Cash & Working Capital
October 27, 2022

Crunch Time: A Rising Emphasis on Cash Forecasting Accuracy

Management is putting greater focus on cash forecasting accuracy. Some in treasury wonder whether the extra work is worth it. After a decade of cheap money, liquidity is once again at a premium. Because it costs more to borrow, and pays more to invest, treasuries are under pressure to improve cash forecasting accuracy. In this environment, “treasury has three important mandates: don’t run out of cash, don’t run out of cash and don’t run out of cash,” one member said. “From…
Cash & Working CapitalESG
September 29, 2022

A Finance Treat to Tame the Scope 3 Elephant in the Climate Room

HSBC and one member established a supply chain finance program that rewards ESG-friendly suppliers. Corporates striving to reduce their carbon footprints amid investor pressure and growing disclosure regulations face a daunting challenge when it comes to reducing emissions by suppliers and customers. These so-called scope 3 emissions do not originate from the business itself but are an indirect consequence of the corporate’s value chain. Enter ESG-linked supply chain financing programs like HSBC’s sustainable supply chain financing program, which incentivizes suppliers to have fewer emissions…
Cash & Working CapitalFP&AThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
September 22, 2022

Keys to Cash Flow Sustainability: Fresh FP&A’s Chris Ortega

An expert’s take on why managing cash burn and liquidity today is more critical than ever for finance organizations. In a video clip you can watch by clicking here or hitting the play button below, recognized FP&A authority and influencer Chris Ortega shares valuable insights on why treasurers, leaders of FP&A and CFOs managing risk in this time of economic and market volatility need to be “laser-focused” on building paths to cash flow sustainability and optimization. Mr. Ortega today is leveraging his extensive background…
Cash & Working Capital
September 8, 2022

Getting Religion: Treasury Spreads Reverence of Free Cash Flow

Rigorous control over free cash flow gives treasury a seat at the strategy table. By working to shorten the cash conversion cycle and making free cash flow a key metric of success, treasury at one NeuGroup member company gained credibility, responsibility and authority as a strategic partner within the enterprise. Its experience offers a road map for other corporates where treasury aims to augment its role in working capital management. Companies that succeed in this effort will better weather economic…
Cash & Working CapitalTechnology
August 11, 2022

Better Accuracy, Smarter Insights: Digging Into NeuGroup’s Cash Forecasting Survey

Members benchmark and share approaches to making forecasts more accurate and more valuable. A recent debriefing session analyzing the results of NeuGroup’s May 2022 Cash Forecasting Survey made clear that beyond discussions of methodology, accuracy, technology and the effort required, lies this fact: Treasury needs to clearly define the purpose of a cash forecast and identify the audience who will use it to make decisions that help meet strategic goals. In other words, if the information in a forecast is…
Cash & Working CapitalTechnology
July 28, 2022

The Undiminished Prominence of Excel

Why the overwhelming majority of treasuries producing cash flow forecasts still use Excel and won’t likely stop anytime soon. Despite decades of technological advances, Excel remains the predominant tool that treasury teams use to generate cash flow forecasts, according to the results of NeuGroup’s May 2022 Cash Forecast Survey (see chart below). That includes teams that have a treasury management system but use Excel along with it because the TMS doesn’t offer the same degree of modeling flexibility. Yes, a…
Cash & Working CapitalFP&AThe NeuGroup Insights Interview
July 28, 2022

How the FP&A Team at WM Is Preparing for Recession

Looking back, looking forward: WM’s Eric Davis on how data and analysis guides planning as the economy weakens. How do the best financial planning and analysis (FP&A) teams rise to the current, critical challenge of planning, budgeting and guiding corporate leaders in periods of high uncertainty and volatility as recession fears mount? To answer that question, we turned to Eric Davis, vice president of finance at WM, formerly known as Waste Management. Listen to his response by hitting the play button…
Cash & Working CapitalTechnology
July 14, 2022

Cash Never Lies—but Data May Not Tell the Whole Truth

More than two-thirds of respondents to a NeuGroup survey ranked the difficulty of producing the cash flow forecast at 6 or above on a scale of 1-10. Rising rates and a slower economy present treasury with a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is safeguarding the company’s liquidity. The opportunity is investing excess cash to earn higher yields. In both cases, treasury teams must have a line of sight into how much cash is on hand, and how much more…
Cash & Working CapitalTalking Shop
May 19, 2022

Talking Shop: Payments to Support Relocation for Russian Nationals

Editor’s note: NeuGroup’s online communities provide members a forum to pose questions and give answers. Talking Shop shares valuable insights from these exchanges, anonymously. Send us your responses: [email protected]. Member Question: “As a result of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, we have Russian national employees based in Russia who are looking to relocate and effectively become employees of our Dutch entity. Because of the restrictions on getting cash out of the country from employees’ personal bank accounts, we’re looking to support…
Capital AllocationCash & Working Capital
May 12, 2022

A Treasury Mind Shift: Focusing On Operational Cash

Many treasuries have grown complacent about cash levels, but concerns about a recession are triggering a renewed focus on optimizing the management of working capital.The debate about whether the US economy is headed into a recession because of higher interest rates and the Fed reducing its balance sheet is heating up. While some economists are bullish, many corporate treasuries are not: In a poll last week, 71% of members of NeuGroup for Global Cash and Banking said a recession is…