Tag Archive for: cash management

Cash Pooling – where is the money

| 01-02-2018 | François de Witte |

The main objectives of the cash & liquidity management are to:

  • Have the cash funds available to meet all known and unknown commitments
    • In the right currency
    • In the right place
    • At the right time
  • Optimize the return of the cash and/or minimize the cost of the short term financing
  • Minimize external financing by using internal funding

One of the most important techniques to achieve a better utilization of the available cash is the “cash pooling” or, in other words, the concentration of the cash to make it centrally available. The commonly used techniques in the market are the following:

  • Manual cash concentration: Intercompany payments
  • Automated Cash Concentration: requires physical movement of funds
  • Notional Pooling: without movement of funds

In the present article, we will outline the current types of cash management tools, their advantages and the attention points.

Manual cash concentration: Intercompany payments

For companies, who have only a limited number of accounts to overview, it is recommended to set up a manual cash pooling. In this case, the treasurer overviews daily or weekly the balances of the different accounts, and when there are important debit or credit positions, he will initiate manual payments to balance the positions, and or to concentrate them on the central treasury account. If during the day, important movements take place, the treasurer can make some additional intra-company payments to balance the debit and credit positions. In order to avoid float, it is recommended to use the urgent payments clearing.

The main advantages of the manual cash balancing are the following:

  • The easy set up
  • The possibility take into account the cash forecasting
  • You do not always make daily movements, which facilitates the intercompany loan administration.

However there are some drawbacks / attention points:

  • There is a daily / weekly need to make manual interventions. However some treasury software packages provide a solution to automate this process (bank independent cash pooling)
  • The banks take additional charges for use of the urgent payments clearing, except if the payments are processed within the same bank
  • The overdraft credit lines of the participants are qualified as full lending limits, and hence for the banks there is a higher capital weighting
  • When different legal entities are involved, you create a lending /borrowing relationship between the participants. Hence there are legal and tax issues:
    • You need to foresee a intra-group lending agreement
    • There are possibly withholding tax, transfer pricing and thin capitalization issues
    • Within your group, you need to manager the intercompany loan administration.

Automated cash concentration

The automated cash concentration, also called cash balancing, is a pooling technique requiring a physical transfer of funds to or from the participating accounts to concentrator account. The pooling movements are operated automatically by the bank

The most commonly used cash concentration is the zero balance cash balancing, as illustrated in the drawing down below. In this solution, the balances of the participants are daily or weekly swept to a concentrating account.

Figure 1: Outline of the zero balance cash balancing

Automated cash concentrationThere are also other forms of cash concentration:

  • Target cash balancing, to keep a specific amount in each account
  • Threshold cash balancing, to move funds only when an account moves in excess of a figure
  • Trigger cash balancing, whereby the movements are only initiated if the balance of an account (debit or credit) exceeds a certain amount
  • End-of-day or intraday cash balancing
  • Domestic or cross-border cash balancing.

There are several advantages to this system, such as:

  • There are no manual interventions, as the system is automated
  • Several features are possible (multi-layer, domestic and cross-border, target balancing, …)
  • There exist a possibility to integrate accounts from third banks
  • The system discipline to participants
  • With several banks, the intra-day lines, and the intra-day debit positions do not require a capital weighting.

However there are also drawbacks / attention points:

  • For value-based cash balancing, there can occur reconciliation issues with ERP systems or treasury management systems, as they usually work on accounting balances
  • The cash balancing works only within the same currency. When you manage different currencies, different physical cash balancing structures need to be set up for each currency
  • When different legal entities are involved, you create a lending /borrowing relationship between the participants – see also point 2 hereabove
  • The automated cash balancing can only work within the same currency (mono-currency).

Notional cash pooling

The Notional cash Pooling is a cash pooling where there is no movement of funds. In such a pooling the credit balances of the participants are offset against debit balances of the participants. Hence the net balance of the group is used to calculate the debit or credit interest paid or received.

The system has a flat structure, which means that all the participating Accounts are basically equal to each other. However usually corporates designate one account as the treasury Account, which is then used to manage the system.

Figure 2:  Outline of the notional cash pooling

Notional cash pooling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The main advantages of the notional pooling are the following:

  • The notional pooling does not require to move funds, and hence:
    • No intercompany loan administration
    • Less legal and tax issues
  • In some jurisdictions (e.g. the UK and NL) the notional pooling can, under certain conditions improve the balance sheet by offsetting surplus balances against group debt
  • The notional pooling can include different currencies.

