Cash & Treasury Management: Join The World’s Leading Experts in Copenhagen

04-08-2022 | cashandtreasury.dk | treasuryXL | LinkedIn

 

Featuring Chairman of the event, Pieter de Kiewit – Owner of Treasurer Search

 

Be a part of the exclusive Cash & Treasury Management Conference on the 1st of September 2022, which will be held in the extraordinary luxury settings at Hotel d’Angleterre in Copenhagen.

Get updated, expand your network, and get inspiration for optimizing your work within the Cash & Treasury Management community.

 

 

The international program consists of selected and experienced speakers that have proven success within a certain area of Cash & Treasury as e.g., ESG, digitalization and Cash Management. The conference brings together a selected group of high-level senior treasurers from global organizations. Learn from your international peers and join the exclusive network. The event ensures you a full day of new knowledge and inspiration made for high level Treasurers. You get in-depth with the latest trends, valuable content from recognized speakers and extensive networking opportunities.

Among others, these topics have been selected for this year’s conference:

  • Sustainability financing – experiences one year down the road
  • Proprietary data driven cash flow forecasting model
  • How we integrated Nets Group Treasury in to Nexi Group treasury
  • Experiences from a massive hacking attack
  • A career within Novo Nordisk treasury
  • Macroeconomic trends and predictions
REGISTER VIA TREASURYXL

 

As part of TreasuryXL’s network we offer treasurers 25 % discount.

Sign up now and join us 1 September – Remember to use the code when signing up: TreasuryXL25

 

 

Read the program and learn more about participation and sponsorship opportunities: cashandtreasury.dk

 

 

 

 

Approaches to FX Volatility

13-07-2022 | treasuryXL | ComplexCountries | LinkedIn |

The latest CompleXCountries report is based on two Treasury Peer Calls in which senior treasurers from Asia, the Americas and Europe discussed the latest bout of increased FX volatility, and the impact it is having on their hedging strategies. As to current volatility, some people are adjusting their strategies, but most prefer to stick with the approach which has already been defined.

Source

FX – one of the biggest and most important challenges we all face. It has a direct impact on the business, and everyone has a view.

The calls (European morning and afternoon to accommodate Asia and the Americas) were to discuss the latest bout of increased FX volatility, and the impact it is having on people’s hedging strategies – if any. Unsurprisingly, it turned into a long discussion of the way different companies approach hedging. The report below is long and very varied – we managed to reduce it to 20 pages, but they are dense. As to current volatility, some people are adjusting their strategies, but most prefer to stick with the approach which has already been defined.

What is that approach? The participants came from a variety of different industries, and covered a broad range of different ways of handling the issue.

  • Everyone has a defined hedging approach, though most contain some degree of flexibility. So, if the approach is to hedge the next 6 months, for example, there may be leeway to go down to 4 months or up to 8.
  • Most people add their hedges via a layering approach, where they build up the hedge over time. This provides an average hedge rate, and avoids the risk of choosing a single point in time.
  • Everyone tries to match their hedges to the needs of the business. This involves co-ordinating with the business units to get their input on the ability to change prices, how long it takes to do so, etc.
  • Most companies have a centralised approach to hedging, but there is variety as to whether central treasury acts as and advisor, or as a decision maker. In most cases, this is decided by the company’s internal measurements and incentive system.
  • Several companies try to insulate the operating units from the effects of currency. This is done by various means: several participants operate re-invoicing centres, which invoice the operating entities in their own currencies, and manage the resulting exposures in the centre. One participant achieves the same result by levying a currency specific working capital charge on the operating units. The income from this charge is then used to pay for hedges – which may, or may not, actually be taken out.
  • In these cases, the centre usually operates as a profit centre – but with strong risk management disciplines to contain the danger of positions getting out of control.
  • One other approach is to fix a budget exchange rate for the coming year, and try to lock that in via hedges. There was a discussion as to whether this suits all businesses.
  • Most participants use forwards for hedging, with the choice of deliverable or NDF varying from one country to another. Several use options, though cost and accounting complexity were obstacles.
  • One participant has an approach which is built entirely around options, including a sophisticated trading strategy to reduce the cost of what they view simply as an insurance policy, like any other. This company is also very opportunistic, and will be active or inactive in the market according to their view of current pricing. This company is also private, and family owned, so they have a higher tolerance for earnings volatility than most – and they are not concerned about quarterly earnings announcements. They also have a relatively high margin business.
  • In this company, as in all others, this strategy is only possible because it has the understanding and buy-in of the management and the operating units. Every participant mentioned this as being key for success.
  • Generally, the percentage of hedging is fixed by policy. However, most participants exercise some judgement, based on the cost of hedging. This is particularly relevant for some emerging market countries, such as Brazil, Argentina and many African countries. The judgement as to what constitutes a hedge which is too expensive was often empirical, but the currencies which were left unhedged usually did not represent a significant exposure for the company.
  • Most participants prioritise balance sheet hedging over cash flow hedging, but some take the opposite approach. In all cases, the accounting treatment is a significant factor in determining the approach.

