The (Im)possibility of Liquidity Planning

| 07-06-2019 | BELLIN |

Defining and establishing liquidity planning workflows

Liquidity planning is extremely essential. Companies can survive a certain amount of time without making a profit. However, they will go down within just a few days if they lack the necessary liquidity. Therefore, liquidity planning is high on any treasury’s agenda.

Suddenly, cash was in short supply. Everything ground to a halt. Indeed, the crisis of 2008 has shown how important it is for companies of all sizes and industries to plan with liquid assets. They have to ensure that liquidity fluctuations will be hedged adequately and that times of tight liquidity can be overcome easily. Even long-term profitability cannot always serve as a guarantee that financial markets will be able to provide sufficient liquidity in times of crisis – unless waterproof strategic agreements for financing liquidity shortages were concluded long before the crisis. Liquidity planning is not the same as planning a company’s cash balance. Instead, it forms a basis for strategic hedging decisions in interest, currency and commodity management.

When you begin dealing with liquidity planning in your business, you may be disappointed at first. You will not be able to transfer experience from a balance sheet and profit and loss (P&L) calculation. As a first step, you will need to define liquidity planning and set your treasury’s liquidity planning goals.

Liquidity Planning Versus Cash Management

Liquidity planning serves to illustrate cash flows from all organizational units over time. lt distinguishes between different cash flows, e.g. customer payments and HR payments. The timeline – the underlying planning horizon – usually includes the next six to twelve months. However, certain business models may require planning several years in advance. Never confuse liquidity planning with daily cash management, which focuses only on future balances of individual bank accounts and on creating daily cash forecasts.

The quality of balance sheet and P&L planning is determined by its accuracy. The better the planning, the more accurate the predictions. In the relationship of balance sheet and P&L to liquidity planning, the most important factor is the end result: both plans should result in the same balance at the end of a period. To ascertain this figure alone, a treasury department would not need to create its own liquidity plan. Yet from a treasury perspective, the projected balance is only a means of checking plausibility at the end of the planning horizon. Even the smallest change in an underlying transaction or payment can lead to significant changes in the final result, without affecting overall corporate success or reducing the quality or even sense of liquidity planning as a whole.

A Basis for Hedging

Determining a precise cash balance at the end of a particular planning horizon is not the goal of liquidity planning. Its focus lies on analyzing the differences between an original plan and a rolling plan. The treasury department bases hedging decisions on the original plan. Then, it examines the reliability of these risk management measures. If the treasury finds significant inconsistencies, it can swap or create new foreign exchange deals, negotiate new credit lines or revise the maturities of interest­ bearing transactions.

Liquidity planning is possible. However, it is impossible to plan liquidity in terms of cash on hand at a particular date. With this different goal in mind, liquidity planning becomes the basis for strategic hedging decisions. Only a liquidity plan that is kept up to date can provide information on when to expect cash flows in foreign currency,  when group companies need more liquidity within the  planning period and when excess liquidity will be returned.

Interest and Currency Risk

Liquidity planning is not just about liquid assets, however. Flawed planning can have negative side effects, particularly with regard to financing and related interest. High interest rates can reduce income and reserve assets of companies that are notoriously short, i.e. always in a position of net debt. At the opposite end of the spectrum, companies in a «long» position, i.e. those who have sufficient liquidity to finance their ongoing business, miss out on interest earnings. They rarely consider such opportunity interest.

Interest topics aside, liquidity planning also deals with the somewhat more complex issue of foreign exchange risk. Currency exposure can also affect cash on hand. The media frequently circulate striking examples, although they often wrongly blame derivatives for lack of liquidity or financial losses. In any case, it is important to note that a shift in exchange rates may have a decisive influence on the liquidity development of companies active in countries with foreign currencies.

Liquidity planning made easy in tm5

With tm5’s cash and liquidity management solution, users benefit from real-time liquidity management across your entire corporate group.

Our technology lets you make short-term or long-term liquidity forecasts across all subsidiaries in the corporate group. Be prepared for all eventualities.

