What Treasury Will Look Like in 2022 and Beyond

From cash forecasting to risk management to automation, we asked C2FO’s thought leaders what the future holds for global finance leaders. 

The role of the corporate treasurer has no doubt evolved over the past decade. However, the challenges of the past 20 months have accelerated this shift in responsibilities and will have lasting effects on the way treasury functions for years to come. 

Below are some bits of advice from some of our thought leaders at C2FO, who are experts in crafting creative solutions for unexpected financial scenarios and identifying new trends in finance.  

What is the greatest challenge that treasury leaders face today? What can they do to meet that challenge? 

Balance uncertainty with a healthy mix of innovation and strategic growth. There were some difficult lessons learned from the impact of COVID-19. Still, the key to moving forward is to have the proper stopgaps and risk mitigation measures in place without sacrificing resources dedicated to growth and innovation. 

What kind of impact will technology have on treasury teams in the coming years? 

The impact will be significant. Virtually every lever treasury teams have is or will be managed through technology. The next wave challenge will be integrating all of these disparate systems into a common view.

What tasks or roles do you expect to become automated? 

I think AP and AR reconciliation will continue to be automated with greater accuracy. More importantly, I believe foreign exchange and hedging predictability and decision-making will become fully automated in the coming years.

The role of CFO has taken on many more responsibilities in recent years. Do you see the same thing happening for treasury leaders? If so, what additional work are they adopting? 

In addition to undertaking traditional treasury responsibilities, treasury teams are also working closely with procurement teams to ensure efficiency in their supply chain, either by pushing forward technology improvements or implementing early pay programs to streamline payments and ensure healthier vendors to sustain their business long term. Any delay or gap in working capital can translate to many dollars lost or unrecognized for a company.  

In your conversations with treasury leaders, what is their outlook for the rest of 2021? 

Certainly a recovery year, but still not that optimistic, because many global business areas are much impacted, depending on geographies. They are more bullish towards 2022.

In summary

As a treasury leader, you could always use another tool in your kit to ensure that your company continues hitting key financial metrics, preserves cash and maintains your cash position. 

C2FO is part of a worldwide network connecting the AP and AR of over one million companies, working together to free up capital and hit key financial metrics.