However there are also attention points:

  • The full legal offset of debit and credit positions of different legal entities is an issue in several countries
  • In some countries notional pooling is not allowed
  • Basel III does not always allow that liquidity ratios are calculated by means of netting the outstanding balances of accounts in the notional pool. This means that banks must calculate their ratios based on the gross balances of the individual accounts. Hence they will also look to translate this cost in the pricing of the notional cash pooling.

Legal and tax aspects of cash pooling

Setting up a pooling requires some preparation, and some legal and tax issues need to be addressed, such as:

  • Is automated cash pooling (cash balancing or notional) authorized ?
  • For cash balancing with different entities
    • Transfer pricing issues – Arm’s length rule
    • Is debit interest an allowable deduction?
    • Withholding tax issues
    • Is thin capitalization an issue?

When setting up such structures, in particular when different countries are involved, you need to foresee a due diligence with legal/tax advisors and banks

For cash balancing with different legal entities, a requirement is also to be able to manage intercompany loan administration. There are banks and providers who come up with solutions in this area.

 

François de Witte

Founder & Senior Consultant at FDW Consult and Senior Expert – Product, Business development and sales manager at Isabel Group

 

Who to choose: A generalist or a specialist?

| 11-12-2017 | Olivier Werlingshoff |

 

During the last few months this question has been on top of my mind. Is it better to specialize yourself and start a specific study?
First, we need to look at the definitions of both; a specialist is a person who is highly skilled in a specific and restricted field. A generalist is a person who is competent in several different fields or activities.

On LinkedIn you can find the 6 differences between a generalist and a specialist by “Han van Kasteren”.

 

I will mention a few:

  • Generalist can be more confronting; because they are sometimes not very familiar with procedures and will ask “strange and stupid” questions to understand the business,
  • A generalist will often use the Why question to understand the business,
  • Because a generalist is not stuck in a specific field, he can be more creative and can apply examples previously used in other fields.

But I also thought of two other differences which I would like to share with you:

  • A generalist can make an easier connection between the specific field and other departments because they are more familiar with the different other departments in a company
  • Because a generalist looks also to other departments they became more competent in selling internally their problem or their challenge to find a solution

Now I have mentioned a few bullet points I found on the internet, when can a generalist interim Treasurer be a good choice?

I would say especially in the field of cash management and working capital they could be a good choice. Both specialties have effect on different departments of the business to mention a few; controlling, sales department, procurement, tax and legal.

During my career I talked with a lot of CFO’s and financial managers of large companies and tried to understand their challenges and to help them achieve their goals. As treasurer I had my own challenges and tried to make links with other departments to achieve my goals.

I am a generalist with a passion for cash management optimization!

Olivier Werlingshoff - editor treasuryXL

 

Olivier Werlingshoff

Owner of Werfiad

 

Treasurer – So what is it that you do exactly?

| 11-10-2017 | Lionel Pavey |

A few weeks ago I took my daughter Charly to the Scouts on a Saturday morning – she goes every week and really enjoys it. I get a couple of hours to myself and normally do the weekend shopping in that time. 2 ½ hours later I went back to pick her up and whilst waiting I got talking to a couple of the parents from the other Scouts, about work, whilst enjoying cups of coffee and hotdogs. They asked me what I did and I explained my vocation as a Treasurer and Cash Manager.

“Yes” one said, “so you are the same as a bookkeeper really. What makes you different? What do you bring that others do not? What makes you special?”

Advantages and benefits of Cash Management

  • Cash is King – profit is an opinion. I can not make you more profit, but I can improve your cash flows and your understanding of them.
  • I can speed up the operations your company uses to administer its cash.
  • I can help you stay solvent.
  • I can address your working capital issues.
  • I can spot fraud.
  • I can estimate your cash position for any time in the future based on your data input.
  • I can obtain better terms and conditions with debtors and creditors.
  • I can warn you when trouble will be ahead if nothing is done.
  • I can analyse the best loan deals for your financing operations.
  • I can make detailed cash flow forecasts that you can show to your banks when negotiating with them for loans or banking facilities.
  • I can reduce costs.
  • I can pay your bills more quickly.
  • I can improve your liquidity.
  • I can reduce your administrative work flows.
  • I can enable you to recycle your cash more quickly.
  • I can reduce your inventory holdings.
  • I can let you know when your future financial commitments have to take place.
  • I can help you maintain good relationships with your creditors.
  • I can optimize your cash at all times.
  • I can reduce your borrowing costs.