  • Make use of scenario planning via detailed financial reports that enable you to stay on top of cash flow management
  • Generate payment forecasts in different transaction currencies
  • Define your individual planning categories
  • Conduct plan comparisons
  • Use your own capacity for effective planning, whether it be a matter of days – or years – into the future
  • Consolidate planning data across all subsidiaries within your corporate group
  • Use a reconciliation matrix to resolve intercompany conflicts
  • Aggregate liquidity planning on a group-wide level
  • Calculate hedging ratios and your company’s refinancing strength based on any possible scenario.

Product: Cash & Liquidity Management

Room to Breathe

No company can exist without liquidity planning: it would be incapacitated within just a few days. Primary liquidity risk factors take a company’s liquidity – its room to breathe. Cash management is essential for short-term planning horizons. In the medium and long term, companies require a liquidity plan, a prerequisite for meaningful risk management, which is cleanly separated from corporate financial planning. These two topic areas deal with interest and currency management from different perspectives. Companies need to ensure a basic liquidity supply, consider supply costs and take into account possible fluctuations caused by currency exchange factors.

Martin Bellin

Founder & CEO at BELLIN

Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance session

| 31-5-2019 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |

An information session has been scheduled for June 26, 2019 at 19.00-19.45. For more information or registration for this session, please contact [email protected].

KEY FACTS ON THE PRO­GRAM

The post-graduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme combines two finance disciplines: Treasury Management and Corporate Finance. These disciplines largely overlap and are inextricably connected.

This post-graduate executive programme has now been running for more than 20 years at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It is a unique programme both in the Netherlands and abroad.

As from September 2018 the programme will be delivered entirely in English to appeal to the increasingly large community of non-Dutch-speaking finance professionals in the Netherlands.

Participants successfully completing this post-graduate executive programme will be awarded with the title of Registered Treasurer. This title is well-known and widely recognized within the treasury professionals’ community.

The curriculum consists of 6 modules, each of which covers a clear sub-discipline in Treasury Management and Corporate Finance. Each module comprises approx 8 lecture days on Thursdays (from 15:30 until 20:00). It is an intensive and efficient 18-month programme.

The post-graduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme is a strategic partner of the Dutch Association of Corporate Treasurers (DACT). Partners in the programme are KPMG, Orchard Finance, PwC, and Zanders Treasury & Finance Solutions. Senior affiliates are programme lecturers.

Exemptions apply to alumni of Dutch RC and RA programmes.

LOCATION

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Agora complex
De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam

CONTACT

Investment Management (IM) & Chartered Financial Management (CFA)
Emiel Erbé
[email protected]
020-5986118

Risk Management for Financial Institutions (RFMI)
Michelle Habets
[email protected]
020-5986159

Treasury Management & Corporate Finance (TM&CF)
Myrthe Scholze
[email protected]
020-5987231

 

 

Webinar: How to streamline your banking landscape

| 14-5-2019 | BELLIN |

The expert guide on how to streamline your banking landscape with the perfect combination of banks, channels and formats

This webinar sheds light on the complexity of diverse bank connectivity options for each corporation. What channel or combination of channels are you going to use to connect to your banking partners in a process- and cost-efficient way? Will you capitalize on host-to-host connections or will you be taking advantage of SWIFT, get your own BIC code and become bank-agnostic? Find out about various options and multiple ways of combining them to eventually configure the custom-tailored payment setup that perfectly suits your treasury’s needs.

Webinar start: 6 June 2019 | 16:00 CEST
Webinar run time: approx. 20 min

Register here

Presenter
Anton Wahl, Senior Treasury Consultant

Anton Wahl is Senior Treasury Consultant and Payments Specialist at BELLIN and in charge of various projects. He has extensive experience with international SWIFT, H2H and EBICS payment implementation projects. Anton joined the BELLIN team in 2008 and first worked for the Service & Support Team before changing to Consulting & Implementation in 2015. He is a certified SWIFT Specialist for Corporates and obtained the designation Certified Payment Professional from Frankfurt School of Finance.

