Tag Archive for: Cashforce

treasuryXL announces partnership with CashAnalytics to strengthen dissemination of the latest corporate treasury trends

13-01-2022 | treasuryXL | CashAnalytics

 

VENLO, The Netherlands, January 13, 2022 – treasuryXL, the community platform for everyone who is professionally active in the world of treasury, and CashAnalytics, an award-winning cash forecasting, reporting and liquidity planning software for multinational organizations, today announced the signature of a premium partnership.



The partnership brings a new knowledge stream to the treasuryXL community by offering treasurers, CFOs, and controllers a continuous flow of in-depth and timely content to help them do their jobs more efficiently and effectively. This partnership includes:

  • collaboration on messaging, content production, and visibility
  • mutual distribution on select items of interest
  • collaboration on larger themes: event promotion and speaking, and industry expert contributions and publication

Treasury management is currently experiencing a revolution as digital transformation accelerates globally and across industries. With this partnership, treasuryXL and CashAnalytics are striving to make sure that treasurers and members of the CFO team are always up to date with the latest news, best practices, and events in their field.

About treasuryXL

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

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

treasuryXL offers:

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

About CashAnalytics

CashAnalytics is a market-leading software company focused on changing the way companies analyse, forecast, and ultimately manage cash flow daily. By automating the administrative tasks that cause cash and liquidity forecasting to take unnecessary time and effort, CashAnalytics enables finance teams to focus on adding real value to the business.

The cloud-based cash forecasting platform provides a complete view of a company’s current and future cash flow by simplifying and automating the process of cash forecasting and liquidity planning. The CashAnalytics software helps them take control over their working capital and assists them to achieve clear visibility of their cash situation.

 

Visit cashanalytics.com

Go to Partner Profile

Partner Interview | VP of GTreasury, Michele Marvin: 9 questions & answers on treasury technology innovation

11-01-2022 | treasuryXL | GTreasury |

 

For three decades, GTreasury has stayed ahead of treasurers’ pain points with new innovations in digital treasury.

Together with Strategic Treasurer, GTreasury surveyed hundreds of global treasurers for the 2021 Treasury Technology Survey ReportA must-read for any corporate treasurer, several findings are particularly eye-opening as treasurers (and the office of the CFO) navigate the next era in treasury technology.

In this comprehensive and transparent interview with Michele Marvin, Global VP at GTreasury, she discusses the ongoing evolution of digital treasury, how new acquisitions and partnerships have shaped GTreasury’s treasury technology ecosystem, and some of the most important findings of the recent treasury technology survey.

Read below for Michele’s thoughts to our nine questions.

Introduction Michele Marvin

 

 

Michele Marvin is a VP at GTreasury, a treasury and risk management platform provider. Prior to joining GTreasury in 2019, Marvin has held leadership roles at several large technology companies, including most recently at Flexera and Zebra Technologies.

 

 

INTERVIEW

 

1. How has GTreasury’s treasury and risk management system evolved with the industry?

GTreasury was one of the first treasury management system (TMS) providers to see the transformative potential of cloud technologies and the future-proof flexibility that a SaaS approach can deliver. Times change but our purpose has always remained the same: modernizing corporate treasury to enable customers to optimize liquidity, manage risk, gain more insight from their data, and maximize their day-to-day productivity. While the tools to accomplish these goals are always evolving, I would argue no one understands what treasurers need to be successful more than GTreasury. We live and breathe digital treasury, and understand that it takes a complete, connected ecosystem to drive true transformation.

2. How would you describe GTreasury’s customer base?

Our platform is used by more than 800 organizations around the world and from across virtually all industries. Customers come to GTreasury either as they leap forward into SaaS-based digital treasury, or when they are seeking to replace alternatives that don’t have enough connectivity into banks and market data resources, don’t have the user experience that treasurers are looking for, or aren’t as advanced in their capabilities (such as AI-fueled cash forecasting).

3. GTreasury has made headlines this year for its acquisitions and partnerships – how have these fit into the company’s roadmap and strategy?

