Reshaping the treasury function, digital first

Jul 25, 2023

When talking about your future finance organization, there’s no escaping the treasury function. Driven by the growing disruption in our markets, real-time insight in cashflow, liquidity, and risks has become key — and so has the need to digitalize the way treasurers work. SAP saw this coming and invested heavily in its portfolio of treasury solutions – and so has delaware.

According to a 2021 HSBC survey, 64% of CFOs in EMEA-based large organizations say their treasury now plays a critical role in their businesses broader decision-making processes. The pandemic, the Ukraine war and their sweeping impact on the economy have accelerated this trend. Today’s macroeconomic situation urges firms to strictly control cash, liquidity and payments and rigorously manage risks – all responsibilities that are at the core of the treasury function. 

64% of CFOs in EMEA-based large organizations say their treasury is now critical in decision-making.

Accelerating the pace of digitalization

To succeed in this increasingly important role, treasurers require high visibility over cash flows, quick access to data and even the capabilities to look into the future. Enter the wide assortment of digital tools  – from basic Excel spreadsheets, ERP systems and BI solutions to fully-blown Treasury Management System platforms, like SAP Treasury.  

“When launching SAP S/4HANA, SAP entirely revamped its treasury offering, launching a portfolio of intuitive solutions that truly meet all the treasury requirements, both on a functional and technical level,” says Kristof Sergeant, who recently strengthened our finance team, bringing years of experience in treasury solutions management.

5 reasons to consider SAP treasury software

SAP’s treasury software comes with indisputable benefits: 

 

  1. Increase data integrity: avoid the need for interfaces and data replication – and thus reduce the risk of errors.
  2. Drive efficiency through automation: free up treasury staff from repetitive tasks, like uploading payment files, so that they can focus on value-adding work.
  3. Smoothen workflows thanks to seamless integration: make confident use of data from SAP as well as  third-party systems. SAP serves as a single access point.
  4. Get smarter, with real-time analytics: analyze data in real time and benefit from predictive, prescriptive and preventative analytics, through the power of HANA and AI. 
  5. Be accurate and compliant: integrated controls and approval mechanisms help ensure authorized transaction processing, as well as preventing and detecting fraud and error.

Zooming in on cash and liquidity management

The SAP Treasury portfolio is based on three pillars. As zooming in on all the different modules would bring us too far, let’s dive deeper into the possibilities for Cash & Liquidity management – one of treasurers’ key responsibilities. 

Kristof explains how SAP Cash & Liquidity works: “At the heart is a central database that contains all actual and future cash flows and positions: from bank balances, treasury contracts, sales and purchase contracts, requisitions and orders right through to promise to pay for collections management. The database can be enriched with flows from other sources, such as SAP and non-SAP systems that do not yet run on S/4HANA. In this way, you get one version of the truth on all things cash.”

The central database in SAP Cash & Liquidity collects all actual and future cash flows and positions, from the most diverse sources. In this way, you get one version of the truth on all things cash.
Kristof Sergeant, SAP Treasury Solutions manager, delaware

Extending your planning horizon

Gaining an accurate, real-time view on all things cash is a minimum requirement for treasury organizations. To really stay on top of your company’s finances and become a strategic partner to the business, you need end-to-end transparency, planning and predictive analytics to help plan liquidity in the mid to long term 

“That’s where SAP really stands out against competitors,” Kristof explains. “Treasury packages often fall short in terms of active planning and integration with ERPs. The SAP solution for Liquidity Planning with SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) combines financial flows from treasury with operational flows from the ERP system. The SAC platform, for its part, adds planning, predictive analytics, business intelligence and visualization capabilities. In this way, the tool helps treasury teams coordinate workflows, centralize data management and create clear reports – in order to optimize their cash position, today and in the future.” 

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