About BELLIN

BELLIN is the global leader in technology for corporate banking and treasury. We provide solutions for the financial sector, catering to a range of clients from large multinationals to SMEs and banks. Founded by a treasurer, BELLIN has been championing innovation and out-of-the-box thinking since 1998. With the treasury software tm5 as the centerpiece, BELLIN makes a fundamental difference by offering solutions that zero in on the relationship between corporates and banks and cover everything from payments to FX, cash and risk management. BELLIN is an international company with offices on four continents, powered by a trailblazing fintech spirit and yet firmly rooted in the heritage of German craftsmanship and engineering. BELLIN delights 500 clients and over 80,000 users around the globe.

 

 

Information Session at VU Finance Amsterdam

| 25-4-2019 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |


We would like to invite you to the Information Session of the Executive Education finance programmes at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on Tuesday 7 May 2019.

It concerns:

This evening gives an insight into the content and organisation of the different programmes we offer.

Anyone interested in these programmes is welcome. We herewith kindly request you to inform potential candidates in your office or your network, about this evening.

Please register here.

We look forward to meeting you!

PROGRAMME

17.30 hrs.             Welcome with coffee, tea, and sandwiches
18:00 – 18:45 hrs. Investment Management & Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
19:00 – 19:45 hrs. Risk Management for Financial Institutions (RFMI)
20:00 – 20:45 hrs. Treasury Management and Corporate Finance (TM&CF)

LOCATION

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Agora complex
De Boelelaan 1105
Amsterdam

CONTACT

Investment Management (IM) & Chartered Financial Management (CFA)
Emiel Erbé
[email protected]
020-5986118

Risk Management for Financial Institutions (RFMI)
Michelle Habets
[email protected]
020-5986159

Treasury Management & Corporate Finance (TM&CF)
Myrthe Scholze
[email protected]
020-5987231

 

 

AUTOMATING BANK FEE ANALYSIS AND BECOMING BEST IN CLASS

| 15-4-2019 | Vallstein | treasuryXL |

About Vallstein

Vallstein was built around the philosophy that transparency in bank relations should be equally relevant from the perspective of a corporate client towards its banks as vice versa.  The history to date has proven Vallstein´s vision right.  Clients applying Vallstein´s BRM solutions gain and maintain pro-active control over their banking charges based on sustained information advantages, enabling ongoing monitoring and business allocation based on transparency and best-practice benchmarking.

Why Vallstein

By opting for Vallstein, companies will not only  gain access to the WalletSizing® Bank Fee Edition but will also avail itself of the know-how of over 18 years of experience in the development and management of Award-winning WalletSizing® and Bank Fee Management solutions and the associated global lead position in Bank Relationship Management.

The  Bank Fee Edition enables the efficient implementation of this important initiative in controlling banking fees. Bank invoices will be uploaded and interfaced into the Bank Fee Edition in a seamless matter. Based on the insights and analytics and the associated benchmarks provided by Bank Fee Edition, companies will establish a solid basis for transparency and control on all its banking charges in cash management.  Vallstein software solutions enable ongoing monitoring and reporting of the banking landscape, ensuring embedded pro-active control and compliance with banking policies and cash management pricing agreements negotiated with the banks.

Unlike other treasury systems and treasury consulting firms, Vallstein is solely and fully dedicated to BRM.

The nature of our client relationships varies and is entirely driven by the tailor-made approach from client to client. The majority of our clients operate in multiple countries, where in turn they maintain multiple local banking relationships.  In supporting our clients on their bank relationship management Vallstein has thus developed a unique and extensive database covering market data on banking products and services from over 300 banks worldwide.

Furthermore, all the prices for Cash Management will be benchmarked on the basis of size and quantities per product and this will provide the company with the necessary insight in the business value of its Cash Management wallet. With this knowhowthe best practice prices in the market can be negotiated.  For many of our clients this has lead to substantial savings on their annual Cash Management fees and an improved relationship with their bank(s).