We acquired Coprocess in March 2021, a longtime leader in intercompany netting. As with our previous acquisitions, the deal with Coprocess was spurred by customer feedback for netting capabilities fully-integrated into a treasury management platform, and by our own research. Coprocess brings GTreasury a true multi-tenant, SaaS-delivered solution that’s easy to scale. Users are up and running extremely fast, and it is highly configurable to treasurers’ unique netting process and organizational structures. We’ve also been continuing to make Coprocess a standalone solution for those who want to use intercompany netting outside of a TRMS.

We also recently partnered with Treasury Strategies to add the bank fee analysis technology NDepth into our treasury ecosystem. Corporate treasurers’ biggest expense is often bank fees, but few organizations are able to regularly monitor this expense with the accuracy and insight needed to effect change. With bank fee analysis now powered by NDepth, GTreasury customers have the most powerful bank account management tool, a repository of auditable electronic bank statements, and the mechanisms necessary to help treasurers connect with banks, internal systems, and other third parties.

Strategically, each of our acquisitions and partnerships bolsters the capabilities of our core products and supports further digitalization of the office of the CFO. That’s by design. We want to proactively stay ahead of treasurers’ pain points by providing a seamless, connected, and complete digital treasury experience, and we want to ensure that the right integrations and data access is available to empower the CFO’s office. We’ll continue to make purposeful acquisitions and partnership that support these goals.

4. GTreasury and the treasury consulting firm Strategic Treasurer recently released the 2021 Treasury Technology Survey Report. Before getting into the data itself – who was surveyed?

The survey collected responses to 50+ questions from more than 250 treasurers (with a global sampling). This recent report was really the first-of-its kind to look at how far along organizations are in their digital treasury transformations, the technologies they are most excited about, and where resistance remains.

5. What were some of the key findings that treasurers should pay attention to?

Significant technology adoption is anticipated. Payment factories, treasury aggregators, and TMS solutions are expected to realize 35% to 45% growth over the next two years.

  • APIs are becoming must-have capabilities. Seventy-three percent of corporate treasury groups indicated that APIs are critical to their current processes. Machine learning capabilities are also drawing outsized focus from treasurers further along in their modernization initiatives.
  • The gap between cash forecasting importance and reality is high. While cash forecasting is very important to 84% of treasurers, only 38% indicate they are performing at a high rate of accuracy.
  • Fraud prevention gains a heightened focus. Thwarting fraud is a top focus for 77% when considering the application of new technology in product development. Treasurers also report high demand for incorporating automation into fraud prevention processes.
  • Resistance to formats remains. Comparing legacy formats to newer and more enriched formats like XML, treasurers showed surprisingly high levels of resistance to adoption.

6. What are the benefits that treasury teams are missing out on by still using legacy data formats?

Really the biggest shortcoming of legacy data formats is the formatting itself. Legacy data formats are inconsistent and can vary across different banks. They also store information held in single run-on strings, requiring customers to decipher messy text blobs to understand critical transaction information. Newer formats are far easier to work with. Systems can parse information into separate fields, making information much clearer to users, thus expediting processing and routing.

Treasury teams reap substantial benefits from these formatting advantages, including improved visibility of their cash position, easier cash tracking, and reductions in manual errors. Ultimately, clearer formatting increases operational efficiency, enabling daily reconciliation practices that minimize fraud and accelerate month-end closings.

7. GTreasury is also uniquely connected to how a broad set of treasurers have responded to ongoing pandemic-related business uncertainties. What are a couple stories or trends that have emerged from that research and from speaking with treasurers across the world?

We’ve been working with Strategic Treasurer throughout the lifecycle of its really fascinating and ongoing survey (The Global Crisis/Recovery Monitor), digging into treasurers’ responses to the pandemic. Two trends really stick out to me:

Ongoing economic uncertainty accelerated treasury projects that could add efficiency. In particular, digital automation and process optimization became must-haves as treasurers needed to provide reporting to executives at a faster rate. Most treasurers reported being on the road to more automation and treasury process modernization, but the pandemic kicked those initiatives ahead. Manual slowdowns that might have been tolerable pre-pandemic quickly proved to be a liability.

Cash visibility and forecasting became even more important (and will stay that way). Cash forecasting reporting became a daily event for many treasurers (more often than once-a-day in some cases), as businesses needed to make critical decisions against an ever-changing environment. Even as the pandemic subsides, many treasurers believe the pace and importance of reporting on cash visibility and forecasting won’t revert to pre-pandemic norms. Newer capabilities like AI-fueled cash forecasting (we added SmartPredictionsTM last year) will continue to make these reports more accurate and efficient to produce.

