From a P&L to a Cash-driven organization in less than a year after implementing Cashforce

| 7-1-2020 | treasuryXL | Cashforce |

For many multinational corporations, effectively managing their working capital across numerous regions can be a significant challenge. Additionally, optimizing cash streams in a complex data environment can be a time-consuming process. The same issue goes for Dawn Foods, a global B2B bakery ingredient supplier with multiple entities & finance departments. With more than 50 locations worldwide, serving products in 106 countries and 40.000 customers served globally it is one of the main players in the food industry.

Starting 2015 the company started a change management process to turn Dawn Foods into a more cash orientated company.  A taskforce was created supported by Bart Messing, European Treasury Manager and Marc Kersten, European IT director, sponsored by the VP Finance & IT Michael Calfee.

Their key objective was a 10% year-over-year reduction of Net Working Capital Days.

One of the essential building blocks of this plan was implementing a 24/7 working capital tool whereby the KPI’s could be reported into several dimensions that are relevant to the different business units and functions. The different dimensions are important, as the business will only support improvement processes and accept targets unless the KPI’s are measured in relevant dimensions.

After careful comparison based on an extensive survey under key business people between internal/external tools on quality requirements, costs and potential benefits, Cashforce, a ‘next-generation’ cash & working capital analytics solution, came out on top. By designing a proof of concept, in cooperation with the internal IT department, a successful solution was reached. After the implementation the results were already significant in a short time: an instant working capital dashboard that provides 24/7 insights, as well as with simulations in different dimensions that are relevant for each department.

By providing the right technology, in combination with an unmatched cross-departmental cooperation, Dawn Foods was able to build a bridge between its finance department and the rest of the departments, thus reducing complexity and increasing visibility and insights.

This led to millions of dollars saved since setting up the new project (over a three-year period). The cash that was freed up has in the meantime been used to finance a strategic acquisition.

 

 

Exclusive interview with FX specialist Arnoud Doornbos about FX Risk Management

6-1-2020 | by Kendra Keydeniers | Arnoud Doornbos | Ilfa Group

On January 23rd, 2020 Ilfa and Global Reach are organising a masterclass on foreign exchange risk management. FX experts Michael Jansen of Global Reach and Arnoud Doornbos of Ilfa will guide you through the design of a FX risk management program and demonstrate which opportunities a program like this has for your organisation.

Go to event and register for the masterclass. Places are limited so we recommend to secure your spot today.

treasuryXL is delighted to share our exclusive interview with one of the organizers and FX specialist, Arnoud Doornbos of Ilfa.

What is Foreign Exchange Risk Management?

Foreign exchange risk management strategy or FX hedging strategy are terms used to define all the measures devised by businesses or investors to protect the value of their cash flows, assets or liabilities from adverse fluctuations of the exchange rate.

Hedging is used by companies to manage their currency exposure. If a company needs to buy or sell one currency for another, they are exposed to fluctuations in the foreign exchange market that could affect their costs (or revenues) and ultimately their profit.

By booking a hedge, companies protect an exchange rate against a specified sum of currency for a desired timescale, providing companies with certainty.

There are a range of products that can be used for hedging, depending on the companies objective and the exposure they are trying to protect.

Typically, a company would hedge their foreign exchange (FX) exposure to protect its profit margin from market volatility. Hedging is most common in companies that have an exposure to a secondary currency and have fixed prices on their products or services.

What are the types of Foreign Exchange risk?

Foreign Exchange exposure is classified into three types:

  • Transaction exposure deals with actual foreign currency transaction.
  • Translation exposure deals with the accounting representation
  • Economic exposure deals with little macro level exposure which may be true for the whole industry rather than just the firm under concern.

Currency risks can have various effects on a company, whether it operates domestically or internationally. Transaction and economic risks affect a company’s cash flows, while transaction risk represents the future and known cash flows. Economic risk represents the future (but unknown) cash flows. Translation risk has no cash flow effect, although it could be transformed into transaction risk or economic risk if the company were to realize the value of its foreign currency assets or liabilities. Risk can be tricky to understand, but by breaking it up into these categories, it is easier to see how that risk affects a company’s balance sheet.

What are the most common critical Foreign Exchange risk problems that companies make?

Businesses that operate internationally or domestically must deal with various risks when trading in currencies other than their home currency.

