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2023 Treasury Priorities & Opportunities Survey Results
17-01-2023 | treasuryXL | TIS | LinkedIn |
Now in its 2nd consecutive year, TIS is excited to release the findings from our 2023 Treasury Priorities & Opportunities Survey. Having run throughout the course of Q3-Q4 2022, our research again captured responses from hundreds of U.S. finance and treasury practitioners operating at companies of all sizes and industries. The goal was to capture their perspectives on a range of items including the ongoing adoption and use of finance and treasury technology, as well as upcoming staffing plans, strategic and operational expectations, and overall trends occurring in the space.
Source
This blog serves as a summary overview of the key results and findings from TIS’ 2023 Treasury Priorities & Opportunities Survey. To access the full results and analysis, you can download the extended whitepaper here.
In total, over 250 practitioners responded to this year’s survey, which consisted of roughly 30 questions. All respondents held roles in either treasury or finance. In addition, all respondents were operating at companies with headquarters in the U.S., but most maintained an active international presence.
In terms of company size, 34% of represented companies had annual revenues of $100M – $1B, and another 34% had $1B – $10B annual revenue. 14% had revenues of over $10 billion, while 18% were under $100mm.
Regarding industry representation, construction and manufacturing firms accounted for over 27% of all respondents. Companies from the software, education, insurance, retail, and automotive sectors collectively accounted for another 40%.
In aggregate, our 2023 research initiatives are representative of an appropriately diverse spread of treasury and finance practitioners from a variety of company sizes and industries.
Treasury Responsibilities Increase as Staffing & Technology Investments Remain High
The findings from our 2023 research highlighted that despite strong economic headwinds and market uncertainty, a significant number of treasury teams are still expecting to add more staff and adopt new technologies in the year ahead. In fact, while 48% of teams expected to add more staff, only 3% planned to reduce their headcount. Similarly, over 50% of respondents plan to invest in new cash management and payments-related technologies.
This should be taken as generally reassuring news for practitioners, especially given the wide-ranging budget and staffing cuts that have occurred within many U.S. companies and institutions in the past few months. However, these new technology and staffing additions are also being coupled with a new set of responsibilities and expectations from business leaders that may place greater strain on practitioners. These heightened expectations were clearly evident in our research, with 77% of practitioners indicating their list of responsibilities would increase in 2023, while just 2% believed their workload would be reduced.
Regarding the nature of these new responsibilities, it appears that many treasury teams are being relied upon to execute and contribute towards more “strategic” internal functions. Based on the data, 57% of practitioners indicated that the strategic role of their treasury group would expand in 2023, while just 4% indicated a decrease. Going a step further, when asked whether treasury was viewed as more “operational” or “strategic” by management, practitioners were evenly split in their perspectives at 48% strategic and 52% operational, respectively.
Looking deeper into the growing influence and responsibility of treasury, another interesting finding was that most treasury teams seemed to exert heavy control over their company’s AP and AR operations, either directly or indirectly. On average, 69% and 67% of treasury groups maintained some level of control over these operations, with little deviation between companies of different sizes and industries.
Cash Forecasting is a Top Priority for Treasury in 2023
Although cash management and forecasting operations have long-been standard treasury responsibilities, data shows that practitioners have been placing an even greater focus on these operations over the past year.
Since early 2022, several major U.S. corporate treasury studies including AFP’s 2022 Strategic Role of Treasury Survey and Strategic Treasurer’s 2021 Treasury Perspectives Survey saw cash management, forecasting, and working capital projects ranked as top priorities for treasury teams. Our 2023 research corroborated these results with data showing cash management technology being the top priority for new software investments over the next year. In addition, cash management skillsets were listed as the most emphasized area of professional development focus for treasury teams in 2023.
Turning to cash forecasting, one primary focus of our research was learning more about the various forecasting workflows and strategies leveraged by treasury groups and companies of different sizes and industries. At a high level, we found that nearly half of survey respondents used a TMS to produce cash forecasts, with 20% leveraging an ERP and nearly 30% relying on Excel Spreadsheets. While Excel is still used predominantly by smaller teams, the use of TMS and ERP products was much more popular for companies with $500mm+ in annual revenue.
