Robotic Process Automation – the Do’s & Don’ts

29-03-2022 | Philip Costa Hibberd | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

What are 3 key do’s and don’ts to keep in mind in your RPA journey? Find out in this article I wrote, which was originally published in the Summer Edition of the Zanders Magazine.

This article was originally published in the Summer Edition of the Zanders Magazine. Are you interested in knowing more about Process Automation in the realms of Finance, Treasury and Risk Management? Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn.

Original Source

Last year’s spring, we organized a ‘jargon-free’ breakfast session to explore what robotic process automation (RPA) is all about. We had a look under the hood of a complex, hard-working robot and shared experiences on how to make the journey of deploying a digital workforce as smooth as possible. Find a brief summary below, covering (briefly) what RPA is about, what are the 3 main stages of the RPA journey, and what are the key do’s and don’ts per each stage.

RPA

RPA stands for Robotic Process Automation and is software that performs rule-based work, interacting with systems, websites and applications in the same way a human would. It is a powerful tool that, when applied to the complex industries we work in, allows us to focus more on the valuable activities that make our jobs interesting and less on the boring and repetitive tasks that no one wants to do. You can think of it as macros on steroids.

3 Stages of the RPA Journey

You can find the key takeaways from the Breakfast Session, in the form of do’s and don’ts, summarized below for each of the following 3 stages of the RPA journey:

  • Proof-of-concept: very first stage, where you are focused on exploring the possibilities of RPA
  • Early implementation: the stage where you are focused on rolling out a few robots and automating a handful of processes that you still ‘know by name’
  • Growth: the stage where you are focused on rolling out and managing a full digital workforce and automating more processes than you can remember

The 3 Do’s and the 3 Don’ts

Proof-of-concept

✔Do: Have fun!

Did you enjoy playing with Lego when you were a child? Then you will probably enjoy tinkering with RPA. Just like with Lego, spend some time discovering all the different components that you have available and finding out all the different ways you can get them together to craft something useful and tailor-made to your needs. Did you like playing with Barbies better than Lego? That’s also great, don’t worry. Deploying RPA in your team will give you plenty of opportunities to put your role-playing experience to use. Understanding roles, responsibilities, objectives and requirements of a process and effectively communicating the benefit of automating via RPA are the pillars of a successful implementation.

❌ Don’t: Don’t forget to explore slightly more advanced components, such as queues, credential management tools, log management tools, robot orchestration and control rooms.

You don’t want to have to bulldoze and rebuild your shiny proof-of-concept automation in a later stage, just because you weren’t aware of these components. They will become critical once you have more than a few processes at hand.

To stay in the Lego metaphor: make sure to explore the features of the full Lego range and don’t just idle on the baby-friendly Lego Duplo.

Early Implementation

✔Do: Make sure processes and solutions are well documented.

I get it. You want to start building your bot as soon as possible. But make sure to first invest some time in drafting the following documents:

• A Process Design Document to capture at the very least the As-is process flow

• A Solution Design Document to capture how you intend to automate the process

You will be happy to have the former if (when?) you start having discussions on the scope of the work that the bot is expected to perform. It can prevent misunderstanding about what the process is all about and what the bot can do. You will be happy to have the latter if (when?) you have to do some maintenance on the bot that you are now developing. This blueprint will help you to quickly zoom in on the component that you need to tweak.

Good documentation will become even more important as your team grows. Imagine how much karma you will earn when someone in urgent need of fixing the bot finds and reads your clear blueprint!

❌ Don’t: Don’t automate sub-optimal processes.

Get everyone familiar with the concept of GIGO – Garbage In Garbage Out – and its less polite brother SISO. A bad manual process will become a terrible automated process, because robots can only act based on predefined rules. The rules can be as complex as you like but there can’t be any room for discretionary judgment. The untiring robots lack that.

