02-11-2021 | treasuryXL | Treasurer Search | LinkedIn |
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1-11-2021 | treasuryXL | Refinitiv | LinkedIn
Haier Group Corporation is a Chinese multinational consumer electronics and home appliances company, designing, manufacturing and selling a full range of smart appliances, whilst also focusing on channel integrated services. Read more about how Haier Group treasury has succeeded in establishing an intelligent risk management model, covering their whole workflow by connecting with their internal accounting and funds settlement system and externally linking financial data resources (such as Refinitiv) and more than ten global banks.
Haier Group Corporation is a Chinese collective multinational consumer electronics and home appliances company headquartered in Qingdao, China. The FX risk management function under Haier Group’s treasury now controls 22 countries and areas and 20 currency pairs. Their centralised management is difficult due to the wide range of regions and currencies, while the traditional analysis and management from manual booking does not keep up with the current business development demand. Haier Group treasury has succeeded in establishing an intelligent risk management model, covering the whole process by connecting with the internal accounting system and funds settlement system and externally linking the financial data resources (such as Refinitiv) and more than ten global banks.
27-10-2021 | treasuryXL | Kyriba |
Payment errors and compliance violations cause significant losses for businesses of all sizes. Fraud alone cost companies more than $42 billion last year, according to PwC’s Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey.
The repercussions are wide-ranging, from arduous public disclosures and legal fees to reputational damage. Some are the result of attacks by elite cybercriminals, while others are simple mistakes made by careless or inexperienced employees. Kyriba’s Payments Fraud Solution delivers confidence that payment fraud attempts, errors and policy violations are captured, identified, and eliminated, saving your organization time, effort, and money.
Have a read of Kyriba’s Fact Sheet to learn more about payment errors and how Kyriba can help you.
25-10-2021 | treasuryXL | Kyriba |
Kyriba, a global leader in cloud-based finance and IT solutions, today announced the launch of its Open API Platform to enable composable technology solutions for CFOs, CIOs and Treasurers, and accelerate the next generation of finance innovation. Kyriba’s Open API Platform streamlines the creation and connectivity of new applications for the company’s trusted network, which connects 1,000 banks, manages over a million bank accounts, and processes over 200 million payments worth 15 trillion USD annually.
The Open API Platform is accessible through Kyriba’s newly launched Developer Portal, which connects fintech developers to Kyriba’s 2,000+ global corporate clients who have integrated Kyriba into their treasury processes, enterprise payments systems, and ERP platforms.
“Kyriba Open API Platform will radically unlock fintech innovation for enterprise CFOs and their CIO counterparts,” said Boris Lipiainen, CTO of Kyriba. “Beyond simplifying and accelerating bank and ERP connectivity, fintech developers will bring new apps to the Kyriba network and empower the next generation of financial technology.”
APIs are transforming the way Finance and IT consume and integrate data and are the gateway to delivering real-time services, artificial intelligence, and composable digital finance solutions for CFOs and CIOs. According to Gartner® research, “Gartner predicts through 2024, 50% of financial application leaders will incorporate a composable financial management system approach to their solution selection. Gartner defines a composable architecture as one where highly modular applications can be composed and recomposed to deliver capabilities and outcomes that keep up with the rapid pace of business change1.”
“Kyriba’s Open API Platform eliminates the need for internal IT teams to deliver a patchwork of custom interfaces and RPA bots to satisfy the growing need for hyperautomation,” said Félix Grévy, VP of Open API and Connectivity at Kyriba. “Our Platform enables Kyriba clients and our network of development partners to accelerate product innovation and deliver composable technology solutions to eliminate fraud, mitigate risk and optimize enterprise liquidity.”
For more information about Kyriba’s Open API Platform, visit Kyriba.com or the Kyriba Developer Portal and listen to their webinar APIs:The Catalyst for Real-Time Treasury.