You need to generate enough cash from your activities to pay your suppliers, repay shareholders and/or investors and have money left over to invest and grow your business. Be honest, to do all that you need professional support and guidance allowing you to concentrate on growing your business.

They looked at me and said “So you are not really a bookkeeper then.”
I looked at them and smiled – mission accomplished!
“Now you know what a cash specialist can do for you and your company. So, give me a call when you think you need help with any of these issues.”
It is a good feeling when you positively change someone’s perception about what your job actually entails.

I told them what I can do, but did not say how. Are you interested in the how? Go to Rent a Treasurer.

 

Lionel Pavey

 

Lionel Pavey

Cash Management and Treasury Specialist

 

 

Flex Treasurer: Who needs a treasurer?

| 05-10-2017 | Olivier Werlingshoff |

 

Do all international companies need a Treasurer or a Cash Manager? Yes and No would be my answer. In this article I will give my opinion on the reasons (not) to hire a Treasurer or Cash Manager.

First we have to focus on the definition of a Treasurer. Wikipedia: “he or she is responsible for liquidity risk management, cash management, issuing debt, foreign exchange and interest rate risk hedging, securitization, oversight of pension investment management, and capital structure (including share issuance and repurchase).”

 

Activities are Cash Management, Risk Management. Corporate Finance and Treasury operations & control. In a lot of companies all these activities and processes are part of the job of a controller and a finance manager.

When the company has financial problems the cash management activities, especially the cash flow forecast and the (inter)national banking environment, will come into the spotlight. A reliable cash flow forecast is built up on the right information about the cash position and the planning for the period to come. The problem is how accurate are the predictions for the future in the ERP systems? The right information can be obtained by asking not colleagues of the finance department but the sales colleague and procurement. This can be a time-consuming exercise.

There are a few new fintech companies who focus on the optimization of cash management processes. It is possible to manage all your bank accounts with one single system, where different ERP and company systems can be connected to each other which make it easier to set up a cash flow forecast. The search for the right information can be facilitated.

If you focus on the corporate finance activities such as an IPO or a refinancing, specific and knowledge is needed. This does not happen often.

My suggestion is to hire a Flex Treasurer and let him make a scan of all the treasury processes in the company. The Flex Treasurer can also implement improvements on the cash management and risk management activities. When all improvements are done see if the activities can be integrated in the existing jobs or you could hire a cash manager.

If a company decides to do an IPO or a refinancing there are plenty of companies specialized in this field. Therefore it would be smarter to use an interim consultant till the job is done.

Olivier Werlingshoff - editor treasuryXL

 

Olivier Werlingshoff

Owner of Werfiad

Does your treasury have a digital mindset?

| 25-9-2017 | Patrick Kunz |

 

In an previous article I have talked about the IT changes that make life easier for a treasurer in the future (or now already). In this article I want to talk about the digital mindset of the person using the IT – the treasurer. Treasury is a numbers game. We treasurers use these numbers to optimise the cash or risk of the company. We make money with money. These numbers have to come from somewhere in the organisation and it is usually never treasury itself.

BIG data

Big data is a hot topic in treasury but for treasury it was around longer. The treasurer needs to get their input information for all over the company. Cash inflow from sales, cash outflow from procurement and investment teams, HR etc. All this data needs to be gathered. The digital minded treasurer thinks about optimal ways of gathering this data: automatically. The treasurer starts its day with the actual cash balances and then looks forward. He/She basically needs to predict the future. How great would it be if all this data would be available with the push on a button. An ideal world ? Maybe, but it is possible. Bank statements can be automated to be loaded collectively or in a Treasury Management System. The treasurer starts the day with up to date cash balances, and he has not started working yet as this was automated. He then updates the cash forecast. How? By pushing update in his cash forecasting system. Sounds too easy? True, it took weeks to find out where to find the needed input information and to automate getting this data grouped together and in a structured way. But a digital minded treasurer knows that the data is somewhere in the organisation; it only needs to found and linked to the treasurers information recourses so it is always available. The treasurer only has to check the validity and the quality of the data and see if it needs improvement. In this way the digital minded treasurer can automatically create a cash forecast and continually improve it. A cash forecast should be ready before the second morning coffee. In an ideal world it would be ready with a push on a button. Artificial intelligence makes it possible. The digital minded treasurer is steering it.