Companies typically generate capital by borrowing debt or issuing equity and then use this to invest in assets and try to generate a return on the investment. The investment might be in assets overseas and financed in foreign currencies, or the company’s products might be sold to customers overseas who pay in their local currencies.

Domestic companies that sell only to domestic customers might still face currency risk because the raw materials they buy are priced in a foreign currency. Companies that do business in just their home currency can still face currency risk if their competitors operate in a different home currency.

What critical elements of Foreign Exchange risk are often overlooked?

One of the critical elements of the currency risk that are overlooked is the correct identification of the type of FX risk. A distinction must be made between certain and uncertain cash flows in FX. With certain cash flows, the company has to deal with a linear risk that must be covered with a linear financial hedging instrument, an FX forward. With an uncertain cash flow, risk profile is not linear and it is dangerous to use FX Forwards to hedge. FX Options are better financial products to hedge.

If the company does not include FX Options in its Treasury policy, the second best option is to use FX forwards for, for example, 50% of the principal sum of the underlying risk.

Anticipated and committed exposure cycle

How can you measure Foreign Exchange risk and the different types?

There are many ways to measure foreign exchange risk, ranging from simple to quite complex. Sophisticated measures such as ‘value at risk’ may be mathematically complex and require significant computing power.

Register of foreign currency exposures

A very simple method is to maintain a register of exposures and their associated foreign exchange hedges. Basically the details of each hedge are recorded against its relevant exposure. This type of approach may also assist with compliance with accounting standards.

Table of projected foreign currency cashflows

Where the business both pays and receives foreign currency, it will be necessary to measure the net surplus or deficit for each currency. This can be done by projecting foreign currency cash flows. This not only indicates whether the business has a surplus or is short of a particular currency, but also the timing of currency flows.

To properly determine the FX risk, account must be taken of the differences in sensitivity of the incoming and outgoing FX cash flows.

Sensitivity analysis

A further extension of the previous measure is to undertake sensitivity analysis to measure the potential impact on the business of an adverse movement in exchange rates. This may be done by choosing arbitrary movements in exchange rates or by basing exchange rate movements on past history.

Value at risk

Some businesses, particularly financial institutions, use a probability approach when undertaking sensitivity analysis. This is known as ‘value at risk’. While it is useful to know the potential impact of a given change in exchange rates (say a USD one cent movement) the question will arise: how often does this happen? Accordingly, we can do a sensitivity analysis using past price history and apply it to the current position. Then, given the business’s current position, and based on exchange rates observed over the last two years, it can be 99 per cent confident that it will not lose more than a certain amount, given a certain movement in exchange rates. In effect, the business has used actual rate history to model the potential impact of exchange rate movements on its foreign currency exposures.

What steps do you need to make to create a Foreign Exchange strategy?

Transaction risk is often hedged tactically (selectively) or strategically to preserve cash flows and earnings, depending on the companies treasury view on the future movements of the currencies involved. Tactical hedging is used by most firms to hedge their transaction currency risk relating to short-term receivable and payable transactions, while strategic hedging is used for longer-period transactions.

Translation, or balance sheet, risk is hedged very infrequently and non-systematically, often to avoid the impact of possible abrupt currency shocks on net assets. This risk involves mainly long-term foreign exposures, such as the firm’s valuation of subsidiaries, its debt structure and international investments. However, the long-term nature of these items and the fact that currency translation affects the balance sheet rather than the income statement of a company, make hedging of the translation risk less of a priority for management. For the translation of currency risk of a subsidiary’s value, it is standard practice to hedge the net balance sheet exposures, i.e., the net assets (gross assets less liabilities) of the subsidiary that might be affected by an adverse exchange rate move.

Translation risk is for a large part a Finance issue. Within the framework of hedging the exchange rate risk in a consolidated balance sheet, the issue of hedging a companies debt profile is also of paramount importance.  The currency and maturity composition of a firm’s debt determines the susceptibility of its net equity and earnings to exchange rate changes. To reduce the impact of exchange rates on the volatility of earnings, the company may use an optimization model to devise an optimal set of hedging strategies to manage its currency risk.

What is, in your perception, the biggest benefit of a working Foreign Exchange strategy?

Foreign exchange risk management is thus fundamental but it is often considered to be too complex, expensive and time-consuming. Nonetheless, with a simple, tailored monitoring activity, it can neutralise currency fluctuations and bring the following benefits: Securing marketing margins. Optimising cash-flow estimates.