18-10-2021 | treasuryXL | Gtreasury |
As a treasury tactic proven to deliver significant workflow efficiency and clear cost savings, intercompany netting is implemented far less common than its benefits merit. With a netting process, payables and receivables between multiple entities are no longer handled one at a time, but all at once. Furthermore, with intercompany netting, all the transactions between the subsidiaries are replaced with singular transfers between a Netting Center and each subsidiary, in the home currency of the subsidiary. For what kind of businesses is intercompany netting beneficial, and what are the key pain points that are leading organizations to consider intercompany netting strategies?
For more than 30 years, GTreasury has delivered the leading digital Treasury and Risk Management System (TRMS) to corporate treasurers across industries. With its continually innovating Software-as-a-Service platform, GTreasury provides customers with a single source of truth for all their cash, payments, and risk activities. The TRMS solution offers any combination of Cash Management, Payments, Financial Instruments, Risk Management, Accounting, Banking, and Hedge Accounting – seamlessly integrated, on-demand worldwide and fully secured. Headquartered in Chicago with offices serving EMEA (London) and APAC (Sydney and Manila), GTreasury’s global community includes more than 800 customers and 30+ industries reaching 160+ countries worldwide.
| 13-10-2021 | treasuryXL | Nomentia |
One would think data protection and security measures are baked into our identity as digital people, especially in a year where we are working remote more than ever. But is it though? The breaches show that security is too often seen as something to kind of ‘wing it’. And there is an eternal question whether the best way to a secure IT environment is to educate the employees to make the right decisions or to put measures into place.
We personally believe that security and combatting Fraud is a combination of people, processes, and tools. Security literacy is a skill everyone should have and constantly develop, and companies can further support this by making use of tools such as multi-factor authentication to mitigate risks and implementing processes to keep their corporate environments safe. We think security deserves a 360 degrees view in an organization that is implemented throughout their solution landscape.
This is a simple thing organisations can implement either with Single-Sign-On and/or multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a method of authentication that requires the use of more than one verification method and adds a critical second layer of security to user logins. A user is only granted access after successfully passing all authentication phases. The different factors are based off of different things as opposed to a simple password which bears some vulnerability. The first authentication phase is based on knowledge. A person needs to know their username and password, and this can also be initiated through single sign on with corporate credentials for a further security increase. The second authentication phase is based on possession. A person must possess and have access to a mobile phone to for example receive a code per text message or a phone call to double authenticate the log-in.
In practice this means, even if a username and password get compromised, cyber criminals will still not be able to login to the account protected with multi-factor authentication. And neither does a stolen mobile phone as both phases are required for a successful login.
One of the potential downsides to multi-factor authentication is that it adds one extra step in the process. And I can admit myself, every time I am going through the process of logging into our internal tools, we are sometimes a bit impatient while waiting for the text message. But it’s a small trade-off for security. Especially since single-sign on also adds convenience.
Single sign on means that people can log into systems with their corporate credentials and just speed up the process on that end. It’s fast and adds an additional security layer which is extremely powerful if paired with MFA.
This is a crucial part in terms of security. We believe that monolithic enterprise platforms are dead and best-of-breed solutions that are highly integrated are the future. This best-of breed approach however also ads emphasis on the need to ensure the integrations are safe. Which data is travelling via which channels from where to where? How is the data in transit being secured from theft and man-in-the-middle attacks?
The first step is to map out all needed integrations and systems and create a use case scenario and based on this define the needed setup. For instance, in the context of cash management you might for instance end up protecting payment information with a higher security standards than a simple accounts payable extract that is used to cash forecasting only. The key is to have a companywide and regularly maintained risk analysis process that recognizes risky areas, measures the levels of set controls (preferably audited by external experts) and constantly comes up with better and better controls.
Understanding and carefully designing which user has access to which data and processes is not bullying your employees but is a crucial step in setting processes in place that further support security. In our case, our customers need to answer questions such as: which user can approve payments, who can add a new account number to the system, who can manipulate user rights, who can make a manual payment, or who can view balance information from banks and the likes.
Making sure that you run your IT infrastructure and solutions on secure platforms is a crucial control point. One would think that in this day and age that shouldn’t be a question anymore, yet we would recommend checking this anyway. How is the user access to databases and servers or other backend artifacts controlled? Are your administrators using multi-factor authentication? Have you segregated the so-called privileged access and user accounts? Do you keep a list of such accounts? Do you collect logs from your systems and store them securely?
