Crisis – What next? Immediate Measures in Cash and Liquidity Management

| 29-06-2020 | TIS |

Thursday, July 9, 2020 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM CEST

Looking at the past four months the words “Corona” and “COVID-19” surely already have become the words no.1 in 2020. Has this current status which disabled a lot of businesses and business transactions led many companies into difficult situations and troubling times?

This pandemic surely is a stress test for finance and treasury departments which have to be on top of all issues and challenges to be able to have high cash visibility and reliable liquidity forecasts. How can you fight the struggles of economic uncertainty and stay on track?

This webinar shows you which immediate measures have to be taken to stay ahead of the game. TIS and BearingPoint present a best-of-breed combination of their solutions.

Register today!

 

 

 

How to develop the ultimate Cash Flow Forecast

| 29-06-2020 | Cashforce

Cash flow forecasting has been called many things in literature. Ranging from the cornerstone of a finance & treasury department to the lifeblood of any organization; it’s fair to say cash forecasting is vital to get an accurate prediction of an organization’s health. Cash forecasting, at its core, is simply identifying all the various in & outflows over a given period in order to analyze and compare those estimations with your actuals. However, in reality, it’s not that simple and a lot of challenges arise in getting an acceptable end result, especially when complexity increases i.e. multiple systems, entities, currencies, etc. Additionally, it doesn’t stop at regularly getting the right information in a timely and efficient matter. Setting sensible assumptions and providing contingencies that offer flexibility in case of unexpected events are a few quintessential things to consider. Improving your forecasting results is more than relying on hard data, but bears fruit in the synergy of art and science. Don’t know where to start, or how to fill in the blanks on further optimizing your current process? Then follow this checklist.

1. Set your goals & requirements – getting to the why – decide:
  • Why are you creating a cash forecast?
  • Do you want to perform an indirect or a direct cash forecast e.g. focus on short term (direct) or longer-term (indirect), or a combination of both
  • What does successful (output look like? (formats, visuals…)
  • If you would like to combine both, choose how the reconciliation would work?
  • What level of granularity do you need?
  • What KPI’s will you be measuring?
  • Who will be the main users of the reports and analyses? (operational vs strategic or both)
  • Who will be contributing to generate the forecast?
  • How will the different contributors and users consume the outputs?
  • What other stakeholders will use the forecast? (e.g. shareholders)
  • Will you recognize forecasting performance? (e.g. remuneration)
  • What are your main cash flow drivers? (how do you define your business model?)
  • What will be the main process-steps?
  • To what extent your staff will be involved in the process? (vs. technology doing the work)
  • In case of exceptions, can the process be sidestepped? If so, what happens then?
  • What controls will be put in place?
  • Who will be in charge of setting up the process? (internal/external)
  • Who will be the main owner of the process?
  • How often does the data need to be updated?
  • How will data quality be ensured for new inputs?
  • What process will be put in place to clean the current data?
  • How will you flag and treat mis-allocated cash flows?
  • What will you use as a reporting currency?
  • How do you treat currency differences?
  • What data sources are most relevant for the forecast and what data you want to take into account:
    • Systems holding your (actual & future) payables and receivables?
    • What formats are your bank statements in? (MT940, BAI, EBICS, CODA…)?
    • Financial planning data. e.g. FP&A / budget / planning tools?
    • Do you have any Treasury & financing data, e.g. interest & FX payments on ongoing deals, residing in, e.g. a Treasury Management System or spreadsheets?
    • Do you need to take any other data into account, e.g. in data warehouses, other specialized systems for leasing, salaries, projects, etc.?
    • What manual input do you require? To what level?
  • How will you get the above data into the forecast? Is it possible to automate these processes?
  • How many forecast horizons do you want to define?
  • What cutoffs would you put in place to split the horizons?

