking. In a recent survey of global CFOs, enterprise software maker Oracle found that 82% of respondents consider as their top priority the improvement of financial visibility and provision of better decision-making support to the business.
That’s not news to Michael Fullmer, senior vice president responsible for strategic vision and business for Asia at SunGard, another financial software company. “When it comes to getting cash visibility and managing bank accounts across several countries, Asia’s companies have already moved well ahead in those areas,” he says.
However, Fullmer adds, many are “still handling their processes manually, on spreadsheets and on disparate bank systems.” Indeed, a SunGard survey discovered that 33% of the region’s biggest companies still have paper-based systems. The proportion is likely higher among the smaller enterprises.
Automated Solutions
It’s no surprise, then, that vendors of treasury management software (TMS) are coming up with new offerings. “Recent environmental drivers are increasing the demands on, and visibility of, treasury – making it impossible for treasury departments to function at an optimal level without the visibility, controls and analytics only available in an automated environment,” says Elizabeth St-Onge, Managing Director of Treasury Strategies and leader of the firm’s corporate technology consulting practice.
TMS is defined as a real-time software that streamlines complex financial systems to improve interaction between a company, its subsidiaries and suppliers. These interactions might include import or export trade transactions, straight through processing of treasury transactions and information via Internet messaging.
“Because technology has evolved with the markets, in the new financial landscape, survivors will be those who invest in fully integrated systems, spanning cash management, risk management, hedging and accounting, that will help them reduce risks and maximize the value of scarce liquidity,” says Sean McDermott, Calypso Technology’s general manager for Asia Pacific.
Listing the traits of an ideal treasury management software, McDermott says that a treasury software must be deployable in a short span of time; is responsive to changes; and is capable of real-time risk management. The solution should also enable treasurers to monitor and manage cash flows, and to have an optimal visibility of liquidity across their whole organization in multiple geographic locations, in real-time.
According to Deloitte LLP, a structured approach to treasury technology selection and implementation is a key contributor to success.
“Both treasury departments and vendors have struggled with long and costly TMS implementations. As with any major system implementation, there are many potential challenges. These include: finding a solution with the best fit of needs to standard functionality; software quality' availability of vendor resources; internal conflict of priorities; scope creep; functional gaps; budget constraints; and training internal resources for reduced vendor reliance,” write Melissa Cameron a principal in the San Francisco office of Deloitte LLP and Niklas Bergentoft, a senior manager in the firm's New York office.
Integrated Platforms
Software vendors have been investing in the expansion and deepening of the treasury functionalities of their products to take advantage of the increasing demand for more efficient treasury management software. These solutions include integrated platforms, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, Web-based portals and, more recently, software-as-a-service (SaaS), a component of cloud computing.
2012, May 24 
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