Bottom line: hedging and managing currency is one of the key competences of the treasurer. For many years to come, it will continue to be one of the areas where there is the biggest variation in approaches – and endless debates. If you have an approach which is well defined and which has been fully discussed with the business, there should not be any need to change it during a period of volatility – though it can be an excellent stress test!

Contributors: 

This report was produced by Monie Lindsey, based on two treasury peer calls chaired by Damian Glendinning.

[The full report can be downloaded FREE by corporate treasury practitioners, please Log in to your account to download (if you receive emails from us – use your email address to retrieve your password), if setting up a new account, please ask for the FX report in the comments and ComplexCountries will send you a copy]

Please contact ComplexCountries to find out about their subscription packages.

Perfecting the Cash Forecast

21-06-2022 | treasuryXL | Kyriba | LinkedIn |

 

By Bob Stark, Global Head of Market Strategy

Source

The number one treasury issue that causes CFOs the most potential concern is unreliable cash visibility and forecasts, according to a Nov. 2018 CFO Publishing survey, “3 Key Areas Where CFOs Say Treasurers Need to be More Strategic.”

Every organization talks about forecasting more effectively, but few allocate sufficient people, time, and technology to build an effective program. Understanding the importance of an accurate cash forecast that can be relied upon for key financial decisions is critical to making the right investments in forecasting. While there are many reasons to forecast, such as protecting against currency volatility, there are a few key areas that should be addressed to help CFOs and treasurers further make the connection between accurate cash forecasting and bottom-line financial performance.

So, what is cash forecasting? Cash forecasting, when performed accurately, enables greater certainty of projected cash balances. Longer term investing, reduced borrowing costs, more effective hedging programs and better mobility of global cash, cash positioning is concerned with today and often the next five business days. The purpose is to manage daily liquidity to ensure shortfalls are covered and surpluses are concentrated to earn some yield on excess cash. 

Cash budgeting is performed by finance teams such as FP&A and is more focused beyond one year – although with increased emphasis on free cash flow guidance, the reconciliation of indirect budget-based forecasts with direct cash flow forecasts is increasingly managed quarterly. 

Cash forecasting typically extends cash positioning with horizons anywhere from one week to one year. Forecasting leverages multiple data sources to increase confidence in the projected cash balances so that better cash decisions can be made. The value of forecasting is based upon the value of those better decisions.

So why forecast? Ineffective cash forecasting costs money and impacts shareholder value. A poorly executed program drives a number of negative consequences so it is critical to understand the link between effective cash forecasting and bottom line financial performance. Excuses such as “we’re cash rich” or “interest rates are too low” no longer satisfy investors who demand that cash be deployed or returned to them. Without adequate visibility of forecast cash and where cash needs to be deployed to meet growth targets, CEOs and CFOs risk looking foolish in front of shareholders and analysts. 

The volatility in global currencies shows no signs of abating, meaning that the pressure on CFOs to maintain the value of foreign cash inflows and outflows persists. Companies can experience earnings per share losses from unexpected and unhedged currency impacts or have difficulty in maintaining (let alone increasing) return on cash in a post-Basel III environment. 

Forecasting cash will allow segregation of operational and non-operational cash into time buckets as well as deliver the needed accuracy to allocate cash to longer duration investment strategies. This will help preserve previously realised investment returns or help to find an alternative for cash balances that are no longer wanted by your bank!