Make it clear that a process needs to be streamlined and standardized before it can be a candidate for automation. If it’s not, someone will have to cross the jungle of “It has always been done this way”, which usually stands between a ‘Garbage Process’ and a ‘Good Process’. Who knows, it might turn out that many tasks and subtasks in the process weren’t needed after all.

Growth

✔Do: Set up a clear RPA Governance.

Once you hit the stage of growth, where your team is rolling out one bot after another, clearly defining the process of automating processes becomes even more important than clearly defining the process that you are automating.

Does the RPA team sit in IT or with the business? Who is responsible for what, in case of a malfunction? How are Audit, Compliance and Risk Management going to adjust policies to include the changes brought in by your new digital workforce?

❌ Don’t: Don’t forget Security.

While designing your RPA Governance framework, don’t forget the more practical side of Security.

You wouldn’t want to allow anyone the temptation of circumventing the four-eyes principle you already have in place. For example, you must make sure it is still impossible for anyone to input a payment to themselves and have it released by the unaware robot accomplice.

Define as soon as possible how you are going to create, assign and manage the credentials that your bots will need to interact with your existing IT infrastructure. Particularly in the case of unattended bots, it would be best to create specific users for your digital colleagues, with clearly distinguishable usernames. You might even consider going as far as letting your robot change all its passwords to ones of its secret liking as soon as it gets in production.

 

 

Philip Costa Hibberd

 

 

 

 

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ProjectiveGroup acquires Enigma Consulting (Dutch Item)

28-03-2022 | treasuryXL | Enigma Consulting | LinkedIn |

Enigma Consulting is al 25 jaar toonaangevend expert op het gebied van betalen, risicomanagement en (regulatory) compliance services

  • De samenwerking versterkt de dienstverlening van ProjectiveGroup op het gebied van betalen, risicomanagement en compliance
  • Enigma Consulting blijft onder haar eigen naam opereren 
  • Door de overname verhoogt ProjectiveGroup de jaaromzet tot €80 miljoen en groeit het team tot meer dan 500 medewerkers

28/03/2022 – ProjectiveGroup, het internationale adviesbureau voor financiële dienstverlening, heeft vandaag de overname aangekondigd van de experts op het gebied van betalingen, risicobeheer en compliance, Enigma Consulting. Met deze overname verhoogt de groep haar jaaromzet tot € 80 miljoen en breidt ze haar team uit tot meer dan 500 medewerkers in heel Europa.

Enigma Consulting zal onder haar eigen naam blijven opereren, in nauwe samenwerking met de andere merken van ProjectiveGroup. Enigma blijft nauw samenwerken met haar klanten en ondersteunt de zakelijke en financiële dienstverlening met een verscheidenheid aan diensten, waaronder ontwerp, selectie en implementatie van betalingsoplossingen en -processen, digitale transacties, risicobeheer en compliance services.

Door de krachten te bundelen kunnen ProjectiveGroup en Enigma hun klanten een betere en aanvullende dienstverlening bieden, voortbouwend op hun bestaande expertise.

Deze nieuwe stap van ProjectiveGroup, de laatste in een reeks van spraakmakende acquisities, markeert verdere vooruitgang in het realiseren van de plannen van de groep voor Europese uitbreiding. De ambitie van de groep is om tegen eind 2023 een jaaromzet van € 100 miljoen te behalen. Samen met de bestaande capaciteiten en recente acquisities in data (DSTQUARED), managementconsultancy (Mastermind) en gerichte training (Exellys), bouwt ProjectiveGroup haar diensten verder uit, met als doel een one-stop-shop worden voor elke speler in de financiële sector.

Paul Jans, algemeen directeur van Enigma:

“Ik ben verheugd dat we ons bij ProjectiveGroup aansluiten. Wij geloven dat het een bedrijf is met een groot groeipotentieel en met respect voor de kracht en bestaande cultuur van ons bedrijf. Dit partnerschap komt het bedrijf en onze klanten ten goede, omdat deel uitmaken van een grotere groep een enorm scala aan kansen biedt. Onze klanten hebben nu toegang tot een breder scala aan expertise om de veranderende uitdagingen van de betalings- en financiële sector aan te pakken en onze collega’s zullen nieuwe kansen krijgen om persoonlijke groei te realiseren en aan internationale opdrachten te werken.”