Also, for a specific story on how one of our customers, Canadian Tire, quickly shifted focus from historical data to real-time data because of the pandemic, check out Data-Driven Treasury in Global Finance.

8. Speaking of cash forecasting, GTreasury and Strategic Treasurer also just put the 2021 Cash Forecasting & Visibility Survey. What were some of the key takeaways that treasurers will want to pay attention to?

The report is worth a read for any treasurer (and available for full download here). Among the findings likely to pique interest among treasurers and CFOs are:

  • Treasurers want real-time global cash position updating. The majority of treasurers are seeking global cash positions that can update on a real-time or intraday basis, but many report being stuck with weekly (or less frequent) updates. Just seven percent of survey respondents are currently achieving real-time cash position updates.
  • The use of AI and ML in cash forecasting is nascent but accelerating. While just 6% of respondents are currently using AI/ML for forecasting, the report indicates that number should swell to 27% of organizations within the next two years.
  • More budget is being allotted for treasury and forecasting technology. Over the next year, more than 35% of companies plan “extremely heavy spending” on treasury systems and forecasting.

9. What excites you most about where digital treasury is headed?

Digital treasury ecosystems are rapidly becoming more integrated and more robust. For treasurers, this is enabling unprecedented efficiency. I was just speaking with a customer who leads corporate treasury at an international beverages company – he told me he and his team freed up 40% of their daily bandwidth following a migration to modernized treasury infrastructure. There are night-and-day gains to be made by modernizing treasury processes with the right technology.

The benefit here is that as new tools automate treasury minutiae, CFOs and treasury teams are gaining a free hand to focus on strategy. The role of the treasurer is evolving thanks to this increased capacity, and it’s exciting to see teams exploring new strategic territory where they can contribute and deliver value. Establishing netting processes and ensuring their excellence is a strong example of the advantages digital treasury can enable. Superior risk management along a more extensive time horizon is another. At the end of the day, digital treasury technology enabling improved cost controls and visibility is empowering treasury teams to introduce and optimize financial management processes in entirely new areas, and we’re eager to see it.

Get in touch with GTreasury to learn and explore more, click below.

 

 

 

 

 

2022: A new start?

21-12-2021 | treasuryXL | Cashforce | LinkedIn

Nicolas Christiaen of Cashforce looks ahead to a year of challenge and opportunity for treasury. 

If there is one constant in business, it’s the fact that change will always happen – whether we like it or not. And the past half decade has seen more transformative disruption than much of the previous half century. Markets, models, economies – all have seen seismic shifts. And that’s before we were hit with a global pandemic.



It doesn’t take a soothsayer to predict that the coming year promises to throw up a whole new set of challenges for treasurers across the UK. How they address those challenges may determine how well positioned their businesses are to capitalise on the eventual recovery.

Clearly, the volatility that has characterised the previous two years isn’t going anywhere. What we have seen is that, while many treasurers and their teams have adapted to the new world we are now living in, COVID-19 is not over yet and there is a constant flow of new variables. COVID variants emerge periodically, and the different approaches to containing the virus will continue to cause volatility in the markets.

It’s fair to say that the treasury teams most likely to prosper in the coming year will be those that have not only demonstrated operational transformation or transactional excellence, but those that have also focused on continual improvement and the nuts and bolts of treasury activities – whether that means reviewing risk management processes or implementing new technology.

There’s little doubt that there remains the potential for further disruptions in global supply chains, which will inevitably bolster the demand for more visibility into cash. So, what will that mean for treasurers? From the conversations we’ve had with our clients across a range of sectors, our belief is that scenario analysis will continue to be top of mind for treasury teams over the next 12 months as new macroeconomic variables drive the need for multiple forecasts.

 

Technology for treasurers

 

The key to surviving the uncertainty will be to adopt technology that fits acute needs within a treasury’s view and then to implement it. On the adoption side, it amazes us that in 2021 we still see critical treasury processes and information housed in spreadsheets.

