When a CFO called me at 7 AM on a Tuesday
written by Jeroen Overmaat with his background of Sales at Kyriba Amsterdam, July 12, 2025 The phone rang while I was making coffee. My prospect’s CFO’s, who I met at a CFO event a couple of months ago, voice was tense. “We need to talk about our liquidity position. The board’s asking questions I can’t answer.” This wasn’t the first time I’d heard this conversation. Over the past few months, since I started this job at Kyriba, I’ve watched countless treasurers scramble to provide real-time visibility into their cash positions while their CFOs faced mounting pressure from boards demanding better liquidity risk management. The numbers tell the story. According to the latest Deloitte survey, 96% of treasurers say their top mandate from the CFO is safeguarding against liquidity events. Yet, most are still managing this critical function with spreadsheets and manual processes. The morning that changed everything Six months ago (it was actually one of my first serious Sales calls as a new Sales at Kyriba), I sat across from a treasury director at a €500 million manufacturing company specializing in heavy construction equipment. Let’s call him Mark. His company operated globally with subsidiaries across the Netherlands, China, Brazil, Norway, and Italy, serving the renewable energy, oil and gas, and civil engineering markets. Mark’s CFO had just delivered an ultimatum: get real-time cash visibility across their international operations, or start looking for external help. Mark’s challenge wasn’t unique, but it was particularly complex. His team was downloading bank statements manually from portals, sharing them via email, then consolidating weekly using a mix of financial consolidation/planning tools and Excel. China and Brazil managed cash locally with limited inter-company transactions, while Netherlands, Singapore, USA, and Italy operated through a Dutch cash pool. “I know where our cash sits today,” Mark told me. “But I have no idea where it’ll be next week. And with our project-based business model, that’s a serious problem.” The real cost of flying blind What Mark didn’t realize was how much this visibility gap was costing his company. With €240 million in cash and 10% sitting idle, they were missing significant optimization opportunities. Without accurate cash forecasting, his team couldn’t support the business effectively when large equipment orders required substantial working capital adjustments. The bigger problem? His company’s maturity score was just 1.5 out of 4: well below the industry benchmark of 2.84. They were operating at an “ad-hoc” level with disparate, unstructured processes and highly manual procedures. Mark’s team spent 85% of their time on manual tasks. Their cash forecasting accuracy sat at 65%. They had limited visibility into their global operations, and frankly, the CFO was losing confidence in treasury’s ability to support strategic decisions. Why traditional solutions fall short Mark had tried piecing together solutions. Bank statements were downloaded in MT940 and CSV formats, then uploaded to financial consolidation/planning tools. Manual GL entries were posted in their ERP. Payment workflows existed only in their Chinese entity. Everywhere else relied on manual processes without proper validation or policy enforcement. The risks were mounting. Their risk assessment showed critical threats in cash positioning, payment initiation, disaster recovery, and compliance controls. They faced potential fraud exposure of €34,000 annually, with operational risks adding another €21,000. Most concerning was their payment infrastructure. Lack of standardization and encryption created fraud vulnerabilities. Their disaster recovery plan was essentially non-existent, with elevated risks around payment files being manually downloaded and uploaded to bank portals. The transformation that changed everything The breakthrough came when we implemented Kyriba’s Liquidity Performance Platform. The results were immediate and dramatic. Within weeks, Mark’s team went from spending 85% of their time on manual tasks to just 18%. Their cash forecasting accuracy jumped from 65% to 90%. Most importantly, they achieved 100% real-time cash visibility across all their global operations. But the numbers tell only part of the story. The real transformation was strategic. Mark’s company was already 100% connected to Kyriba’s banking network – all nine of their banks across four countries. This eliminated the need for custom connectivity development, saving them €86,000 in avoided costs plus €13,000 annually in maintenance. The platform’s AI-powered forecasting gave them confidence to optimize their cash position. They reduced idle cash by 43%, releasing €148,000 annually through better business project allocation. Debt optimization delivered another €49,400, while improved investment strategies added €25,600. From cost center to strategic partner Six months later, Mark’s role had completely changed. Instead of chasing bank balances and manually reconciling accounts, he was advising the CFO on capital allocation strategies for major equipment projects. When a competitor became available for acquisition, he could model the liquidity impact within hours, not weeks. The company optimized their cash pooling structures and renegotiated banking relationships based on accurate cash flow projections, a projected saving of €24,300 annually in fees. Most importantly, Mark became the CFO’s trusted advisor on all liquidity-related decisions. When the board asked about cash runway during potential supply chain disruptions, he could run scenario analyses showing exactly how different market conditions would impact their liquidity position. The total projected annual benefits are reaching €497,000: split between €107,000 in productivity gains, €339,000 in financial savings, and €51,000 in risk reduction. The payback period is just 14.2 months with a 215% ROI, so we are counting the months. The competitive advantage hiding in plain sight What struck me about Mark’s transformation was how quickly it happened. Kyriba’s platform didn’t just solve his reporting problems. It gave him the tools to become strategic about liquidity management in a project-heavy, capital-intensive business. The AI-powered cash forecasting eliminated the guesswork around large equipment deliveries and customer payment cycles. Real-time bank connectivity provided instant visibility across their global manufacturing and service network. Scenario modeling let him test different business strategies before committing capital to major projects. But the biggest advantage was psychological. When you can see your cash position clearly across multiple countries and currencies, you make better decisions. When you can forecast accurately despite volatile project timelines, you take calculated risks….
Franklin
Reciprocal Tariffs: Danger for Asia, Opportunity to Re-direct Capital Flows?
This article is written by HedgeGo The imminent move by the US government to harmonise tariffs on more than 2.5 million imported products represents a massive intervention in the current structure of international trade. The aim is to create a level playing field: If Thailand, for example, imposes a 20% tariff on US imports, US tariffs on Thai products will have to reach the same level. A fair principle – at least on paper. But what does this mean in practical terms for the world’s trade and financial markets? Asia: From Privileged Growth Path to Zone of Uncertainty Many Asian countries have enjoyed an unofficial ‘tariff privilege’ for decades. The developed world, led by the US, accepted sometimes much higher tariffs from their trading partners in order to promote their economic development. This was in the spirit of the global division of labour and helped emerging markets to catch up economically. However, this practice is now being questioned. In many cases, the equalisation of tariff rates means a de facto increase in import duties for Asian products in the US – with noticeable consequences: The first signs are already visible. Canadians are cancelling about 20% of their trips to the US, while Americans are continuing to travel to Canada – a small but symbolic trend. China: Keep Calm, Strengthen Domestic Market While Europe and Canada tend to resist the new US trade doctrine, China is surprisingly calm. Instead of entering a spiral of escalation, the People’s Republic is focusing more on its domestic market. Although it suffers from structural weaknesses such as a struggling property sector and a weak labour market for young people, it still has considerable growth potential. China’s geopolitical positioning is also shrewd: as long as US economic pressure does not directly affect China’s core interests, it will exercise restraint. Strategically, it is taking a long-term view, knowing that the political constellations in the US are volatile. Xi Jinping, on the other hand, is here to stay. At the same time, China is becoming more attractive to international investment capital: technology companies such as Alibaba have made massive gains this year, while Western tech stocks have come under pressure. A comparison with the “Magnificent 7” from the US shows this: The growth dynamic is shifting. Also Read Join our Treasury Community Treasury Masterminds is a community of professionals working in treasury management or those interested in learning more about various topics related to treasury management, including cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click [HERE] or fill out the form below to get more information. Notice: JavaScript is required for this content.