Stefan Dierckx, CEO van ProjectiveGroup:

“ProjectiveGroup zet deze periode van versnelde groei voort terwijl we onze diensten uitbreiden
om alle aspecten van transformatie binnen de financiële dienstensector te dekken. Door ons
verbeterde aanbod met Enigma kunnen we nu beter inspelen op het steeds veranderende
betalingslandschap van onze klanten, inclusief (betalings)regelgeving en compliance.
“We zijn trots op onze passie voor innovatie, ambitie, eerlijkheid en maatschappelijk
verantwoord ondernemen. Het is belangrijk voor ons dat degene met wie we samenwerken
deze overtuigingen deelt en Enigma was een natuurlijke match.”

Over ProjectiveGroup

ProjectiveGroup bestrijkt alle aspecten van transformatie in de huidige (financiële) dienstverlening. ::projective is onze uitvoerder van verandering en innovatie, Exellys onze tech-talent incubators, DTSQUARED onze data-experts, Mastermind onze pensioen- en managementconsultants en Enigma onze betalings-, compliance- en risicospecialisten.

Samen zijn we een end-to-end partner voor diegenen die willen uitblinken in een steeds veranderende omgeving, en helpen we bedrijven om de uitdagingen van morgen te overwinnen. Onze mensen maken  het verschil. Hun passie, diepgaande domeinexpertise en hands-on aanpak leidt tot succes.

www.projectivegroup.com 

Over Enigma

Enigma Consulting is een vertrouwd adviseur en adviesbureau op het gebied van Payments, Risk & Compliance en Digitalisering. Ze zijn een verbindende factor in de financiële sector en ondersteunen banken en verzekeraars met uiteenlopende diensten. Voorbeelden van hun opdrachten zijn bedrijfsanalyse, selectie van betaaloplossingen en programmamanagement. Ze hebben ruime ervaring in het ondersteunen van vele partijen in Target 2, Instant Payments en ISO20022.

Hun betalingsexpertise wordt ook erkend door het bedrijfsleven, dat ze ondersteunen bij de selectie en implementatie van betalingshubs en treasurybeheersystemen.

Ze ondersteunen financiële instellingen bij het aanvragen van financiële vergunningen bij de AFM en De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) en adviseren over hun organisatiemodel om compliant te worden en te blijven, voeren de interne audit uit en/of vervullen de rol van interim compliance officer. Opdrachtgevers zijn onder meer middelgrote banken, financiële instellingen, Fintech start-ups en innovatieve
softwareleveranciers.

When Is the Right Time to Move to APIs?

23-03-2022 | treasuryXL | Kyriba | LinkedIn |

By Andrew Deichler, Content Manager, Strategic Marketing

Application programming interfaces (APIs) have the potential to revolutionize the treasury and finance function. But when is the time to move to APIs, and when is file transfer protocol (FTP) still sufficient?

Let’s explore the use cases for APIs and when it is appropriate to begin using them. We’ll also look at areas where FTP is still sufficient.

Source

API Use Cases

Largely viewed as conduits for faster bank connections, APIs allow systems to exchange data faster. Unlike FTP, APIs do not require any kind of file download to transmit information; users have instant access to the data they need.

Major ERP providers are working with API developers to embed APIs into their workflows so users don’t need to take any action outside the ERP. For example, Kyriba is working with SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and others on API connectors. And Kyriba users can also integrate APIs into their ERPs on their own with our plug-and-play solutions.

APIs have nearly limitless potential. They can facilitate an open ecosystem that enables third-party developers to build applications on top of the API provider’s platform. Through such a platform, corporate treasury and finance departments can expedite the flow of data. Kyriba’s Open API hub, launched in 2021, is an online marketplace of real-time connections to apps, data, and new products and services that inject data-driven decision-making into every financial operation.