How would you divide the short-mid- & long-term components of the forecast, see (e.g. different per data source below:)

An example of Cash forecasting horizons & their sources

  • What cash flow categories do you want to use?
  • Is there a template you can use as a basis of cash allocation categories, e.g. your current ERP, etc.?
  • How will you treat the unallocated transactions/cash flows?
  • Setting up accuracy feedback loops, e.g. regularly comparing actuals vs forecast & reviewing for improvement
  • Choosing which algorithms / logic – based on business drivers – can be integrated into your model to improve the forecast
  • Decide which contingencies to build in, e.g. revenue/cost/currency/… assumptions

Evaluate how you will you compare with and integrate industry best practices, e.g. staying up to date with the latest technology/peers/…

While creating an accurate cash forecast is not rocket science, getting an effective reporting process in place certainly requires a well thought out and reproduceable plan. Defining the who, the what, the when and the how is both a quantitative and qualitative exercise in building out a forecast. This checklist shows you how to combine the art and science of cash flow forecasting to get it done.

How Can Your Business Address FX Risk?

25-06-2020 | treasuryXL | XE |

Last week, we encouraged businesses like yours to look beyond currency exchange rates when developing your foreign exchange risk management procedures. This week, we want to take that discussion a little further: what else is out there for businesses looking to improve their FX risk management? One common misconception is assuming that FX risk management is more narrow than it is. That is to say, many businesses might think that any FX strategy beyond purchasing the required currencies at the current spot rates would be currency market speculation. The truth is, there is a wide range of foreign exchange tools for businesses to reduce their risk exposures and improve their operations.

What about hedging?

Of all of the FX strategies and tools, hedging may be the most widely misunderstood. It’s a common misconception that currency hedging serves to second-guess how foreign exchange markets could potentially move in the coming days and weeks, but that’s not its. In FX risk management, hedging is a valuable tool to help insure the business against possible unfavorable movements caused by market volatility. It’s one aspect of a comprehensive FX risk management plan, not the entire strategy.

Like any other strategy, the importance of hedging for your business depends on your business and its exposures. Depending on your FX risk exposures, your organization may not need to make hedging a central part of its risk management plans. Your FX risk management strategies shouldn’t be based on a generalized idea of currency risk; they need to fit your organization’s unique risk profile.

What other products are available?

In short, this will depend on the FX provider. When researching FX providers, don’t just ask them about the rates they offer or what kind of advice they can provide on hedging strategies. Take some time to read up on the full suite of products and services they offer, and consider whether they would be valuable for your business both in the day-to-day and in the long-term.

At Xe, a number of products and services are offered to businesses to aid in their international payments as well as their FX risk, available as a standalone or API. Some of our products include:

Don’t go too far—in the coming weeks, we’ll be taking a closer look at our business offerings and the benefits they could bring to your operation.

Source

 

Get in touch with XE.com

About XE.com

XE can help safeguard your profit margins and improve cashflow through quantifying the FX risk you face and implementing unique strategies to mitigate it. XE Business Solutions provides a comprehensive range of currency services and products to help businesses access competitive rates with greater control.

Deciding when to make an international payment and at what rate can be critical. XE Business Solutions work with businesses to protect bottom-line from exchange rate fluctuations, while the currency experts and risk management specialists act as eyes and ears in the market to protect your profits from the world’s volatile currency markets.

Your company money is safe with XE, their NASDAQ listed parent company, Euronet Worldwide Inc., has a multibillion-dollar market capitalization, and an investment grade credit rating. With offices in the UK, Canada, Europe, APAC and North America they have a truly global coverage.

Are you curious to know more about XE?
Maurits Houthoff, senior business development manager at XE.com, is always in for a cup of coffee, mail or call to provide you detailed information.

 

 

Visit XE.com

Visit XE partner page

 

 

 

Trade Finance and ICC Incoterms

| 24-06-2020 | Ger van Rosmalen | treasuryXL

Still up to date every day: “yes do not worry sir, the container will arrive within a few weeks, i hope, it is now the rain season and roads are like rivers”. Many logistics managers are not waiting for these kinds of messages and the irritation grows when they wonders what ***** of Sales has had in mind to deliver this customer on a DAP basis.

This blog is in Dutch language.

De frustratie van iedere logistieke of customer service medewerker is als Sales iets verkoopt zonder zich echt bewust te zijn van de gevolgen en implicaties van die afgesloten deal.

Sales wil geen risico nemen als het op betalen aankomt en heeft van de koper in de binnenlanden van een Afrikaans land wel een Letter of Credit (L/C) als zekerheid gevraagd. De koper wilde die zekerheid wel geven maar dan moesten de goederen wel op DAP basis afgeleverd worden. “Geen punt” volgens Sales.