The good news is that the funds available for ‘Office of the CFO’ software as a service solutions (including cash management, treasury and forecasting solutions) have increased and are still growing. Even better is that ‘best-of-breed’ solutions, which typically have lower barriers of entry, are surging, as the ‘one-size-fits-all’ type of solution is shown to be excellent in some areas but simply not viable in others.

Finally, it is also worth noting that the longer we have to live with COVID-19, the more normal it will become to acquire technology in front of a computer screen (rather than meeting face to face).

On the implementation side, internal IT processes and architecture alignments are still a roadblock to implementing even niche solutions. The reason is simple: there is not enough IT capacity, due to a general lack of IT skills in the marketplace. A war for IT resources results in increased internal costs and pushes out project time frames. Digital transformation programs, while beneficial in the long term, seem to guarantee that business users of technology won’t realise tangible benefits for many months. Therefore, more focus should be put on quick wins or proof of concepts and building further from there.

While there are certainly challenges to adopting and implementing technology effectively, the need for visibility (and the automation to support scaling that visibility up), security, validation and auditing has not decreased. We feel that the above will continue to drive conversations with treasury technology providers.

Ultimately, treasurers occupy a unique position: they are, in many ways, the first line of defence in protecting businesses from the headwinds that can buffet them in stormy times. We firmly believe that by adopting the right approach to technology investment, they will continue to play their vital role.


 

Nicolas Christiaen

Managing Partner at Cashforce

 

 

Announcement | FIS is partnering with Cashforce to bring best-of-breed cash forecasting abilities to its TMS system

08-11-2021 | treasuryXL | Cashforce

Our partner Cashforce is excited to announce that FIS has launched a new cash forecasting and working capital data analytics solution: FIS Cash Forecasting with Cashforce. FIS Cash Forecasting with Cashforce complements and integrates with FIS Treasury & Risk Mgr (Quantum & Integrity edition) and gives organizations the ability to forecast their cash position & FX exposure more accurately for the short & long term.

FIS is enabling mid-market and enterprise companies to manage their cash more effectively, overcoming the existence of
fragmented data, disparate workflows, limited transparency into root-cause analysis and the inefficiency of manual
reporting. With the launch of FIS Cash Forecasting with Cashforce, organizations will gain the ability to forecast their cash
position more accurately for the near term and into the future.

“The solution leverages deep insights into working capital drivers and all the power of artificial intelligence to turn
educated guesswork into specific, reliable predictions,” said Nicolas Christiaen, CEO of Cashforce. “With out-of-the-box
ERP connectivity and the ability to feed forecast data into FIS Treasury and Risk Manager – Quantum Edition and FIS
Treasury and Risk Manager – Integrity Edition, management teams are empowered to generate more timely reporting and
organize their workflow to streamline the cash forecasting process and sharpen decision-making.”

According to PwC’s 2021 Global Treasury Survey, cash and liquidity management – together with funding and capital
structure – are the top two priority topics for treasurers and CFOs. In fact, nearly one third (32%) of respondents to the
2021 FIS Readiness Report indicate that they are investing in digital technology to improve cash visibility.

FIS Cash Forecasting with Cashforce is responding to that need, helping corporations overcome the problem of
fragmented data by consolidating information from ERPs, AR/AP, procurement, sales, treasury management and other
systems while leveraging pre-built connectors that ensure a seamless flow of high-volume, granular data. Smart
forecasting logic creates highly accurate forecasts to evaluate different scenarios, analyze impact and calculate
forecast/actuals variance. Collaboration across the organization is simple with easy-to-define workflows that result in an
enterprise-wide forecast that can be consumed by treasury.

“We wanted to find a partner that could complement our treasury management solutions with an AI-driven cash
forecasting solution to help solve our clients’ forecasting challenges. I am happy to say Cashforce is that partner,” said
Steve Evans, senior vice president, Product Management, Corporate Liquidity and Insurance at FIS. “And because the
solution is SaaS-based, it is easy to implement and maintain – enabling treasury departments to focus on running their
treasury operation.”