Clients of Vallstein

Vallstein has served hundreds clients directly and indirectly in cooperation with its partners.  These clients represent a wide range of industries and vary in size from EUR 30 mln to well over EUR 300 bln in annual sales.  The clients are headquartered in a wide range of countries, including countries in the Middle East, Europe and North America and have operations in 180 countries world-wide. In many cases, the client relationship is multi-year, with our oldest client relationship indeed dating back to the year of inception of Vallstein in 2000.

Do you want to explore the possibilities for your company? Please contact Salco Herschberg.

Email: [email protected]
Tel. +31 (06) 46 59 73 34

 

Salco Herschberg

Country Head at Vallstein 

 

Spring Summit 2019 Treasury Management & Corporate Finance VU

| 28-3-2019 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |

On Thursday evening, 11 April 2019, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam’s postgraduate  Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme will host the annual Spring Summit. This year’s theme is the programme’s mission: training academic professionals.Vincent Almering of Interfoods and Peter de Vries of Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) will talk about how the Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme added value to their careers. They will also present results of the research they conducted during the programme: on hedging volatility in dairy markets and financial management at EBN, respectively.

Don’t miss this lecture! Mark your calender: 11 April 2019, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Participation is free of charge.
Register here

We look forward to seeing you at the Summit!

LOCATION:

VU Amsterdam, Alma Hall, OZW Building, 10th floor, De Boelelaan 1109, Amsterdam

PROGRAM

16.45 hrs.Welcome

17.00 hrs. Introduction Herbert Rijken

17.30 hrs. Peter de Vries – Financial management at EBN

18.00 hrs.Vincent Almering – Hedging volatility in dairy markets

18.30 hrs. Epilogue Herbert Rijken

19.00 hrs. Drinks

REGISTER

You can register here

CONTACT

Myrthe Scholze
020-598 2171
[email protected]
VU/Treasury

 

BELLIN 1TC treasury convention

| 7-3-2019 |  treasuryXL | BELLIN

For the seventh year running, the BELLIN 1TC Treasury Convention broke all the previous records. Over 500 attendees flocked to Rust on February 13/14. What did we learn? Here are the main takeaways from all the exciting debates, workshops and conversations in a nutshell: 

1. Time is ripe for disruptive technology

Buzzwords such as digitization, Artificial Intelligence (AI) or blockchain have been around for years. But only now are we moving from abstract concepts to concrete implementation. We’re at the beginning of an exciting and challenging new era, in which we’re called to put new technology to use where it will benefit treasury the most. Whether it is the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in fraud prevention, liquidity planning or decision-making or the use of blockchain for KYC issues: the potential is enormous but implementation must be well thought through. Ultimately, technology is a means to an end. The feedback from 1TC was clear: treasurers believe that new technologies are going to change their work life, and they are expecting their vendors to incorporate this technology in their systems.

2. The treasurer of the future

In recent years, treasurers have come into their own and established themselves as key players for their organizations. But what impact are new technologies going to have on treasury? What will be left of the treasury function as we know it in ten years? Will there still be treasurers in the future? What remains when all the treasury processes that have been digitized and automated disappear from the job portfolio? One thing is for sure: the core responsibilities of a treasurer are going to change, and treasurers are going to have to change with them. Treasurers need to develop a vision for their profession, and this vision needs to come from within the treasury community. In the age of technology, treasurers need to work out where and why they are needed and advertise their role. What is also indisputable is that technology is only ever as good as its users. So while the treasury profession will by no means become extinct, it does need to reinvent itself to some extent, to find new ways and to get connected.

3. Treasury organization 5.0

Treasury has reached a turning point. On one hand, treasurers are faced with the challenge of implementing technologies and structures already at their disposal in order to continue to simplify, automate, standardize and centralize processes. On the other hand, they need to look to the future and implement organizational changes and technologies that address two key issues: security and collaboration – within treasury and beyond. The objective must be to strengthen the internal organization and to get connected within your organization and with external stakeholders, in order to be ready to face any threats and market developments.