DAP wil zeggen “Delivered at Place” dus de verkoper moet alle kosten en risico’s voor zijn rekening nemen voor aflevering van de goederen op die overeengekomen plaats ergens in de binnenlanden van dat Afrikaanse land! Sales gaat er maar vanuit dat Logistiek het wel regelt maar weet niet wat voor onmogelijke uitdaging dit is als je je realiseert dat in Afrika sommige geasfalteerde wegen zomaar 5 km buiten de stad overgaan in onverharde moeilijk begaanbare wegen! Zo ook in deze casus, de dure machine moet eerst nog afgeleverd worden in de binnenlanden van dat Afrikaanse land want daar vindt het overdrachtsmoment plaats, aflevering van de machine door afgifte van een “Goods receipt” dat later onder het L/C aangeboden moet worden om betaling te verkrijgen onder het L/C!

Het was toch echt slimmer geweest om de machine af te leveren op basis van een andere  Incoterm, liever geen E- of F-term, maar bij voorkeur een Incoterm uit de C-Groep, maar welke? Het is belangrijk dat iedereen binnen het bedrijf, Sales, Finance en Logistiek de impact begrijpen van iedere afgesproken Incoterm.

Het bepalen van Incoterms strategie bij inkoop en verkoop is maatwerk; praat er over met een specialist!

 

 

 

Ger van Rosmalen

Trade Finance Specialist

 

 

Meet our Experts – Interview Olivier Werlingshoff

23-06-2020 | Olivier Werlingshoff | treasuryXL

Our Expert Olivier Werlingshoff specializes in the following fields:

His focus is to help the business improve their working capital and cash management processes to release trapped cash, to reduce costs and to be “in control”. Get to know him better:

We asked him 9 questions, let’s go!

1. How did your Treasury journey start?

After working at banks as cash management consultant for several years I was asked to set up a treasury department at a corporate.  The company was a combination of retail, real estate and development and active in the whole of Europe. Besides the set up of a new department they also wanted to optimize different working capital processes and increase the cash awareness. Coming from banks this was a total different environment. Instead of telling companies how to optimize their working capital, I had to do it myself together with different departments. My sales experience helped me to increase the internal cash awareness and to promote optimization of working capital processes.

2. What do you like about working in Treasury?

Treasury is the oil in organizations where all cash related departments comes together. By optimizing those processes you can get a grip on your cash, decrease risks and release trapped cash.

3. What is your Treasury Expertise?

Operational cash management, liquidity forecast (direct- indirect), risk management, (international) bank account structure,  cash pooling, working capital optimization.

4. Do you have examples of risk mitigation, creation of opportunities and/or cost savings?

Yes, a lot of cost savings examples and also release of trapped cash. Decrease bank transfer pricing, introduction of new payment methods to increase the turnover, implementation of cash pools and optimize working capital processes to release trapped cash to mention a few.

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

By showing the benefits of treasury to colleagues by increasing the cash awareness. By doing so, new ideas comes out of the organizations itself and are more easy to implement.

6. What has been your biggest challenge in treasury?

The implementation of a new payment system in a complex organization. You have to focus on stakeholder management and get the operational department behind you with support of the board members.

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

Treasury is a supporting function. You have to help other departments and the CFO to achieve their targets.

8. The coronavirus is undoubtedly an unprecedented crisis. In general, can you elaborate on the impact this virus has on treasury from your perspective?

In a lot of sectors the sales dropped due to the Corona lock-down. Companies need to have a clear view on their cash and be able to pay their invoices on time. Forecasting is more than ever very important and key to be able to forecast funding needs on time.

9. What is your best advice for businesses without a Treasurer?

Not all companies need a dedicated treasurer. Controllers need to have more focus on cash related items and risks (liquidity, FX, Interest and audit). Furthermore it will be good for controllers to focus more on forecasts instead of the reporting of past activities.

 

 

Olivier Werlingshoff

Owner at WERFIAD | Working Capital | Cash Management |

 

 

 

 


Does your business need support in Treasury or a Treasury QuickScan?