What is your best advise for companies dealing with Foreign Exchange risk?

This Forex market is open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week and with a daily volume of $ 6.6 trillion the most liquid and largest financial market in the world. For most companies, FX risks are non-core risks The objective of most companies is not to be an FX trader. By correctly identifying and quantifying the FX risks and then neutralizing them with the correct financial FX hedging instruments, companies will have little or no trouble with currency fluctuations on the financial FX markets. The implementation of the correct procedures forms the basis of good FX risk management and will make opportunistic behavior of management disappear.

 

Arnoud Doornbos

Associate Partner Ilfa

FX specialist

 

 

 

 

 

How to save time and money with International Payments

| 2-1-2020 | treasuryXL | XE |

Do you often need to make global transactions? Deciding when to make an international payment and at what rate can be critical. You constantly need to check the markets for the best rates and hope for a great opportunity. But what if you don’t have time to sit and wait? XE can help and take care of it. With a range of solutions to help you access competitive rates with greater control.

Spot Transfer

Need to make a payment right away? Lock your rate for immediate and quick transfers.

With XE you can buy currency at the live exchange rate. If you are looking to purchase currency and make a payment right away, then a spot contract could be perfect for you.

Get started

 

 

Market Orders

Flexible with your transfer time? Pick a rate, transfer automatically when the market hits your desired rate.

Get started

 

 

 

 

Forward Contracts

Secure a rate for future transfers. Transfer any time at your secured rate within 3 years.

Get started

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

Digitalization enhances the strategic position of the treasurer

| 27-12-2019 | TIS | treasuryXL

Discover how you can skillfully use digitalization to play a greater strategic role in your company.

Digitalization is changing the business model of every company. In this factsheet, you will gain valuable expert insights on how you can use digitalization to enhance your strategic position. You will also learn why the opportunities of digitalization do not by any means poses a threat. Read more about:

  1. Digitalization as a horizontal phenomenon
  2. Data is the treasurer’s new gold
  3. Being a sparring partner for the CEO

New technologies are coming to the fore, which redefine the payment area. Especially treasurers will benefit from the expert insights. Do not miss this beneficial factsheet!

Request your download here.

The treasuryXL team wishes you a Merry Christmas!

| 25-12-2019 | treasuryXL |

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Enjoy your time with loved ones.

Cheers!

My Currency Fundamentals for SMEs

| 24-12-2019 | by Pieter de Kiewit |

My Very Practical Currency Fundamentals for SMEs

In 2016 I informed you about my baby steps in dealing with foreign exchange exposure in a “baby steps article” on this platform. I was about to receive Euros from Switzerland and had to pay in GBP (British pounds) into the UK. Two things I learned about the fees of big banks if you transfer internationally into another currency:

  1. There is a transaction fee if you transfer money into another currency, in most cases a flat fee;
  2. The bank takes a percentage from the total amount to make GBP out of Euro.

My solution at the time was to open a GBP account to avoid both these costs. There is a monthly fee for this bank account and some simple math showed that was the way to go. Currently GBP is relatively strong and I do not expect any UK assignments shortly, so I have decided to close down the account. Time to dig in again. I have struggled with three major considerations.

Transferring GBP into Euro: struggling with the spread

If you go onto the internet to find out what the current exchange rate between two currencies is, you get a number like 1 GBP equals 1.20 Euro. So far so good. Banks and other financial services providers work with a so-called spread. They deserve a reward for their services so the price they pay for your GBP is lower than the price you pay them if  you buy a pound from them. The spread is the percentage over and under the number you will find on the internet.

I am not here to endorse any businesses but I can tell you that the percentages can differ substantially. One provider asked 0.7%, the second 0.3%. The second provider does not charge a transaction fee, the first one does. If the amounts are substantial and your margins are thin, this difference can be substantially!

The hassle

When I choose for the second provider, I have to open a new account, remember new passwords, hand in documentation and think about if I can trust them. In short: a hassle.

With my first provider I have relationship of decades. I decided to ask them if there would be a chance that they would lower their prices. As I am a small business owner, I do not have a contact person anymore. I sent three emails to three different mail addresses. The first was not answered, the second was answered with “I cannot help you” and upon mail number three I received a call. The service agent mentioned she could not help me but I should call a colleague at 3:30 pm and then I would be put in the waiting line. Call me old-fashioned but that is not how I want to work. So that is what I told her. I noticed she really wanted to help but at the end of the day I got the message that my transaction was not in the millions so I would not receive an answer and there was no price-lowering. Ok.