4. Faster global payments

The treasury of the future needs real-time solutions. An efficient, powerful treasury requires fast and efficient cross-border payment processing. This is why treasurers are looking for solutions to make payments faster. Nearly 75% of 1TC attendees are convinced: gpi technology will be a major step forward for their global payments processing. Meanwhile, a panel discussion between Ripple and SWIFT introduced Ripple’s cross-border payment solution based on blockchain – an offering most attendees (80%) had not come across yet. We’re excited to see if and when this technology will make its way into treasury. gpi on the other hand has just entered the world of treasury. As an Early Adopter, BELLIN has implemented the technology and has been piloting it with clients. Following Release 19.1 in April of 2019, it will become very easy for BELLIN SWIFT Service clients to implement SWIFT for Corporates (SWIFT g4C). And by the way: BELLIN is the most successful of all the L2BA connectors to the SWIFT Network: 55% of all connected corporates were connected through BELLIN.

 

[button url=”https://www.treasuryxl.com/contact/” text=”Contact us” size=”small” type=”primary” icon=”” external=”1″]

[separator type=”” size=”” icon=””]

REMINDER: HOGESCHOOL UTRECHT START POST-HBO CURSUS TREASURY MANAGEMENT

| 5-3-2019 | Hogeschool Utrecht | treasuryXL |

Logo - Hogeschool Utrecht

Bent u een controller, accountant, financieel adviseur, cash manager of bankier met enkele jaren ervaring en ambieert u op termijn een functie als financieel directeur van een grotere (internationale) MKB onderneming of non-profit organisatie. Of wilt u gewoon meer kennis opdoen over Treasury Management (TM) om dit binnen uw eigen werkgebied toe te passen, dan is de Post-HBO Leergang TM iets voor u. Gedurende een viertal masterclasses verdiept u zich in de belangrijkste onderdelen van TM, zoals corporate finance, cash management, valuta en rentemanagement.

De cursus start in het voorjaar en wordt na de zomer 2019 afgesloten met een opdracht uit de eigen praktijk van de deelnemer die gepresenteerd en beoordeeld wordt. Naast de bedrijfsopdrachten van de cursisten zelf maakt ook een treasury simulatie op het gebied van cash management onderdeel uit van het programma.

Tijdens de leergang komen vele praktische vraagstukken aan de orde, zoals:

  • Bankrelatiemanagement: opbouwen en onderhouden van een goede relatie met de bank
  • Alternatieve financieringsmodellen: SME bonds, Crowdfunding, Blockchain, Impact Investing
  • Rentederivaten: niet alleen woningcorporaties hadden een probleem
  • Dé manier om debiteuren (sneller) te innen: international cash management
  • Een transparante rapportage: inzicht bieden voor alle stakeholders
  • Internationaal zakendoen: forex risico en -hedging, investeringen met rendement
  • Behavioral finance: inzicht krijgen in hoe financiële beslissingen worden beïnvloed door biases en wat daaraan te doen.

De masterclasses (met ook Engelstalige literatuur) vinden plaats op donderdagen in april, mei, juni en oktober 2019 van 15.30u tot 20.00u, kort onderbroken voor een lichte maaltijd, in Utrecht.