We have treasurers available, go to Rent a Treasurer for all information.



Webinar | July 16 | Mitigating Fraud With a Corporate Payment Hub

| 22-06-2020 | treasuryXL | Kyriba |

In today’s changing IT environment, we see more corporates exposed to the risk of fraud, due to legacy controls and manual processes. With many companies applying a new ‘working from home’ strategy, the risk of fraud is bigger than ever before.

In today’s changing IT environment, we see more corporates exposed to the risk of fraud, due to legacy controls and manual processes. With many companies applying a new ‘working from home’ strategy, the risk of fraud is bigger than ever before.

During this webinar we will hear:

  • How does a payment hub support you in mitigating fraud?
  • What is rules based fraud detection?
  • Why is machine learning an important part of our fraud detection?
  • How does fraud detection fit in your overall payment processes?

Paul Simpson, Strategic Payments Director at Kyriba, together with Value Engineer, Alroy D’Cruz, will discuss these most important questions and will give you an insight on how Kyriba is supporting over 2,300 of your peers worldwide with our SaaS Payment Fraud solutions.

Presenters:

 

 

 

PAUL SIMPSON

Strategic Payments Director, Kyriba

 

 

 

 

 

ALROY D’CRUZ

Value Engineer, Kyriba

 

 



Submit on the registration page and save your place.

 

About Kyriba

Kyriba empowers CFOs and their teams to transform how they activate liquidity as a dynamic, real-time vehicle for growth and value creation, while also protecting against financial risk. Kyriba’s pioneering Active Liquidity Network connects internal applications for treasury, risk, payments and working capital, with vital external sources such as banks, ERPs, trading platforms, and market data providers. Based on a secure, highly scalable SaaS platform that leverages artificial and business intelligence, Kyriba enables thousands of companies worldwide to maximize growth opportunities, protect against loss from fraud and financial risk, and reduce costs through advanced automation. Kyriba is headquartered in San Diego, with offices in New York, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai and other major locations. For more information, visit www.kyriba.com.

FX Risk: It’s Not Just About the Exchange Rates

18-06-2020 | treasuryXL | XE |

Let’s face it: for individuals and businesses alike, exchange rates are one of the most important factors of international money transfer. Having a favorable exchange rate can make a significant difference in how much money you need to provide in your payments, and knowing that you’ll always get a good rate can make a difference in your day-to-day transactions as well as your long-term strategic planning.

However, in the world of FX and FX risk management, one common mistake we see is businesses solely looking at the rates they can get from their FX providers, and failing to look past the rate to other determining factors. But what are these factors, and what should businesses really be looking for in their FX providers?

Why shouldn’t you only look at the rates?

To clarify: we aren’t saying that you shouldn’t look at the rates offered by potential providers. They just aren’t the only thing that will affect your business’s exposure to currency risk.

FX providers don’t just help you make currency exchanges. They offer a wide range of other products and services to help organizations manage their international payments as well as manage their FX risk, and having a narrow focus on the exchange rates can prevent you from seeing the bigger picture and understanding how the FX provider can help your business as a whole.

Think about all of the ways in which your business engages with international currencies, and look at all of your potential FX risk exposures. They don’t all have to do with the exchange rates, right? The right provider for your organization will have product offerings that address your organization’s specific needs.

It’s also important to assess potential providers with a discerning eye, and with the mantra, “If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.” If a provider offers fantastic rates that noticeably stand out from the rates offered by the competition, carefully consider why that might be. Are they able to offer these fantastic rates at the cost of offering other essential products and services to their clients? Don’t be afraid to ask the detailed questions.

Rate comparisons can also be misleading. The foreign exchange markets are constantly moving, and it’s not uncommon for the rates to change multiple times per day. Unless you’re comparing rates at one precise moment, it’s possible that you don’t have a completely accurate comparison between the two. A rate that looks stronger now might not be that way in a few hours.

As a final note, keep in mind that one service that many foreign exchange providers offer is watching the rates for you. If there is a particular rate that your business wants for its transactions, look into providers with a “rate alert” option so you won’t spend all of your time being preoccupied by checking for the best rate.

What else should you look for?