I am not a fan of bank bashing and think they do important work. And we do not want to pick up every recruitment assignment. It is not in our interest but also not in the interest of the potential client. I would have appreciated a better line of communication.

The Market

As you might have noticed, I do like my cost savings but let’s be practical. This year the conversion rate GBP – Euro has been at its’ lowest at 1.06 and at its’ highest at 1.20. So there is  a difference of 0.14. The difference in the conversion rate has been 0.4%. I now chose to invest time in how to do the conversion and with which provider. Market study, good timing and luck are much better ways to optimize your returns.

Final remarks

If you, as an entrepreneur, have to deal with foreign exchange rates it is good to know how the cost structures of banks are. Also it is good to know there are alternative service providers like XE, Ebury, NBWM and Global Reach Group. If your time is limited and the number of transactions low, dig in once and decide what works for you. If you have regular and/or substantial transactions, it makes sense to keep the topic on the agenda. In that case it might be useful to gather further information and consider risk mitigating strategies and learn more about hedging, derivatives, spots, forwards, et cetera. If you want to, I can open my network for you.

Good luck and I would like to read about your experiences,

 

 

Pieter de Kiewit
Owner Treasurer Search

 

Possible Amendments to the Withdrawal Bill see Pound Fall Sharply

| 19-12-2019 | treasuryXL | XE |

Boris Johnson will bring his Brexit bill before a new intake of MPs this week without some of concessions he made before the election. The Withdrawal Agreement Bill – the key legislation that will pave the way for the UK to leave the European Union on 31 January 2020 – is expected to come before the Commons on Friday.

Under Johnson’s plan Britain is to leave the EU on 31 January once the bill passes, at which point the transition phase with the EU kicks in. During this period, the UK is expected to leave the customs union and single market and enter new negotiated arrangements, but will follow most EU law like other member states. However, it will not have voting rights like other member states.

News on the morning of the 17th has suggested that the Brexit bill is thought to have been rewritten since the one that was backed at the second reading by the previous Parliament. The Conservatives now  have a majority of 80 which means that Johnson is unlikely to bring forward concessions to his Brexit bill that he suggested he would consider at the time. Those include clause 30, allowing MPs to vote on an extension to the transition period beyond 2020 if a free trade deal was not struck in time.

With the new legislation looking to legally prevent delaying a departure beyond 2020 there is a risk that leaving with no deal is back on the table. This new amendment has seen the Pound drop over 1% against the dollar and the Euro. We are now back to the levels we were trading at before the election, with GBPUSD down from 1.35 on Friday to 1.3190 and GBPEUR down to 1.1846 from 1.20+ last week.

It is a fairly data heavy day today with UK average earnings, ILO employment data and Mark Carney speaking which could continue to see volatility in the Pound.

GBPUSD– 1.3190

GBPEUR– 1.1857

EURUSD– 1.1134

The figures are based on the live mid-market rate, correct as of 09:00 GMT on 17/12//2019, and are provided for indicative purposes only. Live mid-market rates are not available to consumers and are for informational purposes only. The rates XE quotes for money transfer can be selected via the page on XE’s website ‘Live Money Transfer rates’.

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

treasuryXL announces partnership with XE.com

| 12-12-2019 | treasuryXL | XE |

treasuryXL announces partnership with XE.com, The World’s Trusted Currency Authority and provider of currency data, FX Risk Management and Technology solutions for businesses

VENLO, The Netherlands, DECEMBER 12, 2019 – treasuryXL, the community platform for everyone who is active in the world of treasury, today announced the premium partnership with the world’s most trusted currency authority XE.com.

XE.com is the first major currency specialist to work with treasuryXL. As a marketplace, treasuryXL will offer XE.com market commentary and insight to her audience. Offering a continuous flow of relevant treasury content, making treasury knowledge available, results in treasuryXL being the obvious go-to platform for its’ audience. The partnership kicks off with the new ‘Treasury Topic’ environment where XE.com will have a prominent role in the FX, risk management, payments and FinTech environment.