De opleiding bestaat uit de volgende onderdelen:

  1. Corporate Finance (Frans Boumans)
  • Hoe wordt een onderneming gefinancierd?
  • Nieuwe financieringsvormen (crowdfunding, private equity, peer-to-peer lending, fintech)
  • Overname- en buy out financiering
  • Het belang van Investor Relations
  • Hou houd je de relatie met de bank goed?
  1. Cash management (Michiel van der Ven)
  • Het opzetten en forecasten van cash budgets
  • Ins en outs van credit management
  • (international) betalingsverkeer
  • Netting en cash pooling
  1. FX-, interest rate risk management (Annette Prinsen)
  • Financial risk strategie en policy
  • Vreemde valuta- en rente riskmanagement (hedging instrumenten)
  • Investeringen van overtollige liquiditeiten
  • Pensioenverplichtingen
  1. Consultancy assignment and personal development (Frans Boumans en Janneke Nonkes)
  • Presentatie en feedback op een eigen praktijkonderzoek over een treasury naar eigen keuze
  • personal development gesprek

De docenten zijn allen langdurig in het financieel bedrijfsleven werkzaam (geweest) als financieel directeur, treasurer en bankier en hebben tevens ruime ervaring in het hoger onderwijs.

Data: donderdagen 18 april 2019, 16 mei 2019, 20 juni 2018, 17 oktober 2018, van 15.30u tot 20.00u

Prijs: € 1975 (inclusief persoonlijk assessment)

Locatie: Hogeschool Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 15, Uithof, Utrecht

Toelatingseisen: HBO-diploma, ca. drie jaar relevante werkervaring

Tijdens een adviesgesprek kijken we samen of de opleiding aansluit bij uw ambitie én of u past bij de opleiding. Door de interactieve colleges leer je van elkaar, dus de samenstelling van de groep is van belang. Gestreefd wordt naar een diverse groep deelnemers verschillende sectoren van het bedrijfsleven en de non-profit sector.

Meer informatie over deze cursus kunt u hier vinden.

 

Treasury Management & Corporate Finance

| 28-2-2019 | Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam |

The RT program starts 1 september 2019

The post-graduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme combines two finance disciplines: Treasury Management and Corporate Finance. These disciplines largely overlap and are inextricably connected.

This post-graduate executive programme has now been running for more than 20 years at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It is a unique programme both in the Netherlands and abroad.
As from September 2018 the programme will be delivered entirely in English to appeal to the increasingly large community of non-Dutch-speaking finance professionals in the Netherlands.

Participants successfully completing this post-graduate executive programme will be awarded with the title of Registered Treasurer. This title is well-known and widely recognized within the treasury professionals’ community.

The curriculum consists of 6 modules, each of which covers a clear sub-discipline in Treasury Management and Corporate Finance. Each module comprises approx 8 lecture days on Thursdays (from 15:30 until 21:00). It is an intensive and efficient 18-month programme.

The post-graduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance programme is a strategic partner of the Dutch Association of Corporate Treasurers (DACT). Partners in the programme are KPMG, Orchard Finance, PwC, and Zanders Treasury & Finance Solutions. Senior affiliates are programme lecturers.

TESTIMONIALS

‘The program offers a lot: interaction with good teachers in a small setting, useful theoretical frameworks and a diverse network of fellow participants and alumni. Highly recommended to everyone working in the Corporate Treasury field, the RT title is a must-have for your professional career.’ (Emile Raymakers – Group Treasurer, Nutreco)

‘I have experienced the RT program as value added and refreshing to my knowledge and experience. Moreover, the program has a broader scope than pure Treasury Management, and offers a good learning experience in the areas of Corporate Finance and Financial Risk Management as well. The fairly small group allows a personal approach, permitting input from own experiences. This connects theory and practice. To summarize: a good investment for me and my employer!’ (Michel van Baardewijk – Treasurer, Vestia)

‘A fine academic program for corporate and public treasurers, their bankers and their consultants.’
(Ed de Bruin – Equity Sales Specialist, ABN AMRO Bank)

‘The ideal basis for the treasurer of the future.’ (Steven de Klein – Cash & Currency Manager – Royal Boskalis Westminster NV)

CONTACT

If you have any questions about the program, please feel free to contact us or visit our website.

Program secretariat Treasury Management & Corporate Finance 
T
    00  31 (0)20 – 598 72 31
E    [email protected]

Visiting address:
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
School of Business and Economics, room 6A-55
De Boelelaan 1105
1081 HV  Amsterdam