So now that we’ve established that rates aren’t the only offering you should look for, you’re probably wondering what else you should be looking for. Ultimately, that depends on your foreign exchange risk and what your business is looking for.

Once you’ve created your FX risk management policy, consider what your organization can’t do alone. That’s where your foreign exchange provider can help you. Some of the features you might want to look for include:

  • Specialized services for your sector or business operations
  • Support services to aid when something goes wrong
  • Comprehensive online services that can be accessed anywhere, any time of day
  • Transparency and clear communication
  • Services that can simplify complex business processes
  • Fast transaction speeds

Don’t be afraid to shop around for the right foreign exchange provider. If you want the best solutions for your business, it might take some time before you find the provider that has the expertise and products to address your risks.

Source

 

Get in touch with XE.com

About XE.com

XE can help safeguard your profit margins and improve cashflow through quantifying the FX risk you face and implementing unique strategies to mitigate it. XE Business Solutions provides a comprehensive range of currency services and products to help businesses access competitive rates with greater control.

Deciding when to make an international payment and at what rate can be critical. XE Business Solutions work with businesses to protect bottom-line from exchange rate fluctuations, while the currency experts and risk management specialists act as eyes and ears in the market to protect your profits from the world’s volatile currency markets.

Your company money is safe with XE, their NASDAQ listed parent company, Euronet Worldwide Inc., has a multibillion-dollar market capitalization, and an investment grade credit rating. With offices in the UK, Canada, Europe, APAC and North America they have a truly global coverage.

Are you curious to know more about XE?
Maurits Houthoff, senior business development manager at XE.com, is always in for a cup of coffee, mail or call to provide you detailed information.

 

 

Visit XE.com

Visit XE partner page

 

 

 

An Introduction to Forwards, Futures and Options | Part 2

17-06-2020 | by Aastha Tomar

In her previous post, our Expert Aastha Tomar explained how the forwards work. Lets see the second type of hedge. The second type of hedge contract is futures. Like forwards they also fix the currency rate for a future date. The major difference between a future and a forward is that futures are exchange traded and therefore they are standardized.

Features of Futures

  1. They have standard sizes, delivery dates and settlement rules. The settlement mechanisms reduces much of the credit risk .
    -> Now why do I say that credit risk is reduced ?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    As mentioned earlier, all settlement takes place through the exchange clearing house and the two parties buyer and seller are not in direct contact with each other. Therefore since it is the responsibility of exchange clearing house to settle the trade, the counter-parties run the credit risk of the exchange clearing house instead on each other.

  2. They can be cash settled or physically delivered and are legally binding.They trade in one contract size, so corporate must trade in multiples of that
  3. They move in increments called ticks and each tick has a value. The number of ticks made or lost on a trade determines the loss/profit of the trade
  4. The counter parties holding the contracts on the expiration date must deliver the currency amount at the specified price on the specified delivery date or they can even close out the position before the expiry date, this can be done by doing an equal and opposite trade in the same futures contract.
  5. To enter into a future contract an initial deposit into a margin account is required . The contract is then marked to market each day and a company is required to add more funds to the margin account if cumulative losses drain the margin account. If the company does not respond to a margin call, the exchange closes out the contract.
  6. The contracts are physically delivered four times in a year on the third Wednesday of March, June, September, and December.

Difference between future and forwards

  1. Futures are traded on an exchange hence standardized therefore a company may not be able to hedge the exact and full amount of underlying transaction. They may have to under-hedge .
  2. The delivery date in future may not be same as the maturity of underlying transaction which may open the corporate for some market fluctuation.
  3. The treasures can easily unwind a hedge position earlier than its normal settlement date if needed.
  4. In a forward contract, the bank includes a transaction fee in the contract. In a futures contract, a broker charges a commission to execute the deal.
Lets understand futures with an example :

Lets take EUR/USD as an example,

One contract size for EURUSD future is $125,000 worth of Euros and one tick size for EURUSD future is .00005. Therefore the price movement will be ($125,000*.00005) =$6.25 per EUR

Now if we purchase one futures contract of the EUR/USD, which is trading $1.0901 . We are hoping that EUR will appreciate , relative to the Dollar. Suppose we are lucky and things go as expected, and the exchange rate rises to $1.09015, We will make $6.25 in profit (per contract). Cool !!! Suppose we are luckier and FED makes some negative announcement on top of that ECB does some tremendous positive changes in their policy due to which EUR shoots up becomes much more stronger and exchange rate rises to $1.09110 (a whooping increase of 20 ticks), then we would make $125.00 in profit per contract ($6.25 x 20 ticks = $125.00).

lets see it more clearly in the following table :

Now why do corporates stay away from Futures ?