Process improvements

The digital treasurer looks at ways to improve its document flows and payments. Not only looking at costs but also looking at how many (manual) interventions are needed. FX deals can be setup to straight through processed (STP) while blockchain would make it possible to improve the speed of payments or document flows globally. Everything is connected, as payments go from a process to straight through and instant it has an immedicate effect on the cash availability and forecasting. While now the bank is the place to go for bank accounts and payments this might not be the case in 10 years. The digital treasury might be able to setup his own bank in the future. By using technology.

The future

The treasurer makes sure that he is on the steering wheel while technology makes it possible for him/her to check his surroundings so he does not crash. A bigger front window makes for a better view forward (forecasting), a higher max speed makes for quicker travel (updating changes in forecasting), adaptive cruise control saves effort on speeds control (automatic updating and AI, STP). The treasurer knows he needs to keep the engine running to keep moving. He also realises that he does not need to be a mechanic to do this; however he needs to be able to tell the mechanics quickly why the car is not moving as the treasurer wants it to be so the mechanic can fix this. Or maybe the digital treasurer might change the car for a plane in the future, or even a rocket?

It is clear that technology and treasury are interconnected. Already now and even more in the future. A treasurer therefore needs a digital mindset to survive and keep up with the information needs of his department and the company as a whole. And it’s not rocket science (yet).

Patrick Kunz 

Treasury, Finance & Risk Consultant/ Owner Pecunia Treasury & Finance BV

 





 

The IT savvy treasurer

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How much are you paying your bank?

 

World Payments Report 2017

| 21-9-2017 | François de Witte |

Each year, during the summer, Cap Gemini publishes with BNP Paribas the World Payments Report, aiming at providing a preview of the global payments landscape. In the following I present you a short summary with what I consider the main findings. If you want to access the full report please click on this link.      

Introduction

2017 is a quite exciting year, with new regulatory initiatives having a big impact on the payments industry. In the EU, the most important one being PSD2, which  opens the market to new players (third party providers), and which needs to be transposed on the national legislation of the EU member states by 13/1/2018. We also have the AML Directive, which had to be transposed in the legislation of the different member states and the GDPR Directive which needs to be transposed by  6/5/2018. The report is giving attention to these new developments, in particular the ones linked to PSD2.

Main findings

The World Payments Report reported that global non cash transaction volumes grew 11.2% during 2014-15 to reach 433.1 billion transactions, the highest growth of the past decade, and slightly above last year’s prediction. Overall global non cash transaction volumes are expected to continue to grow, due to the rising adoption of these payment instruments, the growing inclusion, the increasing financial literacy and the enhance payments infrastructure, in particular ion the developing markets.

Source: World Payments Report 2017, page 6

 

When looking at the breakdown of the non-cash transaction (see following chart), we see some interesting trends:

Source: World Payments Report 2017, page 11

Debit cards and credit transfers were the leading digital instruments in 2015, while the check usage continues to decline globally.
Despite the increased adoption of digital payments, cash continues to keep an important role, in particular for low value transactions. Key factors contributing to the persistency of cash include the anonymity associated with cash transactions, lack of a modern payments infrastructure, and limited or no access to the banking system in developing markets. However in some countries (e.g. Scandinavia), the usage of cash was reduced drastically.

When looking at Europe, during the coming years credit card transaction volumes are expected to be affected by the interchange fee cap in Europe and by the less proactive policy of banks in this respect.

Conclusion

The ongoing increase of the non-cash transactions and the reduction of the checks is encouraging. We move towards more efficient payment instruments. The next years will bring new challenging new regulatory and industry initiatives, which will have to be implemented by the banks. This will require huge investments, and in my view, some more regulatory coordination will be needed.

François de Witte – Founder & Senior Consultant at FDW Consult

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De 100 meest veelbelovende FinTech bedrijven – wie wordt de winnaar?

12-9-2017 | FM.NL | treasuryXL |

Op 27 september is het zover. Buitenlandse investeerders en FinTech-specialisten van naam reizen dan af naar Brussel. Tijdens de European FinTech Awards & Conference 2017 zullen zij oordelen hoe de veelbelovende techbedrijven van Europa ervoor staan. De omgetoverde FinTech-awardzaal van ‘The Egg’ bombardeert  de Europese hoofdstad deze dag tot hét techcentrum van Europa. De top 100 aanstormende FinTech-bedrijven van Europa zijn bekend. Wie wordt gekozen tot winnaar?