Regarding the preferred forecast horizon, 27% of teams focused on monthly forecasts, while 38% were prioritizing weekly analysis and 25% daily. Generally, smaller companies were only half as likely to conduct daily forecasts compared to larger firms, but 2x more likely to conduct quarterly forecasts. On the other hand, larger firms were more likely to conduct forecasts across numerous time periods including daily, weekly, and monthly. In aggregate, weekly forecasts were the most popular analysis period across all sizes and industries.
As a final point on forecasting and in-line with the broader digitalization shift that has been occurring in treasury for years, the top priority for practitioners when improving their forecast process revolved around either migrating away from legacy Excel-based processes or upgrading their existing software to achieve greater accuracy and automation.
To learn more about this research and for extended results and analysis, download the full whitepaper here. You can also watch our recent results webinar that features commentary on the key survey themes by a panel of industry experts.
Hedging Strategies 101: Layered Hedging
16-01-2023 | treasuryXL | Kantox | LinkedIn |
Avoid the cliff and protect your cash flows! When volatility is at an all-time high, the right currency hedging strategy can set you apart. And save your business from an uncertain future. Transform your FX risk with a layered hedging strategy that will help you withstand unexpected changes in FX markets and protect your margins.
When implementing an FX hedging program, finance professionals responsible for risk management must be aware of the ins and outs of their business. This will be the starting point to uncover potential gaps in the hedging strategy and also opportunities to implement the program that fits perfectly.
Let’s understand how a layered hedging program works and how it could fit with your FX strategy.
Why is a layered hedging strategy important?
Layered hedging programs allow CFOs and Treasurers to handle the related problems of FX markets volatility, shifting interest rate differentials, and less-than-stellar cash flow visibility.
The goal of a layered hedging program is to smooth out the hedge rate over time to lower the variability of company cash flows. Additionally, a layered hedging program that is created from scratch can deal with the problem of forecasting accuracy.
Instead of ‘protecting’ an FX rate, layered hedging programs build the hedge rate in advance. And because hedges are applied in layers, in a progressive manner, you do not need a 100% accurate forecast at all.
Who can benefit from a layered hedging program?
Not all hedging programs are the same, as they tackle different goals for managing FX risk. Before you implement a layered hedging program and start dedicating time and resources, you need to think about certain conditions. These relate to your current business model -including pricing structure, the FX exposure you want to hedge, cash flows, etc.- and your company’s specific needs when it comes to FX hedging.
This type of hedging program is best suited for firms that need or desire to keep steady prices not only for one individual campaign/budget period, but for a set of campaign/budget periods linked together. In layered hedging:
(a) Prices are usually not FX-driven, meaning that the FX rate plays no role in pricing strategy.
(b) The impact of the ‘cliff’ -a sharp adverse fluctuation in currency rates between periods-, cannot be passed on to customers at the onset of a new period.
(c) The exposure to hedge is a rolling cash flow forecast for a set of periods linked together.
Unlike other cash flow hedging programs, like static hedging where prices are either frequently updated or updated at the onset of a new budget period, pricing does not act as a hedging mechanism in layered hedging programs. And that puts cash flows at risk, so a solution must be found elsewhere.
In comes the star of layered hedging, smoothing the rate.
Smoothing the hedge rate over time
The secret of achieving a smooth hedge rate over time is to create commonality between trade dates for a given value date. Take, for example, a 12-month layered hedging program. The value date of October is hedged in 12 different months, from October in the previous year down to September.
Next, the value date of November is hedged in the same manner, starting in November of the previous year down to October. And so on and so forth. Note that the two value dates -October and November- share eleven out of twelve trade dates with the same spot rate. That’s the concept of the mechanically created commonality that lies at the heart of layered hedging programs.
However, the process of ‘layering the hedges’ is not as simple as it may seem at first glance. There are some common challenges that Treasurers and CFOs face when manually performing FX risk management activities.
Common challenges in layered hedging
Before crafting the optimal layered hedging program for your business, there are three common challenges that need to be considered. These are crucial to the success of the FX hedging strategy. And they relate to the configuration of the program, the intrinsic constraints of the business, and the level of automation currently available to the team. Let’s take a closer look.