  1. Futures cannot be customized hence there is not always a complete hedge
  2. Companies don’t want to put initial margin money in the exchange
  3. They want to stay away from the hassle of mark to market each day and depositing money if the losses erase the deposited margin money
  4. With forwards there is a human interaction with the banker who enters trade with you and you feel more comfortable with that, you may also negotiate forward premia with the banker and if there is a long standing relationship with the bank, the bank sometimes forego or reduce the fees. In Futures that’s not the case.

Whether its a forward or future contract, nothing is difficult if you have the intent to learn the product . Once you start understanding how hedge market works and start realizing the benefit of it then it will eventually be beneficial for you as a Treasurer and for your corporate which will be saved from unwanted currency fluctuations. In our third and last post in this series we will talk about Options ..keep learning, be safe.. to be continued ….

 

Aastha Tomar

FX & Derivatives | Debt Capital Markets | MBA Finance
Electrical Engineer | Sustainability

Virtual Coffee Sessions for NL and BE: Managing Payments in a Remote Reality

| 16-06-2020 | TIS |

Are you tired of talking about “remote working” and the “new normal”? Everyone is keen and ready to get back into the office. But it will never be the same than before. Due to the current situation, special prerequisites need to be taken in order to make sure to meet the health standards but on the other hand creating a situation where people can work together onsite to contribute to business success.

Virtual event

TIS organizes a special virtual event, one that is dedicated to treasurers and financial professionals and moderated by TIS experts. Alongside TIS they will also have two of their customers with them who will also be open to questions and discussion. With the virtual coffee session they connect people in order to find out what the best way of going back to normal can be. They will also talk about a very important topic: Cash Visibility. TIS will highlight how important visibility is to manage payments in these days.

Receive a present

In order to give you a great start into the day and a great virtual experience we will deliver you a little TIS coffee present. Just insert your full delivery address in the registration form and something good will be delivered right in time for the virtual session.

Date, time and registration

Virtual Coffee Session for the Netherlands

Date: Tue, Jun 23, 2020

Timing: 09:00 AM – 10:00 AM CEST

Register here

 

Virtual Coffee Session for Belgium

Date: Wed, Jun 24, 2020

Timing: 09:00 AM – 10:00 AM CEST

Register here

 

Please note, the use of the webcam is mandatory.

 

 

 

ING spin out Cobase welcomes Nordea and Crédit Agricole CIB as new investors and strategic partners

| 16-06-2020 | Cobase | treasuryXL |

Cobase, a provider of multi-bank treasury management services, has raised €10 million in funding from Nordea and Crédit Agricole CIB.

The proprietary Cobase platform provides an account aggregation service for companies with multiple banking accounts. The platform arranges direct connections with banks, and uses Open Banking APIs or existing networks like Swift to route payments and account information. Besides bank connectivity, key features include a central Payment Hub and various cash management and treasury management modules.

The firm says it intends to use the cash injection to further expand its network of connected banks and welcomes Nordea and Crédit Agricole CIB as commercial partners.

Jorge Schafraad, founder and CEO of Cobase, says: “Currently, our clients are large corporates, mainly from Western Europe. We are already connected with more than a hundred banks from all over the world. Banks can choose to embed our technology in their systems and offer our solution under their brand to their clients.”

Cobase was incorporated in 2017 after a successful start in an ING accelerator programme in 2016 in which the concept was tested through prototyping, customer interviews and market research.

Benoît Legrand, chief innovation officer and CEO of ING Ventures comments: “Cobase has all the makings of a fintech success story. They are a great example of how we innovate at ING and help companies we invest in to become successful. Their multi-bank platform is a great concept. Cobase is now entering its scale-up phase.”

Source 1

Source 2