Meer dan 34.000 FinTech enthousiastelingen hebben gestemd op hun favoriete Europese FinTech-bedrijf. Het is nu aan de FinTech vakjury: wie winnen de European FinTech Awards 2017? U hoort het op 27 september.
Honderden Europese fintechbedrijven staan op het punt door te breken en uit te groeien tot scale-up. Miljarden liggen klaar om geïnvesteerd te worden in bedrijven die de markten gaan veroveren. Wie wordt de volgende?

De 100 meest veelbelovende FinTech bedrijven

 FM.NL heeft de 100 bedrijven in een artikel gepresenteerd:
 

Bron: FM.NL

Top 3 FinTechs per categorie

 

 

 

 

 

 


Bron: FM.NL

Veelbelovende FinTech-bedrijven & verrassende visies op de European FinTech Awards in Brussel:
Deel expertise en visies. Laat u verrassen tijdens de vele kennissessies, keynotes en pitches. Krijg de beste antwoorden op uw vragen: Hoe schaalt u efficiënt een FinTech-bedrijf op? Wat kunnen we leren van succesvolle FinTechs? Hoe reageren banken en wat denken investeerders?

Laat u inspireren door de meest veelbelovende FinTech-bedrijven ten overstaan van aanwezige investeerders, stakeholders en andere belangstellenden op 27 september 2017.  Dit is de dag waarop u de beste FinTechs van Europa pas écht leert kennen.

Korting via treasuryXL

Bezoek de European FinTech Awards & Conference met korting
Ontmoet 27 september 2017 in ‘The Egg’ in Brussel 400 nationaal en internationaal befaamde FinTech-entrepreneurs, bankiers, investeerders en adviseurs. De European FinTech Awards & Conference 2017 biedt een unieke kans om uw netwerk te vergroten. Laat deze kans niet glippen om gearriveerde FinTech-sprekers op het podium te zien en 30 pitches te zien van Europa’s beste innovatieve ondernemingen van dit moment.

Speciaal als TreasuryXL community lid krijgt u 10% korting met de code: Friend2017, boek vandaag uw ticket(s)

De European FinTech Awards wordt georganiseerd door Alex van Groningen en B Hive. 

Annette Gillhart – Community Manager treasuryXL

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Effectiever cash management; maar hoe?

| 8-9-2017 | Jan de Kroon |

 

Alle functiespecialisatie en goede bedoelingen ten spijt lukt het in veel organisaties, profit en nog-profit, niet of slechts met moeite het verloop van de liquiditeit op korte (en lange) termijn te voorspellen. Dat leidt niet alleen tot sub-optimalisatie maar ook tot frustratie bij alle betrokkenen in de keten. Telkens poppen er vragen op als ‘hoe komt dat?’ en ‘hoe kan dat anders?’. De antwoorden op deze vraag zijn minder ingewikkeld dan je zou denken. Onderstaand enkele praktische handreikingen.

Ownership

Bij een nadere analyse blijkt dat in veel organisaties onvoldoende helder is wie de eigenaar is van een mogelijk cash vraagstuk. Functiespecialisatie leidt ertoe dat financiële staf hierin schijnbaar een verantwoordelijkheid draagt en zich ook als zodanig gedraagt. Dat loopt echter spaak als die verantwoordelijkheden niet ook gepaard gaan met bijpassende bevoegdheden. In de praktijk schort het daaraan. Er ontstaat dan een ‘handel in probleemeigendom’.

Tip: scherp taken, verantwoordelijkheden en bevoegdheden aan en spreek mensen er ook op aan.

Cash awareness

Voor financials is financieel-economische bewustzijn hetzelfde als ademen. Het is er ongemerkt. Voor collega’s buiten de financiële functie is geld niet meer dan een rekeneenheid of een productiemiddel. Men realiseert zich niet echt dat die middelen niet alleen schaars zijn maar ook een prijs hebben. Vaak loont het de moeite om met een paar praktische en herkenbare voorbeelden uit het privéleven (denk aan hypotheeknormen en –rente, de bijdrage voor studerende kinderen of onderhoud aan het huis) de link naar zakelijke belangen te leggen. Zo was ik bij mij thuis heel lang een holding met een grote en drie kleinere maar snelgroeiende werkmaatschappijen. Zelf vooral verantwoordelijk voor concernfinanciering en risicomanagement, maar met vier lastig te plannen entiteiten. Uiteindelijk heb ik de drie kleinste entiteiten maar verzelfstandigd. Van de grootste kon ik geen afstand doen. Ervaring leert dat een verbeterd financieel economisch bewustzijn leidt tot een soepeler cash management.