Many industry standards come handy here. For us relevant standards are for instance ISO 27001 and ISAE 3402 auditing framework. In our domain particularly relevant is SWIFT Customer Security Program (CSP) which is a security framework developed and derived for financial industry from such international standards such as NIST and PCI DSS. All these standards should not be considered just as acronyms but a toolbox that can help you to build a company culture that takes security seriously in every step and by every employee in every role.
Above are the steps that each organization can take to ensure that their set-up is secure. Let’s face it, there is no such thing as absolute security. But by establishing a strong security culture in your organization we believe you can make it really hard for criminals to gain access to our systems.
If you want to reach have an assessment of your security measures in terms of people, processes and tools for your cash management, please get in touch with us and we will assess your set-up and provide you options how you can further tighten your security. Cash is king, but hopefully a well-protected king.
11-10-2021 | treasuryXL | Kantox
More than half the participants of the Kantox & TMI FX Survey describe their existing currency hedging program as inadequate. And that’s not all: 72% of participants admit the need for updates and changes to their policies and programs going forward.
How do we account for this widespread inadequacy? The answer is simple. Most managers start by assessing the available Treasury resources. Only then do they set up the firm’s hedging programs.
This is the wrong approach.
Instead, managers should start by assessing the FX needs of the business, paying special attention to the firm’s pricing parameters. Only then should they design the hedging program.
Over-hedging —the situation of a firm that has hedged in anticipation of an exposure that has failed to materialise— is a perfect example of the challenges posed by a program designed with the available technology. As the Kantox & TMI Survey shows, it is one of the most pressing concerns for treasurers.
The problem of over-hedging is often associated with a ‘lack of visibility’ in treasurers’ forecasts. The apparent solution then is to ask for more staff to be hired at the Treasury team.
At Kantox we disagree with this diagnosis.
More often than not, over-hedging is the byproduct of a hedging program that was badly designed from the start—and where the wrong tools were applied. Spreadsheets, TMSs or ERPs, were never designed with FX management needs in mind.
That’s why it is becoming more and more important to use technology that is flexible enough to allow managers to deploy FX programs that are tailored to the specific needs of the business.
Starting off on the right foot
Take the case of a company that does not update its prices frequently, yet has an FX-sensitive business model, favourable forward points, and a low degree of forecast accuracy. It would be hazardous for such a firm to rely on a traditional ‘static program’ where the whole budget is hedged at the start of the period.
Instead, the magnitude of an early static hedge should be kept within the bounds of what is nearly 100% certain in terms of accuracy. For the rest of the budget, a more dynamic combined program —based on firm commitments— can be designed.
Such hedging programs and combinations of programs can be tailored to fit any business model and pricing parameters. By applying these programs, companies make sure that situations of under or over-hedging are avoided, and that a hedge rate that is equal or better than their budget/campaign rate is systematically achieved.
But this requires technology.
A game-changer: Streamlining the end-to-end FX processes
There is a way out of the costs created by inadequate hedging programs. As Antonio Rami, Kantox’s co-founder and Chief Growth Officer put it during a recent Kantox webinar: “By using technology to streamline the end-to-end process of FX risk management —from the pre-trade phase down to the accounting tasks— companies can sidestep the pitfalls of softwareless currency management”.
Armed with a thorough understanding of the FX needs and pricing dynamics of their business, companies can deploy the Currency Management Automation solutions needed to create —and to execute— the hedging program that best suits the business.
It’s high time to ditch excuses like the ‘lack of visibility’, ‘high FX volatility’ and ‘insufficient treasury resources’.
Start off on the right foot instead. Look at the needs of the business first, and then go for the hedging program that allows your firm to take advantage of emerging growth opportunities—just about anywhere in the world.
treasuryXL | Nomentia |
Date & time: October 20, 2021 at 3.00 pm CET | Duration 45 minutes
Cash forecasting remains one of the most challenging topics in treasury management. With the knowledge and years of experience of our experts within TreasuryXL and Nomentia, we will discuss cash forecasting in more depth. We’ll tackle the challenges that are paired with cash forecasting, and strategies to overcome challenges to achieve cash forecasting excellence.
