All Posts By

Justin Jones

Cash & Working CapitalFP&A
June 1, 2023

Visualize, Itemize, Prioritize: Growing Through Cost Reduction

FP&A at one company supports self-funded strategic investments by “relocating” expenses to growth projects. In this challenging economic environment, many companies are cutting costs. However, depending on how they are executed, budget-tightening efforts can backfire by sabotaging top-line growth. At one NeuGroup member company determined to avoid that, leadership adopted a unique mindset. Instead of making arbitrary or across-the-board cost cuts, it is reassigning or “relocating” expenses to free up funds for growth projects. In 2021, the corporate set ambitious…
Justin Jones
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Risk ManagementThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
June 1, 2023

Wanted: Strategic CFOs Who Drive Revenue, See Risk Holistically

The founder of CFO.University envisions finance teams that use analysis skills to drive sales while taking a wide view of risk. In the newest episode of NeuGroup’s Strategic Finance Lab podcast, Steve Rosvold, the founder and chief learning officer of CFO.University, shares a vision of the future for chief financial officers and the teams they manage, including FP&A. It’s a future where finance organizations use their expertise at analysis to mine insights from data and add more strategic value to corporates, in part by focusing…
Justin Jones
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Investment ManagementTechnology
May 25, 2023

Plugging Into ChatGPT To Improve Qualitative Investment Analysis

A portfolio manager at a forward-thinking tech company seeks an edge by tapping the power of generative AI. Turning the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into a competitive edge by using tools including ChatGPT is a top priority of one member of NeuGroup for Cash Investment. He has begun using the technology’s ability to analyze massive amounts of text using natural language processing, with the goal of improving qualitative investment analysis. That sets his company apart: While many finance orgs…
Justin Jones
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BankingTreasury Management
May 25, 2023

Finding a Remedy for Bank Account Pain: Centers of Excellence

The benefits of one member’s journey to a center of excellence as it manages rapid growth in revenue and bank accounts. Across roughly a decade, one NeuGroup member company tripled its revenue, partly through heavy M&A activity. But the core, global corporate treasury team remained at about 40 people—loading some of them with extra work, very little of it being the strategic initiatives today’s modern finance orgs want to focus on. As acquisitions and bank accounts started to stack up, the…
Justin Jones
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Cash & Working CapitalRisk Management
May 24, 2023

Debt Limit Deadline Dialogue: Risk, Revolvers, Fiduciary Duty

Finance teams discuss liquidity, parking cash, the big economic picture and treasury’s role as the clock ticks to June 1. Bank deposits, the safety of money market funds (MMFs), de-risking balance sheets, fiduciary duty and revolving credit facilities are among the topics dominating recent discussions among NeuGroup members about liquidity and the possibility of the US government defaulting on its obligations if a deal to raise the debt ceiling isn’t reached by June 1. Watching and waiting. The vast majority of…
Justin Jones
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Cash & Working CapitalRisk Management
May 18, 2023

Preparing for the Worst in the Debt Ceiling Showdown

As June 1 draws close, treasury teams need to consider how a default might affect liquidity and what to do now. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen repeated on Monday that if the debt limit isn’t increased or paused, the US will probably be unable to pay all its bills as early as June 1. And while the worst case scenario of a default seems unlikely, few observers see a quick fix to the problem, despite Tuesday’s meeting between President Biden and…
Justin Jones
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Cash & Working CapitalCrypto
May 11, 2023

Crypto for Corporates: Stablecoins and the Future of ‘DeFi’

A Strategic Finance Lab interview with Custodia Bank’s Caitlin Long and a video featuring Accenture’s Duane Block. Many finance professionals at multinational corporations remain skeptics about cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins. No wonder: Fraud charges tied to the collapse of FTX as well as two stablecoins losing their dollar pegs—Terra and USDC—have fueled well-founded fears about the world of digital assets in the last year. But that’s not the whole story. There are numerous, sound reasons treasury and finance leaders need to dig deeper and learn more…
Justin Jones
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Cash & Working CapitalTechnology
May 11, 2023

Driving Payments Innovation: Treasury’s Collaborative Approach

How one member’s forward-thinking team within treasury fuels payments innovation and business success. Finance organizations reaching their full potential can play a critical role as companies explore new products, services and business models. That’s happening at one NeuGroup member company where a dedicated treasury team partners with products and payments groups to lead innovative banking and payments infrastructure initiatives that better support business requirements. At the inaugural session of the NeuGroup for Payment Strategy working group, representatives from sponsor Citi co-presented with…
Justin Jones
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Cash & Working CapitalTechnology
May 4, 2023

Flexing Front Office Tech Muscle to Aggregate and Analyze Data

Using Tableau to collect and aggregate data, a Salesforce treasury manager sidesteps IT to build a cash dashboard. Having a dashboard showing where all a corporate’s cash is invested, how much yield it’s generating and the company’s exposure to numerous counterparties—on a daily basis—is not just a dream for one member of NeuGroup for Cash Investments. Cam Bowen, senior treasury manager at Salesforce, impressed peers at the group’s first-half meeting sponsored by DWS last week by presenting a dashboard he built himself…
Justin Jones
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FP&ATechnology
May 4, 2023

Model Partners: FP&A Helps the Business Plan Through Modeling

In tough times, FP&A is transitioning to a forward-looking stance to support smart business choices. Inflation, anemic growth, market volatility and belt-tightening are top of mind for FP&A leaders. In a recent survey of NeuGroup for Heads of FP&A, members revealed they are putting great emphasis on collaborating with the business. Specifically, they are using modeling and scenario planning to help operational leadership make informed decisions on how to plan for a difficult environment by reducing costs and/or grabbing potential growth…
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