Rethinking Your Treasury Technology: Critical Steps for Success

by Chuck Colliton, Treasury Practitioner Executive, Global Business Solutions, and Drew Strzepek, Engagement Executive, Global Business Solutions, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Too often, recognising that their current technology — or lack thereof — is holding them back, corporate treasury managers dive headlong into shopping for a treasury management system. If they fail to do the proper upfront evaluation, however, the results provided by their new system may be disappointing. In this article, we suggest a process for evaluating a company’s treasury technology and needs, so that before shopping begins, companies will have an understanding of their current processes and inefficiencies, and can establish a clear direction for their ideal future state.

Many corporate treasury organisations today are in the market for a treasury management system. Some are seeking to gain efficiency and improve treasury performance by moving from a manual spreadsheet-based process to a more automated environment. Others have a treasury management system in place that may not be meeting expectations — or one they’ve outgrown — and they decide to replace it.

A common mistake many companies make is failing to invest enough time and resources — prior to engaging vendors with requests for information and proposals — in the upfront work that’s needed to select a system which will truly meet the company’s needs.

In some cases, treasury managers select a new system without fully understanding those needs. The managers may then layer new technology on top of existing bad processes and, in effect, automate existing inefficiencies.

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