Click on the banner for registration.
04-10-2021 | treasuryXL | Refinitiv |
Mercuria is a global energy and commodity group, operating in more than 50 countries with over 1,000 employees and offices worldwide. Read more about why Refinitiv Eikon was selected to fulfill the complex cross-asset requirements from pre-trade, trade, through to post-trade and credit screening.
Mercuria’s business lines cover a diverse range of commodities trading as well as large-scale infrastructure assets. For that reason, they searched for a cross-asset platform to manage credit, pre-trade, trade and post-trade to quickly, efficiently and accurately access global market insights, trusted market data and ‘best-of-breed’ industry analytics to help price-up derivative products.
Refinitiv Eikon platform was selected to fulfil the complex cross asset requirements from pre-trade, trade, through to post-trade and credit screening.
| 29-09-2021 | treasuryXL | Nomentia |
A recent Cash management survey that we did showed that 43 percent of respondents continue to experience issues with their Cash flow forecasting. Unsurprisingly, more than half of the market still use spreadsheets to execute this business-critical function. The million-dollar question is, why?
According to the European Spreadsheet Risks Interest Group, the reliability of a spreadsheet is essentially the accuracy of the data that it produces and is compromised by the errors found in approximately 94% of spreadsheets.
If accurate cash flow forecasting remains one of the key priorities for treasury and finance professionals alike and the market has easy access to affordable, cutting edge forecasting applications, why do we continue to rely on outdated, ineffective forecasting tools?
Common myths prevail that spreadsheets save money, are easy to use & flexible. In the spreadsheet’s defence, it’s a nifty tool, that ticks many of the aforementioned boxes and can work very well with cash forecasting solutions. But, for a growing business looking to mitigate risk and plan for the future, risks run high if you’re relying on a system that’s almost surely flawed, demands hours of manual input effort, prone to human error, exists largely undocumented and which no one really knows how it works.
“After the clever intern, who developed the nifty macros and formulas is no longer around……nobody knows how the application generates the numbers.”
Spreadsheeting is, by and large, the manual process of gathering, inputting and administrating data. Typically, spreadsheets have been built up and added to over a period of years, becoming cumbersome to manage and share. In an eye-watering number of cases, the person originally responsible for constructing the spreadsheet has long since left the department. No one knows the algorithm behind the macros and no one assumes responsibility for its maintenance, let alone documenting changes and adaptations. The whispered precedent remains, “if it’s not broken, then leave it alone”……… Ouch!
Alternatives are perceived to be more expensive. Excel, for example, is cheap to acquire whilst Treasury Management Systems are expensive with lots of added features that SME’s in particular, don’t require.
Cost is no longer a plausible reason to rely on spreadsheets for cash flow forecasting. Cloud-based solutions such as Nomentia Cash Forecasting, offer competitive pricing. Modular, on-demand, SaaS solutions have revolutionised application choice. Simply choose the modules you need, pay by the month and no IT involvement required. Free up more departmental time by reducing the number of resource hours required to maintain a spreadsheeting process and the cost-saving just got bigger.
Spreadsheet errors and inaccuracy are by far the most compelling reasons to consider a move to a specialist cash forecasting application. Finance and treasury cannot afford to make mistakes. Inaccurate cash flow forecasts can literally lay to ruin to a company’s business reputation and/or result in a financial loss or penalty. No scare tactics needed.
(Source: The Guardian UK, 21 March 2018)
At first, the drinks retailer Conviviality said profits would be 20% lower than the £70m expected by the City, with £5.2m of the £14m hole that had opened up in its forecast, down to a spreadsheet error. The remainder was a reflection of weakening profit margins.
On 21 March 2018, the Guardian (UK) reported “Firm issues third profits warning; says it will meet investors to raise funds via a share placing’’. The company, in a stock exchange announcement, said it was holding meetings with investors to raise £125m via a share placing that would help it pay a £30m tax bill due at the end of the month, fund overdue payments to creditors and repay a £30m loan.
