This week’s International Treasurer editorial meeting elicited several topics for further exploration, including the trend of moving to the company’s ERP system for treasury management and away from standalone treasury management systems vendors. Also, another look at the age-old issue of whether to centralize or regionalize treasury. Another topic of interest: pooling options in LatAm and Asia.
Moving Treasury Management to the ERP.
On a recent agenda planning call for the NeuGroup’s Assistant Treasury Group of Thirty (AT30), several members discussed the evolution of treasury management systems and how several companies are moving those functions to the company’s ERP system. Currently at least two members of the AT30 are exploring – and getting pressure from upper management – migrating their treasury management to SAP. Several other members report that arguments against abandoning TMS vendors are beginning to fade as there has been an increase in levels of vendor disappointment and general ill will. At least one member also mentioned a goal of reducing the amount of vendors it uses – another trend to come?
Centralize or Regionalize.
Companies have been going back and forth over whether to centralize treasury operations or regionalize them for quite some time. At a fall Treasurers’ Group of Thirty-2 meeting, members discussed how many companies, having centralized treasury operations, now are struggling to manage global treasury needs from one location. Thus, regional treasury centers have become more prominent overlay structures, either as a standalone center or as part of a larger shared service center. Because this is an ongoing challenge, one NeuGroup, the AT30 has made it a standing meeting topic to discuss a different member’s structure – central, regional or SSC – at every meeting.
Pooling.
One of the most popular stories on the International Treasurer Web site is a two-part story on pooling (see here and here). This is a topic that has also been coming up often so far in agenda topic calls for several NeuGroups – specifically, pooling in Latin America and China. Members are eager to benchmark with others on how they pool in these regions and whether there are new methods of doing so.
RMB Cross-Border Pilot Program.
Speaking of cash management in Asia, cross-border pooling of the renminbi has also been a fairly hot topic. At a fall meeting of the NeuGroup’s Asia Treasurers’ Peer Group, attendees were looking to participate in pilot programs for cross-border pooling of the RMB. The programs are sponsored by SAFE (State Administration of Foreign Exchange) and some PBOC (People’s Bank of China) offices. At the group’s next meeting in the spring of 2013, members will report progress on these programs.