Leveraging Technology for Value Creation

GN Group is a global leader in intelligent audio solutions, with key brands: Jabra; ReSound; Beltone and Interton marketed in 100 countries globally. Through these innovative products, GN enables users to hear more, do more and be more than they thought possible.  This same aspiration extends to treasury which is constantly striving to achieve better visibility over data and transactions, enhanced productivity and an even greater ability to add value to the group in new ways as it pursues its growth strategy. To achieve these objectives, treasury needs to leverage new technology to deliver greater efficiency, address changing risks, enable centralisation and provide a platform for future growth.

Treasury objectives

With GN’s rapid growth, treasury recognised the need to upscale its activities in anticipation of more complex treasury needs as a result of further business expansion. Although GN’s treasury processes were appropriate to the existing business, they lacked scalability to meet future financial and operational objectives. Cash and treasury management was largely decentralised, with entities connecting directly with local banking partners. As a result, GN has embarked on a treasury optimisation exercise to reflect the evolving strategic and operational needs of the business, supported with state-of-the-art technology. 

Setting the transformation roadmap

With additional recruitment to the treasury team, GN is now embarking on a step change in treasury centralisation, process efficiency and automation. By doing so, the company will be able to further rationalise its banking relationships, reduce costs by insourcing some activities formerly conducted by banks, standardise processes and controls and  constantly deliver best-in-class reporting and decision-making.

The first step has been to outline the scope and objectives clearly. For example, as GN has grown, it has built up a portfolio of around 300 bank accounts with 50 different banks. This creates the potential for fragmented liquidity and a high connectivity and administration burden. Compliance going forward is also a major priority, so centralising bank account management, and obtaining electronic bank statements through a single channel will be essential. 

Innovation through technology

A crucial step has been the decision to implement treasury management system (TMS) Kyriba as its treasury hub. The system supports consistent processes and reporting across the business, irrespective of users’ location. An essential capability is Kyriba’s one-stop connectivity with the group’s banking partners via SWIFT. Kyriba and SWIFT have a proven track record of working together successfully on similar client engagements globally to offer seamless cash, treasury and bank communication capabilities, which makes this co-operation very positive for GN. Having used various TMS at other companies in the past, the treasury team was attracted to Kyriba’s modern technology, intuitive look and feel, scalability and flexibility to adapt to its evolving needs. The solution also promises to be cost-effective with the additional benefit of local support in Singapore.

Although GN is in the early stages of implementation, the team has already made progress towards achieving its objectives with demonstrable outcomes. Treasury now has access to comprehensive cash and treasury management capabilities across the group with a single gateway to banking transactions and information with its banks. GN is intending to use XML ISO 20022 formats across all major banks, so processes can be automated based on standardised information. High straight-through processing rates are an important target, with consistent, end-to-end controls over payment and information flows.

Overcoming challenges

Implementing change always takes careful planning and communication, particularly as users had been accustomed to existing ways of working over many years. Senior management has been very supportive, which is essential to empower treasury and minimise organisational friction. Treasury is building a core team of users who will act as ambassadors to the rest of the group as the system is rolled out. This approach has proved very successful in other organisations, who have found that it encourages enthusiasm for the new system and rapid recognition of its value in enhancing people’s roles. Kyriba’s ease of use will be critical to this. Furthermore, with seamless integration with SWIFT, users can access bank information and services through a single channel without the need to log on to separate systems with different user security arrangements.

Looking ahead, GN will complete the roll-out of Kyriba and SWIFT across its banking and user community, and expand the reach of its activities. For example, treasury is seeking to integrate Kyriba with its accounting system to automate account postings, including setting up an in-house bank.