Centralization Nation

Centralizing treasury operations is at the top of most treasurers' to-do lists today. In fact, one-third of financial executives responding to a 2006 report by Aberdeen Group indicated that centralizing treasury and cash-management functions was one of their top three priorities. "There definitely is a trend to centralize," says Holger Fortnagel, managing member with IAM Treasury Services LLC in Pasadena, Calif.

One driver behind these efforts is the heightened regulatory environment, which compels treasurers to maintain a thorough grasp of their companies' far-flung operations. "By creating a centralized-operations or treasury center, you get better control of cash positions and operational risk," says Lisa Rossi, head of U.S. product management and liquidity management, global transaction banking - cash management with Deutsche Bank in New York City. Centralization adds a layer of oversight for reviewing information and transactions, she notes.

At the same time, finance executives are being pushed to reduce the overall cost of their departments, says Sanjay Srivastava, COO with Aceva Technologies Inc., headquartered in San Mateo, Calif. The cost of finance operations accounts for about 0.67 percent of revenue at leading companies, according to information from The Hackett Group, a business advisory firm in Atlanta. That compares with 1.22 percent at average companies, Hackett reports. One way to reduce costs is to eliminate redundant operations and minimize the number of information systems in use.

What's more, the technology now is available to allow companies to consolidate or link different IT systems onto one global platform. That wasn't the case even a decade ago, Rossi observes.