APIs offer treasury and finance many capabilities that they haven’t had before, such as the power to “un-batch” payments. Rather than relying on batch processes that transmit at several pre-determined times each day, APIs allow payments to be initiated from treasury management systems and ERP systems as needed—even in real time. In fact, real-time payments require the use of an API because payments can’t be transmitted instantly if a file needs to be downloaded.

Furthermore, APIs can also un-batch reporting, allowing organizations to manage cash continuously and in real-time. Just like batch payments, batch reporting is constrained to set times each day. APIs allow treasury and finance teams to receive intraday liquidity updates as needed, improving the ability to position, reconcile and invest cash. And immediate visibility into cash also allows companies to vastly improve forecasting.

FTP Isn’t Going Anywhere Just Yet

All that said, FTP isn’t dying out just yet. Banks and technology solutions providers that are managing open platforms are not replacing legacy formats with APIs; rather, they are offering them as a complement to these formats.

Furthermore, the rollout has been slow; most banks are not using APIs in live production yet. And the ones that do mostly offer them for certain real-time services—meaning that multiple connectivity options are needed to fully support a treasury and finance team.

But even if you have full API capabilities, they may not be appropriate for every type of data transfer yet. Generally speaking, FTP is better for large bulk transfers of data, while APIs are preferable for smaller, more specific transfer needs. And even though APIs can virtually eliminate the need for batching, some organizations may not see a need to end the practice—and they’ll need FTP to do that.

Lastly, FTP has been around for many years, making it compatible with legacy systems. Unlike API connections, which require that systems on both ends support the technology, FTP only requires that the appropriate file format be used. So, FTP won’t require any major conversions for your software. In other words, if the status quo is working for your organization, you may not see the need to make any changes right now.

API and SFTP Capabilities

In many ways, APIs bring key advantages over a file-based approach, such as an immediate response from banks and the ability to receive new data and notifications in real-time. But for the time being, flat-file technology is still very much in use.

Fortunately, Kyriba users don’t have to choose one or the other. Kyriba connects to 600 global banks on behalf of our nearly 2,500 clients using a variety of connection protocols, including APIs and FTP. So regardless of whether your bank and ERP are set up for APIs or not, Kyriba can ensure that you’ll have the right connectivity for your organization.

For more information on APIs, view our API Whitepaper, Fact Sheet and Infographic.

Meet our Expert | 8 questions for Peter Löbl-Brand, Corporate Treasurer and Lecturer

21-03-2022 | Peter Löbl-Brand | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

 

We are happy to interview our newest treasuryXL expert, Peter Löbl-Brand.

Peter has been a corporate treasurer for over 10 years and is also a lecturer for multinational finance and risk management at the University of Applied Science in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

Peter gathered insights while advising multi-national listed companies as well as local small and medium-sized companies.

He currently lives south of Vienna and is focusing on re-/structuring corporate treasury departments of SMEs.

Visit Peter’s LinkedIn profile to see an overview of his career and activities. But first…

We asked him 8 questions, let’s go!

INTERVIEW

 

1. How did your treasury journey start?

My treasury journey started about 10 years ago as a credit risk manager at RHI AG, now RHI Magnesita. After about 3 years of working in this position, I got the chance to take over the Treasury team as team leader.

2. What do you like about working in Treasury?

It’s a people’s business. Ensuring liquidity and therefore laying the foundation for the operative business of the corporate while having always a close relationship with your capital partner end strengthening their trust in the corporate feels like being one of the most important and highly valued links in the business.

3. What is your Treasury Expertise and what expertise gives you a boost of energy?

I started my career in the group treasury of a listed company. Stage by stage I developed myself into a full-scale treasury and commercial officer working for a bigger SME company right now. My focus is on small to medium sizes companies with a high need for commercial structuring and the need to set up treasury management from scratch. To build, entertain and lead by example is energizing myself to perform.

4. What has been the best experience in your treasury career until today?

Enabling business with partly sanctioned customers and countries.

