Top treasury management software features for buyers

What are important features of treasury management software that buyers should look for when purchasing a new system?

First, don't mistake treasury management and cash management. Basic cash management tools can be found in a variety of applications and bank portals, but they typically lack integration with foreign exchange rates, lack a complete view of short-term and medium-term liquidation options for debt and capital expenses, provide reduced or no visibility into operational and financial risk issues, and are limited to a single bank. On the other hand, treasury management technology provides a holistic view of cash, assets, market data and financial processes.

Buyers looking at treasury management software should focus on global cash management challenges, such as forecasting cash flow, integration with accounting systems, visibility across all banks and geographies, safeguards for trades, financial risk management, right-time foreign exchange visibility, and integrated cash positioning and liquidation based on a holistic view of current cash and portfolio holdings.

• On a more granular level, treasury management software buyers should look for the following features:
• Global, inter-bank and reconciled visibility to cash, commodities and other assets that can be potentially liquidated.
• In-house centralized management of banking transactions, including balance information provided through standard formats such as SWIFT or BAI.
• Cash forecasting and financial hedging tools to make better predictions and models.
• Management of derivatives, debt, equities, intercompany loans and other financial instruments used to reallocate or hedge finances.
• Analysis of bank fees and account details that can be confirmed and reconciled with existing schedules.
• Process and workflow mapping for all relevant operational and financial risk issues for applicable geographies.
• Market data access to support financial deals and cash flows.
• What-if and predictive scenario testing capabilities to map against potential valuation and cash flow risks.
• Treasury desk to support trades and liquidity events while maintaining segregation of duties for all relevant transactions. 
• Integration with supply chain and procurement if cash management is tightly linked to supplier management.

About the author:
Hyoun Park is a founder and Principal Consultant at DataHive Consulting. He focuses on the intersections of social media, big data and human insight to develop enterprise technology solutions. For the past 20 years, Park has focused on harnessing the transformative power of the web, social media, enterprise mobility and the cloud while responsibly sticking to a budget. Follow him on Twitter @hyounpark.