Certainty in projected cash balances drives the CFO’s ability to anticipate and prepare for corporate actions and strategic investments. For example, without confidence in cash forecasts, the CFO and treasurer are not relied upon to contribute to key M&A decisions such as providing guidance on the components of cash, debt and equity to calculate a total acquisition cost.

When cash is held globally, share buybacks or dividend hikes are a challenge. Often CFOs find it cheaper to borrow cash domestically than repatriate funds – yet this analysis requires certainty into projected cash balances. Confidence in the forecast is critical to optimize business value; CFOs need an effective cash forecast in order to make commitments on how to reinvest cash to meet organic growth targets. Lack of confidence will lead to unnecessary borrowing or equity financing.

Consolidation of data – Finding the right information and determining the most efficient (i.e. automated) way to integrate it into a consolidated forecast system is key. 

While automation is important, data quality is also paramount to success. When building the forecast, each line item may be sourced in different ways. The source of the information will determine the best way to build the forecast for each line item. For example, many treasury teams prefer to import accounts payable data directly from the ERP while for receivables information they may wish to extrapolate historical data and model using a linear regression. For treasury teams to be effective, it is important that all methods be fully automated and secure so that initial setup, maintenance, and daily execution to build the forecast are easy and can be maintained by the user (and not require re-programming).

Collaboration – Making decisions on the best data to build the forecast also requires determining who to collaborate with to smoothly access that key information. In many cases, treasury does not have direct authority over the people that own systems and/or business responsibilities that offer that data Yet, treasury relies upon this outside information to build a comprehensive forecast, so good internal communication skills are critical to receiving quality information in a timely way. Accounts Payable, FP&A, IT, Regional Controllers all forecast projections for decentralized organizations. Many treasury teams plan, with their CFOs, a top-down collaboration model that builds effective cash forecasting into the team’s objectives and compensation. This draws attention to the forecasting objectives and motivates each team to fulfill their roles.

Measurement – The most important – and often overlooked – step is the measurement of forecast accuracy. Implementing a process to measure forecast accuracy at a detailed level to identify the source of variances is critical to improving quality and ultimately reducing forecast variances. Equally important is implementing a feedback loop – to systems and to people – that ensure that forecast data is improved based on variances that were identified. The feedback loop is especially important when non-treasury resources are contributing to the forecast to ensure that the right behaviors and cash forecast numbers are positively reinforced while opportunities for improvement are well communicated. This is especially effective when feedback is aligned to KPIs and quarterly objectives of those outside of the treasury team.

Key to success – A forecast variance analysis should be detailed with multiple ‘snapshots’ taken. If only a summary picture is reviewed (e.g. how effective was forecasting over a 3-month period) then a lot of the variability is hidden within that timeframe. Measuring daily, weekly, or bi-weekly will help uncover the ups and downs between forecast and actuals that might otherwise go unnoticed. Fortunately, the business intelligence features of a TMS such as Kyriba offers the data visualization and analytics required to offer this level of detail. Cash forecasting is especially important if you are “cash rich” with a high percentage of non-operational cash deposits. Multinationals with significant foreign revenues must forecast better, so they can hedge effectively and deliver cash predictability to their stakeholders. The key to forecasting is flexibility so that you have many options to model the different streams of forecast data. The accuracy of your data will determine if importing, regressing, extrapolating, or other methods of calculations are needed to build your forecast effectively. 

Without measuring forecast accuracy, it is impossible to know if you are good at forecasting. Data visualization helps focus on important variances – whether by category, time bucket, or geography – and isolate what data needs to be improved for future forecasting. ROI of cash forecasting is very high.

In summary, the value of forecasting is driven by what your organization can do with additional cash. The value of cash can be measured by investing longer with higher returns on cash, repaying debt, earning yield from early supplier payments, or investing in new organizational projects. Perfecting the cash forecast means freeing up cash from working capital and directing towards these higher value uses.

Click here to view all blogs by Kyriba

Treasury & Banking in India

20-06-2022 | treasuryXL | ComplexCountries | LinkedIn |

This call took place against the background of the war in Ukraine – but it was a useful chance to catch up on the ever-improving situation in India.