 

Request a demo

 

About Cashforce

Cashforce is a ‘next-generation’ Cash forecasting & Working Capital Analytics solution, focused on automation
and integration. Our cloud-based software enables corporates to unlock their data and create smarter decisions,
saving time and money. By integrating internal & external company data (ERPs, TMS, data lakes etc) and
processing them through machine learning techniques, our software provides insight into cash flows & working
capital, automates manual and cumbersome treasury tasks and enables AI-powered-scenarios. Cashforce is
used by midsize to large corporates and has users in over 120 countries. To learn more, visit www.cashforce.com. Follow Cashforce on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About FIS

FIS is a leading provider of technology solutions for merchants, banks and capital markets firms globally. Our employees are dedicated to advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests by applying our scale, deep expertise and data-driven insights. We help our clients use technology in innovative ways to solve business-critical challenges and deliver superior experiences for their customers. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS ranks #241 on the 2021 Fortune 500 and is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500® Index. To learn more, visit www.fisglobal.com. Follow FIS on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@FISGlobal).

 

 

 

Partner Interview | CEO Nicolas Christiaen about how and why they built Cashforce NextGen, the ‘next generation’

05-10-2021 | treasuryXL | Cashforce

 

Why did Cashforce create the ‘NextGen’? What’s the vision behind this great concept? We have asked CEO Nicolas Christiaen 10 questions regarding the creation of the NextGen platform.

Find out why Cashforce created NextGen, what makes it unique and what solution the platform offers to treasurers.

Introduction Nicolas

Nicolas Christiaen is the CEO and Co-founder of Cashforce, an industry leading cash forecasting and working capital insights system. Nicolas has an extensive background in finance analytics, cash management and cash forecasting. He has led the effort to bring Cashforce to multi-national firms in distribution/retail, manufacturing and logistics/services industries. Nicolas uses his experience to drive both product development and thought leadership within Cashforce, resulting in a user base that benefits, not only from the system, but also the best practices that helped design it. Prior to Cashforce Nicolas worked as a management consultant at PwC and was a serial entrepreneur, founding two other software companies. He is frequently a guest speaker in the FinTech community and you will often find him on panels at international treasury conferences.

 

Introduction NextGen

Cashforce is a “next generation” cash forecasting and working capital analytics solution focused on automation and integration. By using Cashforce’s cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, corporates can unlock the potential for their data to help make smarter decisions, saving time and money in the process. Cashforce can consume a large variety of data, process that data using machine learning and get insights into cash flows and working capital. Cashforce NextGen eliminates the manual and cumbersome treasury tasks around cash forecasting, enabling its users to take advantage of AI-powered scenarios and a strong workflow for distributed treasury teams. The Cashforce system serves mid-to-large-sized corporates and is currently being used at over 70 companies and as many countries.

INTERVIEW

1. Can you remember your “A-ha!” moment that made you realize Cashforce NextGen needed to be built?

Yes, I can remember it well. We were working on a proof-of-concept exercise with a huge dataset, imagining ways to manage this large amount of complex data. We have always tried to challenge ourselves to look for ways to do things better. Our technical team of UX and system performance specialists began laying out the case to use the latest technology to provide, not only the functionality, but also the scalability and performance we would need to meet projected commitments and fulfill the product vision. The team did a fantastic job and really showed me the “art of the possible”. That did it for me and we immediately switched gears to figure out how we could make this happen.

2. What critical issue does the Cashforce NextGen immediately resolve for the treasurer?

Right now, treasurers struggle to provide their stakeholders with accurate forecasts. This is due to the difficulty of consolidating data into one place, and dealing with complexities like intercompany payments, various payment behaviors and overdues. Treasury practitioners want to be able to drill into the data and to use the output to make important decisions from “how much excess cash do I have to invest for the short term?” to “how much cash will we have in three months when our planned acquisition closes”? It is hard to do that when your forecast is sub-par. Cashforce helps you pull data from every location where it resides so you can start with a complete picture. Then we layer our analytics on top of that, so that you have a clear picture of what is coming in and going out. The result is that the forecasted cash positions become meaningful enough that you can incorporate them into strategic plans.

3. How does the new platform differentiate from the other players in the market?

Cashforce began its journey from a working capital analysis point-of-view and we built our cash forecasting capabilities on top of that by linking to ERP systems. This had the effect of enriching the quality of the forecasts that we could generate and made them more useful. The ERP connectors themselves are a large differentiator: they ensure a seamless flow of granular, system-based data. This creates a fully transparent view into cash. On top of that, Cashforce applies smart forecasting logic (including AI-based algorithms, P&L-to-Cash logic, payment behavior analysis…) to build highly accurate and automated forecasts for the short, mid & long term. An intelligent simulation engine allows the Treasury department to evaluate different scenarios, analyze their impact and calculate the forecast/actuals variance.