5. What has been your biggest challenge in treasury?

Maintaining the tension and excitement after more than 10 years in corporate treasury.

6. What’s the most important lesson that you’ve learned as a treasurer?

Do not trust a soft commitment.

7. How have you seen the role of Corporate Treasury evolve over the years?

From my understanding, the corporate treasury is a business enabler. Especially when driving business internationally the corporate treasury is able to pilot business relationships to success. Based on that understanding Corporate Treasury is always seeking to find better instruments and the appropriate solution to close a deal.

8. What developments do you expect in corporate treasury in the near and further future?

I expect more and more solutions and instruments acting on the blockchain. Right now the industry is too much focusing on the blockchain as an enabler for cryptocurrency. Using the blockchain in international business will also solve the impossible trilemma as it makes business cheaper, adding quality and reducing costs for all parties.

 

Get in touch with Peter
Click here for his Expert Profile

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Kendra Keydeniers

Director Community & Partners, treasuryXL

 

 

 

 

Digital rules (URDTT) for Trade Finance: Episode 3

17-03-2022 | Wim Kok | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

Episode 3 of a series of educational videos on URDTT (Uniform Rules for Digital Trade Transactions) is now available. Please take a look and let me know what you think. Episodes 1 & 2 are, of course, still available on our YouTube channel.

 

 

Trade Advisory Network Limited and treasuryXL Trade Finance experts launched their third episode of a series of free, educational videos on URDTT. There will be 6 episodes in total covering all aspects of the development, interpretation, and application of URDTT in the context of a digital trade strategy. In the upcoming months, you can expect one educational video per month.

What can you expect in the third episode?

In this session, we look at the parties involved in a Digital Trade Transaction (DTT). We start with the principal parties – the seller and the buyer – and then move on to the financial services provider, and finally cover any other parties that might be involved.

Duration: 14.46 min

WATCH NOW FOR FREE

Enjoy, explore and develop!

Interested to know more about this topic and the upcoming educational videos? Contact our Expert Wim Kok.

 

Wim Kok

International Business Consultant
Trade Finance Specialist

 

 

 

 

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

The Do’s and Dont’s of Pricing with an FX Rate

09-03-2022 | treasuryXL | Kantox | LinkedIn |

Give up your time-driven rules for pricing with an FX rate and go for a data-driven approach instead!

In this article, we are going to highlight the challenges faced by treasurers as they seek to manage pricing risk. According to Toni Rami, Kantox’s co-founder and Chief Growth Officer: “Understanding pricing is perhaps the most crucial element in order to design a great FXRM program

Credits: Kantox
Source

Click on the image above for the corresponding episode of CurrencyCast

Pricing risk

Pricing risk is the risk that —between the moment an FX-driven price is set and the moment it is updated— shifts in FX markets can impact either a firm’s competitive position or its profit margins.

 

The natural way to reduce it is to increase the frequency of price updates. After all, the price itself is a potent hedging mechanism. But that is not an option for companies that wish to keep steady prices during a campaign/budget period or during a set of campaigns/budget periods linked together.

We will discuss this situation in further articles. Today we want to highlight the shortcomings of the most widely used criteria for pricing updates: time-driven criteria.

Shortcomings of time-driven criteria

A time-driven rule to manage pricing risk consists in setting a time frame between the moment an FX-driven price is set and the moment it is updated. It can be every 24 hours, every week, every month. Quite obviously, the longer the time to the update, the higher the risk.

At Kantox, we are convinced that this approach is arbitrary, that it doesn’t protect you against FX risk, and that it does not reflect the business or financial needs of the firm. Take the 24-hour rule. Why not 23 hours or 25 hours instead? A time-based approach does not eliminate risk: a  sharp move in markets can well take place inside a very short time span before prices are updated.

Another way to see this is that it makes it more difficult for the firm to react to favourable moves in FX markets. Take the case of a firm that prices and sells in EUR and buys in USD, using the EUR-USD currency rate as a key pricing parameter. A rise in the EUR could allow it to outsmart the competition by pricing more competitively without hurting its budgeted profit margins.

