Treasury's Mission-Critical Goals

At many organizations, the treasury department traditionally has operated behind the scenes. As long as no significant problems arose -- say, a bank relationship went sour -- management often didn't see a need to pay much attention to it. "It's typically been a back-office, transactional function. No one looked at it as a strategic gold mine," says Lalig J. Musserian, director of research and sales operations with Aberdeen Group in Boston.

That's changing. "This function is at a crossroads," Musserian observes. Senior executives now recognize that by streamlining processes and introducing appropriate technology in the treasury department they can cut expenses and increase profits. Equally important, most management teams are making a concerted effort to ensure that their treasury function complies with Sarbanes-Oxley and other government regulations.

Many treasurers are searching for tools and tactics they can use to shorten transaction-processing time, better manage financial information and improve the accuracy of their cash forecasting capabilities. While these objectives have been part of the treasury landscape for the past five to 10 years, the pressure to achieve them has recently increased, says Bent Benjaminsen, senior vice president of business development with technology provider SunGard AvantGard in Calabasas, Calif.

That view finds strong support in the results of an online survey of finance and management professionals at 167 companies conducted by Aberdeen Group and Business Finance, and sponsored by SunGard AvantGard. The survey was conducted in February and March of this year.

The survey demographics break down as follows: 68 percent of respondents were from North America and 19 percent from Europe. Respondents were fairly evenly split between those with revenue of more than $1 billion, at 36 percent; businesses with revenue of $50 million to $1 billion, at 35 percent; and those with revenues of less than $50 million, at 29 percent. Twenty-eight percent of survey participants were from the services and high-tech sectors, 27 percent were from manufacturing, and 12 percent from retail and wholesale.