4. Can each ERP system work with the Cashforce NextGen also when you work with multiple ERP’s located in different countries?

Yes, we have many clients that use Cashforce to pull in data from multiple ERP’s. Sometimes it is different instances of the same ERP, and sometimes it is a different ERP altogether. Either way, we configure Cashforce to pull in the needed data automatically, so that the end-users can start using the system with the data already loaded.

5. What is the biggest challenge you experienced while creating this new platform?

When you are trying to build a really remarkable product, there is always a tension between the ideal vision, the dream state, and what development can realistically deliver to meet market and client expectations and keep our overall momentum. On top of that, the pandemic struck while we were in the middle of our efforts, and this put an enormous strain on our timelines, productivity and ability to collaborate in real-time in the way you need to make something special. Doing that through web meetings can slow things down quite a bit, but luckily we already had a solid plan, an established process and an effective line of communication. This enabled us to keep going and now that we are moving back to normal, we are positioned to get out there and show what NextGen can do.

6. What is, in your perception, the biggest benefit of working with Cashforce NextGen?

As we brought Cashforce NextGen to market, we found that several benefits jumped out to our clients: Time-savings, Money-savings and the ability to use knowledge of your current and future cash positions to elevate forecasting to a strategic level. Many of our clients need to actively manage cash to invest or borrow properly, as needed and to make acquisitions. But they are using old tools and forecasting modules that simply didn’t give them what they needed. With NextGen, we have the highest degree of automation, the best workflow, the latest AI and machine learning models to improve forecasting and it all sits in a great user interface that is so easy to use. Sorry to not say one benefit, but the truth is the benefits are many.

7. What is the overall feeling of your customers about NextGen?

Our customers are very excited about the new product, just as we are. Prior to development, we made sure to meet with our clients, share the vision and gather their feedback, especially pain points. It was a great feeling when we went back to them to show our first demonstration of NextGen, you could feel the excitement in the air.

8. Can you give us an outlook on the product developments and tell us a bit more about your vision?

Cashforce’s vision has always been to save time and money for finance and treasury departments. Over the years, we have accumulated expertise around different approaches to short- mid-and long-term forecasting, connectivity with different ERP’s and TMS’s, designing sustainable workflows and integrating technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. We want to leverage this knowledge alongside future-facing technologies, such as APIs, to create a new platform that is state-of-the-art and capable of consuming billions of transactions in real-time. However, we don’t plan to stop at consolidation and analysis of the data. We are working with our clients to build out the system to take the “next action”in their treasury processes. By linking with trade execution platforms and Treasury Management Systems (TMS), Cashforce will be a decision-making engine that drives our customers’ workflows.

9. The world is always changing, how does Cashforce stay one step ahead of its competitors?

The treasury world is always changing and will always be changing. It’s up to us to change with it and keep up with shifting consumer needs. Companies that focus on the past tend to stay in the past. So you must know what technology is out there, what is possible, what is available, what works and what doesn’t. For example, AI and machine learning will become ubiquitous and woven into the fabric of finance and treasury. That is why we want to lead the charge to use new methods and new technology. The better informed our clients are, the better prepared they will be to handle these changes as they happen.

10. Looking back on your Cashforce career, what is ‘the thing’ you are most proud of?

I have had the opportunity to work with some very talented people at Cashforce. I am most proud of our ability to create an environment that empowers our people to be as successful as they can. To see these talented people bring Cashforce NextGen to life has been an amazing experience.

 

 

 

Helping Hand: Using Cashforce to Manage Growth Through M&A

24-08-2021 | treasuryXL | Cashforce

How one treasurer used Cashforce technology to improve forecasting and support growth.

When one treasurer saw that his team was getting too bogged down managing the company’s dozens of bank accounts across 25 entities, he sought out an automated cash management system, but he had a concern: the company is continually growing through mergers and acquisitions, and in the past, new accounts made everything muddy.