India has always been complex, with many regulations and poor clarity. This is clear from the comments below, where participants often have different experiences on the same topic. But, overall, the economy is working well, people are making profits (this was not always the case), and regulations are becoming more user-friendly, even if they remain challenging.

Source

Business structure: most participants have one legal entity which faces customers, and a different one which acts as an international shared service centre, invoicing other companies in the group on a cost plus basis. This can lead to inefficiencies in cash management: everyone struggles with domestic cash pooling and intercompany loans, while the shared service centre has guaranteed profits and cash generation. One participant has all activities in the same legal entity, which makes life easier.

Intercompany loans within India create transfer pricing and tax challenges: there is a required or recommended interest rate of 8%, compared to deposit rates of 4% to 4.5%.

Cross border cash pooling and intercompany loans are generally very difficult: many approvals are required. Dividends are subjected to withholding tax of 15%, which is sufficient to deter some, but not all, participants from paying dividends. However, this is an improvement on the previous 22% dividend tax, which was often not creditable against tax in the receiving country.

Netting of intercompany invoices is not allowed. However, one participant is using an Indian entity to centralise all invoices within the country using a POBO/ROBO process, and limiting the transactions to a single, large, gross in/gross out settlement. They are also looking at a non resident INR account.

Participants mostly use deposits for investing their excess cash. One is using the TIDE deposit: the bank automatically sweeps fixed amounts of cash above a defined threshold into deposits. These receive a higher rate if they remain for more than two weeks, but can be released if needed, with a lower interest rate being paid.

Most participants use international banks, mainly Citi and BNPP. Most complained that Citi are reluctant to use automated FX platforms, and are behind on the electronic transmission of import documentation – but one participant had a more positive experience. JPMorgan again received positive comments for their approach.

The participants who use local banks generally had positive comments about them, and found they were a big help with pricing, especially on loans and letters of credit.

Tax remains complex and challenging.

 

Bottom line: the – excellent – report below reflects the significant complexity of doing business and managing treasury in India. But it is an important market, and one which is improving. So it is definitely worth the effort!

To access this report:

Access to the full report is available to Premium Subscribers.
Please contact us to find out about our subscription packages.

Treasury in transition – explore the agenda for EuroFinance International Treasury Management

13-06-2022 | Eurofinance | treasuryXL | LinkedIn

 

Featuring keynote speakers, Guy Verhofstadt and Göran Carstedt…

The 31st annual EuroFinance International Treasury Management returns in-person this September 21st-23rd in Vienna. With treasury changing like never before, join more than 2000 attendees, including 150 world-class speakers for transformative insights and the year’s best networking.

  • Inspirational headline speakers– including member of European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt and and one of the world’s top business minds, former head of IKEA, Göran Carstedt
  • Practical insights from case studies across 5 streams– explore the latest innovations driving change and how to apply them to your treasury
  • The new Future of Money Stage– a dynamic experience for disruptive ground-breaking ideas from crypto to the token economy
  • Meet with more than 100 banking and tech partnerson the exhibition floor and  join forces to innovate and shape the future

Learn from the experiences of more than 150 best-in-class treasurers including:
– Abraham Geldenhuys, VP and group treasurer, Kongsberg Automotive
– Yang Xu, SVP, corporate development and global treasurer, Kraft Heinz
– Alex Ashby, Head of treasury – Markets, Tesco
– Debbie Kaya, Senior director of treasury, Cisco Systems, Inc.
– Daniel Melski, VP finance and treasurer, Church & Dwight Co., Inc.
– Angel Cheung, Assistant treasurer, John Lewis Partnership

For more information and to register, visit: https://www.eurofinance.com/international

 

Read more

TreasuryXL contacts can claim a 10% discount with code: MKTG/TXL10 on top of the early-bird price which expires on July 29th – a combined saving of over €2000.  Register here today.

We hope to welcome you in Vienna.

The EuroFinance Team

About EuroFinance

EuroFinance, part of The Economist Group, is a leading global provider of treasury, cash management and risk events, research and training. With over 30 years of experience, our mission is to bring together the brightest minds and most influential voices in treasury. Through in-depth research with 1,000 corporate treasury professionals every year, we have a unique insight into the trends and developments within the profession and an unrivalled global viewpoint.