XE.com is the world’s most popular foreign exchange website, and a leading global destination for foreign exchange rate tools and data. XE Business Solutions support companies across the world with robust responses to unpredictable currency markets; whether they rely on XE for information about currency markets, seek support when managing their FX risk, or trust them with business-critical international payments.

treasuryXL and XE.com strive for a fruitful partnership where its’ audience are top of mind making sure that (potential) clients are always up to date with the latest global currency news and benefit from a comprehensive range of currency services and products. XE Business Solutions and currency expertise provide companies with robust responses to unpredictable currency markets, so that bottom line is protected by currency risk and not impacted by it.

About treasuryXL

treasuryXL started in 2016 as a community platform for everyone who is active in the world of treasury. Their extensive and highly qualified network consists out of experienced and aspiring treasurers. treasuryXL keeps their network updated with daily news, events and the latest treasury vacancies.

treasuryXL brings the treasury function to a higher level, both for the inner circle: corporate treasurers, bankers & consultants, as well as others that might benefit: CFO’s, business owners, other people from the CFO Team and educators.

treasuryXL offers:

  • professionals the chance to publish their expertise, opinions, success stories, distribute these and stimulate dialogue.
  • a labour market platform by creating an overview of vacancies, events and treasury education.
  • a variety of consultancy services in collaboration with qualified treasurers.
  • a broad network of highly valued partners and experts.

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

How to generate an accurate cashflow forecast | 3 key factors

| 10-12-2019 | treasuryXL | Cashforce |

One would imagine that in a world where smart cities and virtual reality are becoming a part of daily reality, treasury and finance departments would have perfected their cash forecasting by now, giving the CFO a level of confidence in the numbers. Surprisingly, that doesn’t appear to be the case at all – both PwC’s & Deloitte’s Global Benchmarking studies highlighted cash and liquidity risk as the most important treasury challenge to manage.

If you look closer, it’s not difficult to see why: try managing and forecasting the cash flows of a complex internal ecosystem of multiple ERP’s, FX exposure and geographic entities, combined with increased global uncertainty, tax changes, interest rate rises, and regulatory change. Still, having an accurate cash flow forecast and understanding the underlying drivers is essential to a company’s well-being, as it can help you foresee potential problems which may arise in the year ahead. A lot of companies around the world are therefore increasing their efforts when it comes to cash flow forecasting, but with variable results and accuracy.

So what sets good cash forecasting (i.e. accurate and efficient forecasting) apart from bad cash forecasting (i.e. not transparent, inaccurate & time-consuming cash forecasting)?

KEY SUCCESS FACTOR #1: BEING ABLE TO DRILL DOWN INTO YOUR ACTUAL CASH FLOW DRIVERS BY USING TRANSACTION-LEVEL / GRANULAR DATA

A lot of Corporate Treasurers are seeking an accurate cash forecast through a delicate combination of well-chosen cash flow drivers & assumptions. But, to what extent do they have a good view of these cash flow drivers? Do they know what is really eating and feeding their cash (more than the typical high-level AR, AP, Treasury flows that your Treasury Management System will consolidate)?

There isn’t a lot of visibility, unfortunately. Why is that? The classic TMS will typically consolidate basic forecasted flows from the different OpCo’s. The problem is that these OpCo’s cash forecasts are already consolidated from the underlying business transactions. This blurs the insight in the real cash flow drivers and gives no assurance whatsoever on the quality of the data.

To build a good forecast, it is important to have clear and error-free access to the underlying business transactions. In a recent PwC study, only 6% of respondents said they made use of the inputs at the transactional level. But thanks to advances in technology, particularly big data analytics, treasurers can have instant access to the details of the underlying cash movements and are given the ability to drill down to the transaction level. In the gif below, you can see what this means in practice.

Suppose you want to know exactly what drives your company’s cash flow in a certain period. The GIF below demonstrates how easy this could be, using the right platform. Via an easy-to-use click-through interface, the user is able to gain insights per month, quarter, week and day including instant access to the transaction level details.

KEY SUCCESS FACTOR # 2: APPLYING THE RIGHT FORECASTING LOGIC IS CRUCIAL FOR A GOOD FORECAST

Cash flow forecasting is often associated with a pile of Excel sheets and manual work. Treasurers are forced to turn to Excel to calculate their forecasts, because classic Treasury Management Systems do not offer the required flexibility.