(1) The degree to which the hedge rate is smoothed, for example by adjusting the programs’ length.
(2) The optimisation of forward points. For example, hedge execution can be delayed if forward points are ‘unfavourable’.
(3) The distance between the average hedge rate and the spot rate.
(1) The degree of forecast accuracy.
(2) Possible limitations imposed by liquidity providers who might not let a firm trade forward contracts that expire, say, more than two years out.
(1) Spreadsheet risk, including data input errors, copy & paste errors, formatting and formula errors.
(2) Key person risk, as only a handful of individuals understand the formulas that underpin the ‘monster’ spreadsheets.
Eliminating the uncertainty
Layered hedging programs are a powerful FX risk management tool to face the trifecta of problems created by a highly volatile scenario. These hurdles include currency risk —including the risk of a cliff, as we saw recently with the GBP-USD exchange rate—, shifting interest rate differentials, and less-than-stellar cash flow visibility.
Now that you know the ins and outs of layered hedging, you can start transforming your FX risk management workflow. And forget about the challenges that may come when facing uncertainty. That’s a pretty powerful advantage in a scenario of pandemics, inflation and war!
Optimal hedging strategy with Currency Management Automation
If you want to leave behind the challenges of manual work when it comes to currency risk, consider implementing automation software.
Kantox is the only solution that streamlines the currency management process through powerful automation of the entire FX workflow. This enables businesses to reduce currency risk, protect profit margins and price more competitively.
Who should “give a push” and work on APIs?
12-01-2023 | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |
A new year, a new edition in which we discuss the latest treasuryXL poll results. It is encouraging that once again many treasurers participated in the vote. We examined the voting patterns of treasurers and gathered the perspectives of experts Jack Gielen and Konstantin Khorev on the topic of APIs in treasury.
Source
Who should “give a push” and work on APIs?
It is commonly understood that APIs are prevalent in today’s digital landscape. However, corporate treasurers can also reap benefits from API technology and its advantages. If you are unsure about the importance of APIs in Treasury or need more information, you should definitely watch the recording of the joint webinar together with Cobase on the future of APIs. It is encouraging that once again many treasurers participated in the vote. The current treasuryXL poll remains open and we encourage you to continue to have your voice heard! You can cast your vote on this link.
Question: Who should “give a push” and work on APIs?
First observation
That looks quite straightforward: partners should join forces. Do the treasuryXL experts agree, or what is their view on this?
View of treasuryXL experts
Jack Gielen (Cobase)
Jack voted for the option that partners should join forces.
It is good to see that regarding the results of this poll, the market agrees that the success of corporate APIs and OpenBanking requires cooperation and cannot be dictated by 1 party. This means Treasurers clearly understand the complexity of the playing field. At the moment, although there are many initiatives by individual parties, there is a need to create a good partnership where the whole eco-system works together
The main benefits that APIs could realise if banks and companies were to work together are:
These benefits translate into being able to use the systems the treasurer has chosen more efficiently and better, more up-to-date insight into status, exposures and required actions.
Recently, Cobase set up the webinar “The Future of APIs” in collaboration with treasuryXL to discuss this topic. I was particularly impressed by the level of knowledge Treasurers have gained over the past year which was also reflected in the questions. APIs and the benefits are clearly on the map but there is also an understanding that there is still work to be done before those benefits will really be realised. Ultimately, the priority with the end customer, the treasurer, will determine how quickly other market players act.
Konstantin Khorev
Konstantin voted for the option that partners should join forces.
I agree with the majority view that the implementation of APIs in the treasury field should be a collaborative effort. Banks will play a key role in implementing these changes, but it is also crucial for corporates and TMS providers to set and specify the requirements. This ensures that the solutions being implemented align with the unique needs and goals of each individual corporate, and TMS providers can develop the tools and services necessary to support these needs. By working together, we can achieve a more efficient and effective treasury management system.
Recently, my latest article on this topic was published on treasuryXL. In it, I try to make it plain that APIs are a nice and easy solution, although they come with some limitations and challenges. At the same time, I believe that the future of bank connectivity lies in API technology. What do you think?