Failure to take advantage of this type of opportunity is a serious shortcoming in terms of pricing strategies, at a time when —according to consultants McKinsey— pricing is becoming a key strategic element in today’s competitive landscape.  

The alternative: data-driven criteria

At Kantox, we believe that such arbitrary time-driven rules should give way to a data-driven approach that consists of setting boundaries around an FX reference rate, such that prices are updated only if the market moves beyond the upper and lower bounds of those boundaries. The system then serves a new reference rate and dynamically adjusts the upper and lower bands around it.

If FX markets remain relatively stable, then the firm can keep steady prices, something that is attractive in many B2C setups. This approach also allows treasurers to take advantage of favourable moves in currency markets while protecting budgeted profit margins, independent of when these movements occur.

How far or close to the reference rate these boundaries are set reflects risk managers’ tolerance to FX risk. In addition, the pricing configuration can be adjusted according to the goals of management in terms of:

  • Setting the pricing markups per client segment and per currency pair that the business strategy requires.
  • Selecting the tenor of the FX rate used in pricing. Do you wish to price with the spot rate? Or with the three-month or six-month forward rate instead? If your company is based in a strong currency area such as North America or Europe, and it sells into Emerging Markets, pricing with the forward rate will protect it from adverse interest rate differentials. Firms that lack this possibility may be tempted to apply too drastic markups, thereby unnecessarily damaging their competitive position.

While most Treasury Management Systems lack what we call a ‘strong FX rate feeder’, Currency Management Automation solutions —working alongside your existing systems— allow finance teams, among many other things, to set up an efficient data-driven solution to manage all the aspects of pricing with FX rates, including pricing risk.

Worried about your FX risk health? Take our free assessment and get a personalised insights report in minutes. 

Treasury Delta and Blokken Partnership

03-03-2022 | treasuryXL | Treasury Delta | LinkedIn | Treasury Delta, our Irish fintech partner, recently formed an alliance with Blokken, a Dubai-based fintech aggregator. This strategic partnership will bring further innovation and digital technology deployment to the corporate treasury ecosystem within the Middle East. Credits: Blokken Source

Read more

Live Webinar on March 10: A to Z of Secure Corporate Treasury Payments

03-03-2022 | treasuryXL | Aico | LinkedIn |

 

Ensuring manual payments are secure is a common concern for treasury, internal controls teams, and accounts payable process owners. While for some companies, manual payments cases are few and far between, others perform regularly and in large amounts and thus are at high risk of mishandling funds. In this webinar we will present:

  • Some of the most common use cases for manual payments.
  • Fraud risks associated with manual payments.
  • End-to-end software solution to safeguard manual payment process.

What are manual payments?

Manual payments are often required for one-time vendors, where they are not set up in your ERP system, but a payment needs to be made. Whilst these tend to be infrequent in nature, the process still needs to be carefully managed to ensure internal controls are applied, and the risk of errors or even fraud is minimised.

The Aico solution provides a Manual Payments module to fully support this process, and in this Webinar, we will show you:

  • A configurable template to raise the request with defined workflows to be followed.
  • The ability to validate and approve the payment request, and add all relevant supporting evidence.
  • The ability to automatically create the appropriate PAIN file which can be sent to the bank for processing.
  • Automation to create and post the appropriate journal entries to your ERP system following successful payment.

Webinar presenters:

Sarah Bellerby, Solutions Consultant at Aico

As a qualified accountant with a background in Audit, Sarah started her career working in organisations with extremely manual and fragmented processes. For the past 10 years, Sarah has been driven by her passion for identifying and implementing intelligent solutions to streamline financial processes, mitigate risk and increase compliance. For the past 2 years, Sarah has been working specifically in the Record to Report arena, supporting customers in their Finance Transformation projects to implement intelligent financial close automation solutions.