Getting insights into all your OpCo’s cash flow drivers is one thing but combining all these data sources and applying the right logic/rules to generate a good forecast is another. Let’s take the example of applying vendor payment behavior. Intuitively, it makes sense to enrich invoicing & sales order details with data on when vendors actually pay.  Many companies, however, struggle to take this data into account. In general, they haven’t set up the appropriate algorithms to include in their forecasts. Hence, they face inaccurate forecasts and a lot of time is spent explaining (over and over again) why it was inaccurate.

Defining forecasting logic in a smart way is not an easy challenge. Yet, if your goal is to achieve an accurate forecast, a set of smart logic algorithms is invaluable. Again, modern technology proves to be a great asset. Progressive companies are using technology-driven, smart engines to calculate & automate their cash forecasts, taking over the manually intensive work and proposing logic that could improve the forecast in the future.

Above you can see how a smart engine works in practice. Cash flows are projected into the future (blue line) using forecasting logic. The dotted orange line represents a scenario with one or more of the underlying assumptions changed and immediately shows the impact relative to the blue line.

KEY SUCCESS FACTOR #3: A GOOD FORECAST IS ONE THAT IS USED TO DRIVE ACTION

Even if your forecast is no less than a piece of art, it might be underused, or not used at all. To make a real impact, there should be actions retrieved from the forecast results. There is a lot of potential in accurately predicting what might happen in the future and this potential should be translated into value.

There is even more value in considering multiple scenarios by changing some of the underlying assumptions (e.g. changing the day or frequency of your payment runs). When working in Excel or a TMS, changing assumptions might trigger a lot of additional manual work and is unfortunately often avoided. To get the most out of your forecasting process, it makes sense to build multiple forecasts and assess the impact of each of these scenarios on cash optimization. Driving action combined with building multiple scenarios, can transform finance departments into business partners for fueling a company’s growth.

The orange line reflects a scenario, built by the user. These views give her/him an immediate comparison between the current forecast (full blue line) and a different scenario (based on assumptions made by the user). A powerful simulation engine is able to show the impact of different scenarios in a blink. Imagine the power this can bring to a business-driven finance department.

Mark O’Toole heads up the Americas for Cashforce, a big data analytics & TMS technology provider focused on cash management, forecasting and working capital.

 

Blockchain | what is it and what does it do for your supply chain?

| 09-12-2019 | by RBS |

Rotterdam Business School will host a blockchain information event on January 27th, 2020 at the Rotterdam Business School, Kralingse Zoom 91

Blockchain is a new disruptive technology that together with Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data promises to change the way we do business today. It seems to have a major potential to make supply chains more efficient and transparent by cutting out middlemen and creating possibilities to do trusted peer-to-peer transactions on a global scale. However:

  • What is Blockchain exactly and how does it work?
  • What can Blockchain be used for?
  • Are there proven user cases?
  • How can blockchain be used to create value?

These and other questions related to Blockchain will be answered at the event.

January 27, 2020

16:00 – 20:00 

REGISTER HERE

 

Programme:

15:45 – 16:00    Welcome with coffee

16:00 – 17:00    Blockchain in the supply chain: financial and sustainable solutions

Victor van der Hulst, Blockchain expert Windesheim University of applied sciences

17:00 – 17:10     The logistics applications of Blockchain

Ron van Duin, professor of applied sciences, Rotterdam University of applied sciences

17:10-17:30        Best blockchain thesis award

17:30-17:45        A proven blockchain user case: Dutch & Belgian government: Waste transportation

Martijn Broersma LTO Network

17:45 – 18:00     Coffee break

18:00 – 19:00     Break out sessions

      1. Blockchain and the food chain
        Chair: Josanne Heeroma ten Katen (RUAS)
      2. Blockchain and supply chain finance
        Chair: Luca Gelsomino (UASW)
      3. Blockchain and fashion
        Chair: Chris van Veldhuizen (TMO)
      4. Blockchain and the off-shore industry
        Chair: Arthur Fellinger (RUAS)
      5. Blockchain and paperless document flows
        Chair: Martijn Broersma (LTO Network)

19:00-19:30        Wrap up

19:30-20:00       Social drinks

 

The event is a cooperation between the Masters of International Business the SIA-RAAk project Blockchain for SME’s and the National Blockchain Thesis Table. It’s aim is to disseminate knowledge acquired by applied research and stimulate the cooperation within the triple helix: business, research and education. For questions contact: [email protected]