Tip; investeer tijd in het stimuleren van cash awareness

Feedback en feedforward

De communicatie tussen financiële staf en lijnactiviteiten met invloed op de kasstroom is in veel gevallen sub-optimaal. Er is vaak veel ‘wij’ en ‘zij’ en er lijken tegengestelde belangen te bestaan die er niet zijn. Communicatie beperkt zich vaak tot het functioneel noodzakelijke en de twee werelden begrijpen elkaar niet echt. Omdat we vooral inhoudelijk en via mail communiceren, blijft er een zekere afstand en blijft onbegrip in stand. Realiseer je dat van iedere 100% van een boodschap ongeveer 7% betrekking heeft op de inhoud, 38 % betrekking heeft op toonzetting, klemtoon en stijl. De overige 55% van de boodschap komt over door middel van lichaamstaal. Elkaar ontmoeten of tenminste zien draagt dan ook sterk bij aan het succes van de boodschap. Alleen mailen komt niet veel verder dan die 7 % en bellen komt niet veel verder dan die 45%. Belangrijk is ook te investeren in een dialoog en elkaar scherp te houden. Feedback & feedforward zijn daartoe uitstekende en praktische instrumenten. Vanuit het DNA van de financial zijn we gewend dat een ander zich aan afspraken houdt. Doet hij/zij dat niet dan spreken we hem eropaan. Doet ie het wel of zelfs goed, dan is dat vanzelfsprekend; no further action. Bedenk echter de waarde van een compliment en geef ook eens positieve feedback als men een adequate liquiditeitenplanning levert. Verplaats je bij negatieve feedback eerst in de beleving van de ander en streef naar een co-productie zonder je voor en karretje te laten spannen. Bij het DNA van bijvoorbeeld commerciële en creatieve collega’s hoort dat je niet alleen afspraken moet maken, maar ze er ook aan moet houden. Daarbij helpt feedforward; net voor dat de andere iets moet opleveren subtiel op de radar verschijnen met de vraag of het lukt om op tijd te leveren en of je wellicht nog kunt helpen. De praktijk wijst uit dat dit beter werkt dan, vaak telkens weer, negatieve feedback achteraf.

Tip; investeer serieus in fysieke contacten met andere spelers in de keten en verplaats je met regelmaat in hun situatie

Motivatie

In veel gevallen zijn collega’s die een liquiditeitsprognose moeten aanleveren vooral extrinsiek gemotiveerd. Ze doen het omdat er een procedure is die het voorschrijft. Het goede nieuws is dat je het misschien op tijd krijgt, het slechte nieuws is dat je er weinig mee kunt. Betrokkene heeft immers zijn hart en dus zijn prio’s ergens anders liggen; het helpen van klanten bijvoorbeeld. Belangrijk is betrokkenen vooral ook intrinsiek te motiveren zodat ze herkennen dat goed cash management en het bedienen van klanten wel degelijk hand in hand gaan. Dan is er een win-win en is de prognose niet alleen op tijd maar ook inhoudelijk beter van kwaliteit.

Tip; investeer in de inhoudelijke betrokkenheid en functioneer als co-maker

Vermijd detail

Als financial hebben we de neiging dingen zeker te willen weten en daarmee samenhangend hebben we een grote voorliefde voor detail. Dat begint al bij de budgettering en strekt zich gedurende de planning & control cyclus uit naar zowel verantwoordings- als cashmomenten.

Bedenk dat het DNA van de meeste lijnentiteiten een zeer sterke voorkeur voor hoofdlijnen heeft. Een liquiditeitsprognose met veel detail is om die reden al op voorhand gedoemd te mislukken. Zeker omdat er veelal negatieve feedback volgt als het op detail niet uitkomt. Het voelt bij betrokkenen bovendien als een impliciete controle op een te verwachten realisatie.

Het DNA brengt echter mee dat er vaak sprake is van enig opportunisme in het realiseren van die toekomst. De werkelijkheid is altijd een andere en veelal een wat slechtere.