The company blamed the first shock profit warning on a spreadsheet arithmetic error made by a member of its finance team and weakening profit margins, and then admitted it had not budgeted for the £30m tax bill due this month.”
Whether or not the use of spreadsheets was the sole cause of this bankruptcy is not clear, but it seems to have been a major contributor. Such cases are exceptional, but they do illustrate how relying on spreadsheets is not a sensible course of action for any finance & treasury team anywhere.
Many spreadsheets also contain, quite clever but complex, macros and apart from keeping these up to date, finance & treasury is responsible for ensuring their integrity. This is something that is not always feasible. Even when errors are spotted it is often very difficult to decode them, especially given the sheer size of the spreadsheets many finance and treasury folk utilise.
Readily available and affordable cash forecasting applications have, for those organisations who have embraced the benefits of technology, reduced risk exposure exponentially, facilitated real-time & accurate cash visibility, minimised human resource demand, and liberated finance leaders to take a more strategic role across the business. No-brainer.
Sometimes taking a leap of faith, moving away from the old and onto the new, can be a daunting decision. Historical hang-ups, ranging from less than favourable experiences with legacy systems, pre-conceived assumptions around cost implications, and work-flow disruption make it all too easy to decide to ‘leave well enough alone’. Before you take the decision to stick with the spreadsheet that’s done what it apparently ‘says on the tin’ for many years – let’s consider the following:
In a world where cyber security is of the utmost concern and data privacy, e.g., GDPR, is a regulatory requirement, can finance and treasury really afford to run their operations on spreadsheets? Spreadsheet security cannot and does not compare to the advantages of specialist systems that have been built with security in mind. Indeed, some spreadsheet applications lack even basic authentication security, can be easily copied and distributed outside the confines of the business without the knowledge or prior agreement of management.
Spreadsheets were built for convenience-only in a pre-internet world where cyber-attacks and data security were unknown and of no consideration. Spreadsheets were not built with security in mind.
Spreadsheets don’t grow with your treasury and finance needs. Organisations often try to adapt their spreadsheets to a growing business but soon realise that the complexity of doing so is almost impossible. Adding new accounts and deleting old accounts becomes challenging at the best of times, but managing this critical process in a spreadsheet, whilst trying to drive the business forward, is often a step too far, leading to errors and oversights.
Treasury and finance, by its very nature, consists of a number of different individuals performing a variety of activities, sometimes at the same time. This results in the sharing of valuable company information between several people and departments in any one day. Managing this process on spreadsheets can be difficult and nigh on impossible, even if some automation is achieved. Typically, only one person can update a spreadsheet at any one time so the workload that needs to be shared becomes inefficient and confusing. Maintaining full transparency around additions, edits, and alterations are off the table. Once an edit, or error, is made on the spreadsheet, it remains invisible and untraceable until something goes wrong. In addition, identifying the point of error-impact is often a time-consuming, futile, and frustrating exercise for some unfortunate departmental executive, even if they have the necessary investigative skills.
Spreadsheets are not that good at quantifying or qualifying historical data, and treasury & finance needs this data regularly. That is not to say data cannot be stored in earlier spreadsheet versions, but due to the way they work, it is not a simple task to access, view, assess, and report this data as efficiently and effectively as modern cash management applications. Losing valuable historical data for comparison and variance purposes is a high-risk consideration. Accidentally saving over historic files, or indeed losing files altogether, is a terrifying experience we’ve probably all experienced at some stage in our careers. Notifying management of a spreadsheet faux pas is just as bone-chilling, remaining undisclosed and causing further inaccuracy to forecast outputs.
As alluded to in an earlier blog ‘Five expensive myths in Cash Forecasting’, there is a very real chance that the person who created the original spreadsheet has moved on and left the company. How many finance and treasury departments have found themselves in a position where a mega spreadsheet, long lauded as a ‘work of art,’ is no longer sufficiently supported and documented with non-existent instructions on how to maintain or update the worksheet.
Cassette recorders, big hair, leg warmers, the Rubik’s cube, Walkman, and mobile phones the size of small suitcases are all legacies from the 1980’s. Technology and hairstyles have moved on….. so should cash forecasting applications.
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