Contacts

Marianne Ford
Senior Marketing Manager
EuroFinance

Economist Impact
[email protected]

Subscribe and receive your 41 pages ‘easy-to-read’ eBook, What is Treasury?

16-05-2022 | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

 

Treasury, Corporate Finance, Cash Management, Risk Management, Working Capital Management and Blockchain. What are the purposes of these treasury functions?

treasuryXL created this eBook based on the most relevant best practices that Treasury experts provided over the last years. We bundled the most important information for you and created easy to read and understand articles about the main subjects within the World of Treasury.

We took a deeper dive into each of the above-mentioned treasury functions and highlight:

  • The purpose of each named Treasury function (What is?)
  • What specialists do
  • Examples of Activities
  • Summary of Frequently Asked Questions and answers
  • Conclusion

How to receive the eBook ‘What is Treasury’ for Free?

We simply giveaway two presents for you! By signing up for our newsletter you will automatically receive the following in your inbox:

  1. On Fridays, our Coffee Break weekly newsletter will land in your inbox. In this weekly newsletter, we will highlight the whole week full of the latest treasury news within our community.
  2. The 41 pages eBook, What is Treasury?
Subscribe and Download

 

Subscribe, Join, Download and Relax.

Welcome to our community and have fun reading!

 

 

Kendra Keydeniers

Director, Community & Partners at treasuryXL

 

 

 

 

The world’s largest treasury event is returning to Vienna in September | 10% discount via treasuryXL

09-05-2022 | Eurofinance | treasuryXL |

 

EuroFinance International Treasury Management, the world’s largest and most influential treasury event, will take place in Vienna from September 21st-23rd 2022. Returning in-person after 3 years with more than 2000 attendees including 150 world-class speakers, the event offers unparalleled networking and insights from the world’s most senior corporate treasurers. treasuryXL is proud media partner of the 31st edition of the EuroFinance event.

Why attend?

  • Be inspired by headline speakers as they interrogate a changed world including Guy Verhofstadt, member of the European Parliament and Göran Carstedt, former corporate executive of Volvo and IKEA
  • Get practical solutions to treasury challenges with new case studies and immersive discovery labs
  • Hear from the disruptors at the new The Future of Money Stage
  • Delve into the latest innovations and new technology driving change, and how to apply them to your treasury
  • Meet with more than 100 banking and tech partners and join forces to innovate and shape the future

 

For the full agenda and to register, please click here

TreasuryXL contacts can claim a 10% discount with code: MKTG/TXL10

 

Attend the 33rd Finance Symposium | 18-20 May 2022 | Mannheim

20-04-2022 | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

 

The treasury and finance community finally meets in person again. treasuryXL is proud media partner of the 33rd Finance Symposium.

 

 

For more than 30 years, the Finance Symposium has developed into the most important industry gathering for treasurers and finance managers in the German-speaking world. Every year, around 2,300 finance experts meet to discuss together, make contacts and receive new impetus. The outstanding congress program offers visitors a broad spectrum of professionally challenging topics from finance and treasury management in three days. In over 170 forums, workshops and expert panels, participants will learn about the latest developments in finance and treasury.

 

 

The speakers are high-ranking finance managers from major companies and prominent guests from politics and business. For example, in 2022 Martin Schulz, former President of the European Parliament , and Verena Pausder, entrepreneur and expert in digital education, could be won for exciting presentations and discussions. The most important banks, system providers and financial service providers in the industry will present themselves on 1,000 m2 of exhibition space.

For more information and tickets, visit: www.finanzsymposium.com

 

 

 

Kendra Keydeniers

Director, Community & Partners at treasuryXL

 

 

 

 

Your free eBook, What is Treasury?

13-04-2022 | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

 

Receive your eBook What is Treasury? after subscribing to the free treasuryXL weekly newsletter.

The world of Treasury is a complex topic. Many people will think about pirates and big see ships that sank deep into the bottom of the ocean including their ‘treasure’. A mystery treasure map will lead the finder to a treasure worth a lot of money. In some way Treasury and Treasure have similarities, it is about money and other valuables.

Are you having a hard time how to explain what treasury is to family, friends and colleagues? Or are you interested to learn more about the World of Treasury?