  • The process of integrating a new entity and any accounts it brings along can be cumbersome—and who knows if their ERP would even be compatible with the automated solution he chooses?
  • He said that Cashforce, a cash forecasting and working capital analytics solution that can work with multiple ERPs, was the answer. “Cashforce’s ability to take feeds from multiple ERP systems was big.”

New accounts, new problems. 

Before turning to Cashforce, the treasurer had significant capital committed to grow the business through acquisitions. He only had two or three people managing this aspect, and he said the company’s TMS offered little assistance.

  • “Cash is our lifeline,” he said. “To me, the most important thing is knowing how much cash we have and where it is.
    • “We’re not over-leveraged, but we’re leveraged,” he said, so finding a cash management solution that provides quick access to every detail was crucial.
  • But the treasurer said his company doesn’t expect accounts that come with newly acquired companies to work with its preexisting ERP system. Cashforce, which can take data feeds from new ERP systems, was the key.
  • “We needed a cash management solution that integrated with our current ERPs and future ERPs to be able to feed data into the tool,” he said.

Feel the force.

Because Cashforce can take those inputs, the treasurer said it could work. But would it actually save enough time, and free up cash through efficient management of working capital? The solution, he said, had four clear advantages that made cash forecasting “a lot more accurate” in just six months:

  1. Ease of use, with data visualization tools that teams can use without having to dig into reams of numbers.
  2. The ability to drill down into the data into transaction-level detail.
  3. The ability to take these now automatically generated data-driven insights to management instead of spreadsheets.
  4. The ability to view daily bank positions.

Feel the force. 

Because Cashforce can take those inputs, the treasurer said it could work. But would it actually save enough time, and free up cash through efficient management of working capital? The solution, he said, had four clear advantages that made cash forecasting “a lot more accurate” in just six months:

  1. Ease of use, with data visualization tools that teams can use without having to dig into reams of numbers.
  2. The ability to drill down into the data into transaction-level detail.
  3. The ability to take these now automatically generated data-driven insights to management instead of spreadsheets.
  4. The ability to view daily bank positions.

Bonus: data literacy.

 An added “unofficial” benefit of Cashforce that the treasurer added was change management—the opportunity to get a once data-hesitant team to embrace the possibilities offered by analytics.

  • Though he wasn’t intending on using Cashforce to manage credit and collections, through encouraging his team to dig into the data, “one of the biggest advantages is I got my C&C manager to give me a much more accurate forecast.

 

 

Press release | New Cashforce office in Warsaw, Poland fuels its cash forecasting product excellence

08-06-2021 | treasuryXL | Cashforce |

Cashforce, an innovative Cash Forecasting and Working Capital Analytics solution provider, has announced it will open a new office in Warsaw, Poland to expand the company’s activities. This new office will further accelerate Cashforce’s growth and market presence on a global scale with the addition of a new technical team. For this expansion, various product-focused positions are becoming available, ranging from Chief Architect and team leaders to analysts and front-end/back-end engineers.

“We are delighted to share the news of the opening of our product-focused branch. Together with our new platform which launches soon, we continue to push the frontier of Cash Forecasting & Working Capital product excellence,” said Nicolas Christiaen, CEO of Cashforce.

Cash forecasting remains a top priority of any corporate and Cashforce offers a unique solution to assist finance and treasury departments in this challenge. Building upon years of experience, we’re reinforcing the vision to save time and cash by offering automated Cash Forecasting technology. Our new platform is equipped with real-time data processing capabilities, an intuitive user-experience that lowers the barrier to entry and enhanced (AI-powered) scenario building capabilities.

Jan Bakker, COO of Cashforce, adds: “It’s great to see our global presence ramping up. By reinforcing the product team with various technical positions, we’re ready to further integrate the latest and greatest technologies into our product.”

As a Fintech scale-up disrupting the treasury space, we are experiencing substantial international growth. To make our ambitious vision a reality, we are looking for motivated candidates to join us in creating a world-class product. Of course, it all starts with the amazing people. You can become a part of a dynamic and global team that encourages ownership, diversity and personal growth. Learn more about our company culture here.

WANT TO BE A PART OF OUR FINTECH EXPERIENCE? FIND OUT MORE ON OUR OPEN POSITIONS HERE.