Tip: vermijd detail en beperk een prognose tot herkenbare hoofdlijnen

Vier successen

Het DNA van collega’s buiten de financiële functie is veelal extravert en wil hetzij winnen het zij klanten een plezier doen of leuke dingen bedenken. Door efficiënt en effectief cash management wordt op kosten en rente bespaard en zo levert de financiële functie zelf een bijdrage aan het resultaat; zij het niet het operationele resultaat in hoofdzaak. Het is de moeite waard de opbrengsten van beter cash management niet alleen zichtbaar te maken, maar ze ook te delen. Stel de vraag hoeveel meer omzet een commerçant kan ophalen als hij een gunstiger betaaltermijn kan voorstellen, respectievelijk wat het doet met de kostprijs als de rentecomponent kleiner is in een prijsgevoelige markt.

Tip: organiseer samen feestjes en vier successen.   

 

Jan de Kroon

Owner & Managing partner of Improfin Groep





Meer artikelen van deze auteur:

Kunnen banken zich opnieuw uitvinden of is het inderdaad Kodak revisited?

Uitgelicht: financiering binnen de keten

To be or not to be a treasurer

Building a cash flow forecast model

| 5-9-2017 | Lionel Pavey |

 

No company can sort out its funding and investment requirements without having a cash flow forecast. This gives valuable insight into potential bottlenecks where there is a shortage of liquidity that needs to be addressed in order that the company can continue its day-to-day operations whilst optimizing its cash position.

2 methods

There are 2 methods to be a model – indirect and direct.

Indirect uses the balance sheet and, as such, will contain non-cash items like depreciation and bad debts. Direct uses the projected receipts and payments shown at specific moments in time.The indirect method is handy for long term forecasting beyond 1 year as it shows the money required to finance capital intensive investments and projects.

The direct method is essential for short term analysis up to 1 year as it shows the money for operational activities and working capital. As a cash flow forecast is mainly used for the direct needs of a company, it is prudent to use the direct method.

What steps need to be taken to transform a budget into a cash flow forecast via direct method?

  1. Adjust the budget to remove all non-cash items
  2. Analyse historical data to obtain seasonally adjusted cash flows for operational activities
  3. Integrate the standard payment terms for creditors and debtors and adjust the cash date
  4. If there are no clear trends within the month, spread the amount evenly over the month
  5. Where pay dates are hard – wages, taxes etc. input these into those dates
  6. Calculate the operational cash flow
  7. Incorporate expected investments
  8. Incorporate existing financing obligations (principal and interest)
  9. Never forget the BTW (VAT)!
  10. Analyse the forecast for shortfalls or periods of excess liquidity

As this is an exercise that incorporates all departments within a company, it is essential that full support is given by management to the design and implementation of the process. No one person can collect and collate all the data – this requires continuous input by controllers and treasury staff.

How to design the forecast?

  1. Establish clearly defined criteria and processes
  2. Define the role and cooperation required by all parties, whilst highlighting the benefits
  3. Ensure commitment from all parties
  4. 1 data source only – data must be presented in 1 format on agreed dates
  5. Structure – all data is delivered on time to a central point, normally the treasury
  6. Keep it simple – do not over design the model
  7. Give constant feedback to all stakeholders so that they can see how their contributions matter
  8. Question the validity of the data – is it created by a bottom-up approach or has a simple top-down approach been taken without looking at the individual components that make up the forecast
  9. Stress test the data – build simple scenarios (best and worse) whilst making simple assumptions such as debtors extending payment times, fall in sales, increase in demand etc.
  10. Never sit back and think that your task is done. This is a living model that needs to be constantly monitored and adjusted where necessary
  11. Do not punish – many people are reluctant to provide forecasts out of fear that they will be wrong. Use the model to educate and focus stakeholders onto the reality of their cash positions as opposed to their bookkeeping positions. It is all about timing
  12. Remember – if you do not have it, you can not use it. There is nothing more harmful for a company than running out of cash, regardless of what the company accounts are telling you!

If you want to know more about this topic you are welcome to contact me.

Lionel Pavey

 

Lionel Pavey

Cash Management and Treasury Specialist

 

 

 

Startup FinTech company Facturis and the traditional bank: How do they do it?

| 23-8-2017 | PowertoPay – Unified Post | Sponsored content |

Facturis, a partner of UnifiedPost, is an online platform that helps to optimize the financial situation of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Netherlands. The platform facilitates a more efficient flow of incoming and outgoing invoices, debtor management, retrieval of digital debit authorizations, dynamic discounting and dynamic working capital credit. In this interview, Nico Ten Wolde, CEO of Facturis, is telling more about developments in the financial technical (FinTech) world.

 

How did Facturis originate from the Rabobank?

