Treasury function gets a boost as international trade and increased M&A activity underlines importance of spend visibility, says new Economist Intelligence Unit report
- A new EIU report finds treasurers rely increasingly on big data about cash positions to influence strategic business goals that extend beyond their and traditional roles
- Treasurers see peer relations and education across different departments as key to achieving tangible business outcomes
A new report published today, February 25th 2016, by The Economist Intelligence Unit says that the corporate treasurer responsibilities are broadening, and their social influence is key to helping them to manage these growing accountabilities.
The well-connected treasurer: Building value through relationships, sponsored by American Express Global Commercial Payments, assesses how, and in what contexts, global corporate treasurers are increasingly using their connections to influence their companies to make smarter spending decisions. The report is a culmination of insights collected from an executive roundtable discussion and interviews with leading treasury executives from companies across the US.
Compared with past generations of treasurers, today’s treasury executives are increasingly involved with M&A and in overseas business, the report shows. They also have a more central role in the intricacies of intercompany and cross-border payments, borrowing from credit facilities, investing excess cash and working with credit-ratings agencies.
Even though treasurers are more likely to be responsible for ensuring liquidity than selecting payment systems, the report finds that treasurers believe they can deliver more value when they have influence over the cashflow lifecycle. However, treasurers often face challenges in dealing with a range of internal business partners, ever growing selections of tools and data, ever-changing international regulations and the growing complexities of working with traditional banking partners.
Rebecca Lipman, the editor of the report, said:
“Many of the challenges treasurers report have social roots, manifesting in a time consuming routine of convincing various department heads across the business to deliver accurate data in a timely way. Now, they’re learning to use their influence to educate internal partners on the value of this information to the business, to build buy-in for more automated systems and even create leverage with their vendor partners. By strategically connecting and building relationships they’re finding it much easier to get the information they need, which ultimately helps them bring more value to the company more quickly.”
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Notes to editors
About The Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit is the world leader in global business intelligence. It is the business-to-business arm of The Economist Group, which publishes The Economist newspaper. The Economist Intelligence Unit helps executives make better decisions by providing timely, reliable and impartial analysis on worldwide market trends and business strategies. More information can be found at www.eiu.com or www.twitter.com/theeiu.