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Cashforce is a ‘next-generation’ Cash Forecasting & Working Capital Analytics solution, focused on automation and integration. Our cloud-based software enables corporates to unlock their data and create smarter decisions, saving time and money. By integrating internal & external company data (ERPs, TMS, data lakes etc) and processing them through machine learning techniques, our SaaS solution provides insight into Cash Flows & Working Capital, automates manual and cumbersome Treasury tasks and enables AI-powered-scenarios. Cashforce is used by midsize and large corporates and has users in over 120 countries.

When Cash is key, Cash Forecasting and Working Capital leads your company towards a crystal-clear future. When Cash is key … Cashforce.

 

Press contact
Benjamin Bergers
[email protected]
+32 (0) 479 66 27 21

 

Texpo Webinar | Dark Data- Search, Collate, Conquer – Making Sense of Unstructured Cash Forecasting Data

| 08-06-2021 | treasuryXL | Cashforce

Our Partner Cashforce is holding a webinar hosted by Texpo, in which the topic ‘Dark Data: Search, Collate, Conquer – Making Sense of Unstructured Cash Forecasting Data’  is presented together with  David Jacoboski, CTP (Drew Marine).  Dark data is defined as unused or hidden data from relevant departmants in your business, which might have intrinsic value. Watch the full webinar below ??

 

Overcoming Resistance | Integrating Data in Cash Flow Forecasting

| 17-05-2021 | treasuryXL | Cashforce |

Treasurers at mid-cap Corporates looking to use large-scale data analysis to enhance cash flow forecasting are finding colleagues hesitant.

The advantages of using sophisticated data analysis in cash flow forecasting are clear to a growing number of treasurers intent on improving accuracy and eliminating human error. But implementing and executing a data-driven approach often requires collaboration with teams outside treasury, such as AR and credit collections—and some NeuGroup members are meeting resistance.

  • Solid support from leadership and showing the benefits of data analysis may make the transition smoother and help get members of other teams on board.
  • That key insight emerged from a recent discussion at a meeting of NeuGroup for Mid-Cap Treasurers, sparked by a presentation about data-enhanced cash flow forecasting from Cashforce. Read an earlier article from Neugroup here.
  • “A data mindset requires an analytical filter,” one member said, and if another team does not thrive on data, it takes some effort to get colleagues to buy in.

Overcoming intimidation. “I like to be very data-driven,” one member said. “Sometimes that doesn’t go over well in our company. It can be intimidating to people.”

  • “When you start questioning trends, it doesn’t always make people feel very good,” she continued. “I think there can be a lot of defensiveness.”
  • Another treasurer said that, in his experience, “having access to data and showing it to [staff] kind of scares them. People say they want to change—people don’t want to change.”
  • Though there can be a learning and implementation period, he said he was able to find success by stressing how much time data analysis could save in the long run.

Navigating collaboration. Some members said teams that consistently set low expectations for cash flow are often obstacles to using data that produces different, more accurate forecasts. “There can be sandbagging in the forecast, people can be resistant to being more optimistic,” one member said.

  • Another said that, though she would like to see the company implement a more data-focused model for cash flow, it would be too great a challenge to work with functions that don’t fit under the treasurer and do not share the data mindset.
  • One treasurer said his company is having these issues with its AR team, which does not report to him. “When you compare quarters, [we are] 10-15% over our forecast,” he said. “There’s a disconnect.”

Teamwork, dream work. That member said he was able to work with his company’s AR team to incorporate data and effectively eliminate the issue, though there was initial reluctance.

  • He recommends a single individual in a management role spearhead this kind of change. “If it is more driven by one leader, it is easier to shield criticism and make a right decision.”
  • The member said another source of friction can be FP&A and other finance or business leaders outside of treasury who want to maintain oversight of forecasts.
  • Though there is value in working together to incorporate data for forecasting, he said, “the entire organization needs to be ready to become more objective rather than try to manage divisions.”

 

Webinar Recording: The importance of cash management during the crisis | the impact of the pandemic

| 31-03-2021 | treasuryXL | Cashforce |ACT

Rewatch ACT’s session ‘The importance of Cash management during the crisis: the impact of the Pandemic’ with David Shinkins (Barclays), James Marshall (Virgin Media), Hailey Laverty Hotels & Resorts) & Nicolas Christiaen from our Partner Cashforce.