Aico leadership team

Shivam Dosa, Head of Service Delivery at Aico

An ACCA qualified accountant with a passion for RPA and improving productivity in the workplace by utilising technology. Shiv has a broad background, spanning from working in Corporate Finance to Financial Control to Project Implementations, This experience has given him a solid foundation for Financial Close Automation within Aico.

 

About Aico

We help enterprises simplify financial close and record-to-report (R2R) accounting processes. The result is less manual work and faster period-end financial reporting with the assurance of compliance and data accuracy.

Our software platform includes solutions for the key R2R processes – Account Reconciliation, Closing Task Management, Journal Entries, Intercompany Invoicing and Manual Payments.

Unique real-time integration to multiple ERP systems brings increased automation levels and reduces IT system complexity to our customers.

With teams and a network of partners across EMEA, we deliver high-complexity projects for enterprises with a global footprint.

Visit aico.ai for more information about Aico.

Visit Aico resource library for eBooks and webinars on R2R and financial close best practices.

Join us on LinkedIn.

Meet our Expert | 8 questions for Patrick Kunz, the Passionate Treasurer

01-03-2022 | Patrick Kunz | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

 

We are happy to interview treasuryXL expert, Patrick Kunz.

With Patrick’s impressive career within the World of Treasury, you can really say that he lives and breathes Treasury.

Patrick is performance driven. He is an open minded, outgoing, rational person who is comfortable communicating and convincing on all levels of management.

Patrick is owner of Pecunia Treasury & Finance with several independent treasury and finance consultants and founder of treasuryabonnement.nl. Furthermore he owns an online FX trading and payment platform with a connection to a big FX broker.

Patrick has worked with both international corporates from all fields of business as well as national non-profit organisations.

We recommend to visit Patrick’s LinkedIn profile to see his stunning career and activities. But first….

We asked him 8 questions, let’s go!

INTERVIEW

 


1. How did your treasury journey start?

During my study at Maastricht University I knew I wanted to work in the “world of finance” and more specifically trading or investment banking. In my 3rd year of university I got the opportunity to work as an intern for a Swiss Investment bank in Zurich which was a great first experience into wealth management and client exposure with high net worth clients. It also showed me that the client comes first, even though the client was not always right. This made me wonder if it was more fun on “the other side” at the buy side. It slightly frustrated me that a bank would not always provide the best solution.

 

After graduation I left on a trip around the world backpacking for 1,5 years. Enjoying ultimate freedom and fun before starting a career. When I came back to the Netherlands I applied for treasury roles at multinationals and landed my first job as cash & treasury manager at the German multinational Metro Group (the wholesaler, not the Dutch free newspaper). This was the start of my treasury career which until now I would never leave.

 

2. What do you like about working in Treasury?

It’s the core of a company. In the end its all about the money. Independent on what products you are selling and how you are selling them. Cash in vs Cash out. Without cash a company has a problem. Cash is king and profit is an opinion so in my opinion managing cash is very important and therefore fun. The more complex the more fun. Managing a multinational company with hundreds of bank accounts in different currencies around the global; finding the optimal treasury setup and solutions is great fun. Lastly, treasury teams are smaller compared to accounting or controlling, which make the lines shorter and the team tighter.

 

3. What is your Treasury Expertise and what expertise gives you a boost of energy?

I started in cash management and FX trading which are great basic skills for every treasurer. My first company also had very short treasury lines and I quickly was involved in global treasury solutions, financing solutions and group companies corporate finance. When I moved on to my second role as group treasurer of a regional housing association, I also got exposure to interest rate derivatives and guarantee management. Afterwards when I started my own consultancy and interim management company 8 years ago I got to do the full spectrum of treasury. So without arrogance I can say in treasury I have done it all. The last years I am doing a lot of TMS/Payment hub implementations, which I enjoy doing. After finishing an implementation it is nice to look back and compare the old way of treasury processes and the new and see how it improved after a couple of months. Very rewarding.

