Meet our Expert | 8 questions for Jermal McDaniel
14-03-2022 | Jermal McDaniel | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |
We are happy to interview treasuryXL expert, Jermal McDaniel.
Jermal is an accomplished Finance practitioner with over 16 years of Treasury operations and Finance experience.
Jermal is an innovative visionary who utilizes a “Think Tank” methodology to generate ideas and action plans designed to streamline and automate manual processes to facilitate department efficiency.
How did his career in Treasury start and what is his best experience working in Treasury?
We asked him 8 questions, let’s go!
INTERVIEW
1. How did your treasury journey start?
My Treasury journey started when my agency recruiting career ended in 2003. I did not set out to be a Treasurer, I kind of found myself in the Treasury field and I am blessed to still be a part of the Treasury Community.
2. What do you like about working in Treasury?
I love the sense of urgency, the attention to detail, and the camaraderie/synergy needed to be a successful Treasury department. I often tell my staff that Treasurers are not born, they are made, and if you are detail-oriented, can work well under pressure, and are timely and accurate, I can give you the rest of the tools to be successful.
3. What is your Treasury Expertise and what expertise gives you a boost of energy?
My Treasury experience is Mortgage-related. When studying for the CTP it gave me a lot of insight into FX transactions, Short Term liquidity investments, and optimal Debt vs Equity financing philosophies for Firms, but my expertise is in managing all aspects of Treasury including Banking relationships and building well run cross-functional Treasury Teams.
4. What has been the best experience in your treasury career until today?
My best experience has been seeing a few of my former employees take the knowledge and guidance that I have given them and parlay that into Sr. Manager and Director of Treasury roles.
5. What has been your biggest challenge in treasury?
Data mining, and consistently getting timely information reconciled and into a useful form for Senior leaders to use for decision making.
6. What’s the most important lesson that you’ve learned as a treasurer?
You cannot perform all of the Treasury functions on your own and if you do not have a cross-trained Treasury team, there will be a high probability that important transactions will fall through the cracks tarnishing the reputation of your team and the department.
7. How have you seen the role of Corporate Treasury evolve over the years?
I am excited to see that Firms are really beginning to value what a good Treasury department means to the Firm. As the stewards of the Cash, making sure that there are enough funds to satisfy all of the financial obligations is Paramount to the success and reputation of the Firm.
8. What developments do you expect in corporate treasury in the near and further future?
There is a big push to bring on more Fintech resources to help with recording and reconciling all of the day-to-day cash movements. Treasury Management Systems are helping to streamline cash forecasting and reconciling by becoming a “Single Source of Truth” where information can be accessed by all of the Stakeholders making everyone involved more self-sufficient.
Get in touch with Jermal
Click here for his Expert Profile
Thanks for reading!
Kendra Keydeniers
Director Community & Partners, treasuryXL