Nico: “Rabobank started a strategic orientation in 2010 to increase its added value and uniqueness for its business customers. Rabobank wants to provide services within the customers’ business processes whenever and wherever they are needed. Where Rabobank has traditionally focused on offering products such as transactions, finance and insurance, she wanted to offer services to support the full order-to-cash flow process of her customers. This goes further than the execution of transactions and the provision of funding. By offering different services that work in synergy on one platform, the customer has lower operating costs and a lower need for external financing. In order to achieve this, Rabobank has established a partnership with UnifiedPost in the form of Facturis. UnifiedPost delivers the invoicing platform technology.”

What is the target group of Facturis? What do you do to connect the product to this target group?

Nico: “Facturis focuses on the business market, with the primary focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These types of organizations need to obtain services from many different parties in order to optimize the financial and administrative processes. Because they buy services from different parties, there is insufficient insight into and grip on the overall financial process. By integrally providing services from various partners on one platform, we give entrepreneurs more insight into their financial situation. That goes further than sending invoices – it’s about getting bills paid as quickly as possible.”

Fin Tech initiatives – what changes?

Everyone talks about the changing role of the banks, partly through the FinTech initiatives. What do you think are the things we already notice?

Nico: “What I see is that 10 years ago a bank was the only place you would consider for financial services, this is no longer always the case. Think of FinTech parties like Adyen, which offer a wide range of financial products from banks and other financial institutions on a platform. The customer no longer deals directly with a traditional bank. In addition, we see a strong growth of (crowd) funding platforms. The financing is no longer obtained through a bank. More recently, several blockchain initiatives and the oncoming implementation of PSD2 will create new opportunities for players outside the traditional banking world.”

Why do you think banks will increasingly work with FinTech companies? What is the benefit for the banks?

Nico: “On the one hand, banks often have to deal with complex legacy systems which limit the possibilities to quickly implement new solutions. On the other hand, banks have to deal with implementing and maintaining new rules and regulations with the current processes. This makes it almost impossible to quickly implement innovations. FinTech companies can quickly launch new concepts for specific target groups. Through cooperation with banks, the power of the existing brand and distribution channel is optimally utilized. A win-win situation for the customer, the FinTech company and a bank.”

What was the biggest success in Facturis?

Nico: “The launch of the pilot Invoice Credit. The Invoice Credit is a dynamic working capital credit that moves along in real-time with the (outgoing) invoice flow of a company. As a result, the entrepreneur does not always have to return to his bank to make an adjustment on his credit line. Due to the flexibility of InvoiceCredit, companies can streamline the flow of money, thus optimizing their working capital. InvoiceCredit fulfils the companies need for a credit that reflects fluctuations in the invoice flow and that grows along with the company.”

What is your biggest challenge within Facturis?

Nico: “Our biggest challenge is to maintain the speed you need as a FinTech to be successful and to be able to continue to innovate. Laws, regulations and legacy systems sometimes limit the speed to launch new services quickly within large corporate organizations. In cooperation with large organizations, such as banks, we face the challenge of balancing speed and adopting new banking services.”

How has such a creative thinking startup within the (traditional) bank been adopted so well?

Nico: “On the one hand, with a lot of missionary work within Rabobank in the form of presentations and writing many memo’s to convince the right stakeholders inside and outside the Rabobank. On the other hand, the arrival of Wiebe Draijer (Chairman of the Board of Rabobank) helped us greatly with the adoption of Facturis within the Rabobank. With the establishment of a FinTech & Innovation department, Rabobank made a clear choice for the adoption of FinTech companies in the future.”

What do you think is the most successful FinTech initiative in the market?

Name 1 launched and 1 that has not yet been launched.

Nico: “Launched: Kabbage: Kabbage is an American FinTech that can assess a consumer’s or SME’s financing request within a few minutes.

Not launched: Easytrade, an innovative currency hedging solution for hedging currency risks of (international) companies. Easytrade is a new FinTech initiative created by Rabobank Moonshot Program, an internal acceleration program aimed at realizing the advancing ideas of employees.”

What do you think are the most important FinTech developments in the near future?

Nico: “In the coming years, I see major changes in risk management. Through the application of AI and machine learning, we are able to better estimate risks and utilize opportunities with a much larger predictive ability. This has a positive impact on customers, we can deliver services exactly when the customer needs them. In addition, integrating blockchain initiatives and virtual currencies within the financial sector will take a huge run. With the implementation of PSD2, it is possible for FinTech companies to combine the old world and the new world. This allows for gradual adoption
of these new developments for customers.”

PowertoPay – Unified Post

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