 

4. What has been your best experience in your treasury career until today?

Building a treasury from scratch is most rewarding and fun to do. 2 years ago I got the opportunity to build the treasury role at the Dutch born AEX company Takeaway.com. There were treasury processes in place but scattered in different departments. Also some of them were sub-optimal. My role was to bring them together and optimize them. Besides increasing the reporting and importance of treasury to management this also brought significant cash savings on bank and FX costs. A couple of months into the rule, the merger/acquisition of Just Eat was approved and the integration with the existing treasury team in London could start, making the team suddenly 400% bigger. After 5 months my work was far from finished but it was time to hand it over to the existing/new team. Looking back what was done in this short time this was one of my greatest experiences in treasury. And a great company to work for.

 

5. What has been your biggest challenge in treasury?

Nowadays: Opening a company bank account in a short timeframe without difficult KYC questions, especially for companies with difficult or complex structures. I was with a client last year, a scale-up, that moved fast in several countries in Europe. Treasury processes needed to be implemented from scratch in each country while operations was much further ahead but legal and treasury still needed to start. Working with this fixed go live we had to make sure we could receive payments from day 1 onward. In one country we were actually live on day -1 with no room for error. Stressful but successful.

As a consultant I sometimes face tight deadlines or difficult projects that need to be delivered but are dependent on other stakeholders. That is not always easy but this gives me energy to make it happen.

 

6. What’s the most important lesson that you’ve learned as a treasurer?

You can go fast on your own but you go far together. Sounds cliché but it is especially true in treasury as the treasury department is dependent on data from other departments to make it function. You cannot run risk analysis if you have no exposure data. Same for FX. Doing cash flow forecasting? You need data from procurement, AR and FP&A.

Also visibility and transparency is key. Even the other financial departments accounting and controlling sometimes see treasury as this special people that they have no idea what they are exactly doing. Make sure they understand (and vice versa) what each department does and how you can work together and what data can be shared. Also to avoid duplicating work. So leave the ivory tower and go out there and collaborate.

 

7. How have you seen the role of Corporate Treasury evolve over the years?

The speed and amount of information has increased and is increasing. Also the complexity of treasury departments. Luckily also the solutions available to manage them has improved. Next to swift solutions we now see advanced TMS solutions or payment hubs that can be implemented within a couple of months giving you full visibility. A treasurer nowadays needs some tech skills to be able to understand the information to implement the TMS or hub. Because the tool will be only be as good as it is being used; garbage in is garbage out. During the many implementations that I have done I have learned a lot about technical connections (sFTP, h2h, API), information exchange formats, XML file types, swift messages etc. This knowledge now helps me a lot in implementations and supporting the IT department determining the information needs and sources.

 

8. What developments do you expect in corporate treasury in the near and further future?

Instant payments are a big thing in treasury which is cool but will not necessarily bring much added value to the treasury. Instant information processing is more important especially in e-commerce. Clients expects instant service. If they pay online they expect to get the service or goods asap. Treasury can help with this by connecting their PSP’s or bank information to their systems. Not necessarily linking the payment to an invoice which is an accounting reconciliation process. More importantly linking the positive acknowledgment (the customers has paid) to the sales. Customers start demanding this more and more and treasury has to adapt to this instant world. This means more automation.

Clients also demand more payment options, some of them are not available at banks. This means that treasurers will have to move away from the traditional model of banking partners for cash management but to a more hybrid model of cash at bank, cash in transit at PSP’s, virtual credit cards, wallets etc. Maybe even crypto or CBDC deposits/balances. This will all add to the complexity of the cash and risk management.

 

Isn’t treasury the best department to be in? 😊 I already get excited saying this.

 

Get in touch with Patrick
Click here for his Expert Profile

 

Join Patrick and experts from Kyriba and Deloitte at the Panel Discussion: How Can Treasurers Overcome Today’s Security Challenges?

When? March 9
Start: 4.00 pm CET

Register here

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Kendra Keydeniers

Director Community & Partners, treasuryXL