 

Subscribe and Download

treasuryXL created a 41 pages eBook for the corporate treasurers and the world of finance addict.

This eBook is designed to answer layman questions about the function of Treasury. treasuryXL bundled the most important information for you and created an easy to read and understand articles about the main subjects within the World of Treasury:

This ebook will answer your questions about Treasury topics.

treasuryXL explains the purpose of each Treasury function; what specialists do, examples of activities, FAQs, and a summary.

This ebook is based on the most relevant best practices that Treasury experts provided over the last years. On the website of treasuryXL you can explore additional information on the latest in Corporate Treasury.

 

HAVE FUN READING!

 

 

Kendra Keydeniers

Director, Community & Partners at treasuryXL

 

 

 

 

EuroFinance International Treasury Management returns to Vienna | 21-23 September 2022

08-04-2022 | Eurofinance | treasuryXL |

 

Featuring keynote speakers, Guy Verhofstadt and Göran Carstedt…

The 31st annual EuroFinance International Treasury Management 2022 will return this September with more than 2,000 attendees, 150 speakers, 100 sponsors and exhibitors.

 

 

For the first in-person event in three years, EuroFinance International Treasury Management keynote speakers will include Guy Verhofstadt, member of the European Parliament and Göran Carstedt, former corporate executive of Volvo and IKEA.

The full line-up brings more than 150 global corporate treasury leaders, financial institutions, technology providers and thought-leaders together to discuss the theme “Treasury in transition”, across 12 stages at Vienna’s Messe Wien Exhibition Congress Center from September 21st-23rd 2022.

Guy Verhofstadt is a Member of the European Parliament and co-chair of the Conference on the Future of Europe. He served as prime minister of Belgium from 1999 until 2008 and also made a name for himself as Brexit coordinator and as a passionate champion of more European integration. He will give the opening keynote on day 1.

Dr Göran Carstedt is the former head of IKEA North America and IKEA Retail Europe and former head of VOLVO France and Volvo Sweden. Having run some of the world’s leading companies, Dr Carstedt is also the former senior director of President Clinton’s Climate Change Initiative. He will give the opening keynote presentation on day 2 on how climate change is changing business.

Corporate treasury leaders from some of the world’s top multinationals – including TechnipFMC, Citrix Systems, Kongsberg Automotive, Autoneum, Equinor, Heinz, Medtronic, John Lewis – have also been confirmed.

 

“We look forward to seeing people connecting and collaborating face-to-face once again in Vienna. It’s great to see live events bouncing back across the world and from the response we have had so far,  it’s clear that our community of speakers, banks and technology providers are eager to meet in-person after 2 years of virtual meetings.” says Asif Chaudhury, Managing Director of EuroFinance.

 

Irreversibly changed after the events of the past few years, this year’s theme will explore the “new” treasury; a highly digital and automated function tasked with meeting strategic goals and changing remits against a backdrop of multiple issues from climate change to high inflation. Treasurers will share their experience in practical case studies and technical discovery labs and celebrate the innovations that will drive change.

EuroFinance’s growing list of sponsors and exhibitors for the event includes  J.P. Morgan Chase, Standard Chartered, Citi, Bank of America, BNP Paribas,, Fitch Group, HSBC, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, Visa, Société Générale, ION, TIS, Remote Technology, B2C2, American Express, Bayerische Landesbank, UniCredit, PrimeRevenue, Northern Trust Asset Management, Credit Agricole, Zanders, ICD, Pictet Asset Management, Raiffeisen Bank, BlackRock, Legal and General, Tietoevry, Amundi, CMSpi, Nomentia, Aviva Investors Global Services, CashAnalytics, Treasury Systems, CoCoNet, Exalog, Traxpay, SisID, Finastra.

For more information and to register, visit: https://www.eurofinance.com/international

About EuroFinance

EuroFinance, part of The Economist Group, is a leading global provider of treasury, cash management and risk events, research and training. With over 30 years of experience, our mission is to bring together the brightest minds and most influential voices in treasury. Through in-depth research with 1,000 corporate treasury professionals every year, we have a unique insight into the trends and developments within the profession and an unrivalled global viewpoint.

Contacts

Marianne Ford
Senior Marketing Manager
EuroFinance

Economist Impact
[email protected]