
Formula for trouble: why Excel can’t handle FX portfolio management anymore
This article is a contribution from our content partner, Bracket Spreadsheets have served treasury teams well – but markets, tech, and FX risk have moved on. It’s time to rethink how you manage your foreign currency portfolio and stop clicking on that familiar green icon. Love it or hate it, Excel is embedded in treasury workflows across the globe. But what started in the 1980s as a flexible, go-to tool has become a bottleneck – especially for mid-market teams managing multi-entity, multi-currency portfolios in fast-moving conditions. As Pierre Anderson, Co-Founder, Bracket, explains: “It’s not that Excel is broken per se. It’s just not designed to handle the complexity of modern FX portfolios. And it’s holding many treasury teams back.” Here’s why spreadsheets are no longer cutting it: 1. Markets move fast. Excel doesn’t FX is a real-time market. Spreadsheets are typically static (unless you do the work to automatically pull in rates, which many teams don’t have the in-house skills or resources to achieve). So, by the time treasury has updated yesterday’s rates and rebuilt its exposure view in Excel, the market has already shifted. “That delay has both operational and strategic impacts, weakening decision-making and potentially increasing risk,” cautions Anderson. 2. Risk management shouldn’t rely on VLOOKUP In addition to the lack of real-time data, when markets are calm, spreadsheets can give the illusion of control. But in volatile conditions, the cracks become obvious. “Rather than being purely reactive to market moves, treasurers are increasingly looking to be proactive around their FX exposures, running stress tests, modelling worst-case scenarios, and determining clear courses of action,” elaborates Anderson. But Excel isn’t built for that. “Simulating the impact of a 5% move in EUR/USD on cash flow, for example, typically requires manual inputs, duplicated tabs, and formula checks. Often, it also means hours of work – and the potential for human error can lead to a lack of confidence in the result,” he notes. The problem with Excel isn’t just humans, of course. It’s more structural: “All this means there’s no real safety net. And when you’re managing millions in FX exposure, that’s not only inefficient, but also dangerous,” explains Anderson. 3. Your team is working around the system, not with it Many treasury teams have built complex workarounds just to make Excel behave like an FX portfolio management tool. They’ve added macros, linked files, and built templates with tabs for each counterparty and/or currency. And in some cases, they’ve created truly impressive set-ups (with very limited resources). Until a link breaks and things unravel. Or the key person who built the macros decides to leave, taking their knowledge with them. As Anderson points out: “This kind of workaround also means highly qualified professionals are buried in repetitive maintenance tasks, spending more time updating spreadsheets than thinking about pricing, timing, or strategy. Understandably, team members become frustrated. It’s not sustainable and doesn’t add value.” 4. Fragmented files mean fragmented decisions Another challenge facing many mid-market businesses is that FX exposure doesn’t live in one place. There is no single source of truth. As Anderson explains: “Different business units often maintain their own spreadsheets. Trades might be logged in different formats. Subsidiaries might also update their numbers at different times. Group Treasury is then expected to manually piece together a coherent view from scattered sources.” Unsurprisingly, this approach can be time-consuming and unreliable. “We’ve also seen teams double-count trades because of mismatched formats. Or miss exposures entirely because of delayed updates. Another common issue is making hedging decisions based on partial data, only to revise them days later when new numbers surface.” In other words, this fragmentation makes it much harder to act decisively or explain the company’s true risk position. Time for a rethink What’s clear to Anderson (and no doubt many treasury leaders) is that Excel was never meant to be the main tool for managing currency risk. It’s become the default because it’s accessible, affordable – and already in place. But when Excel starts hampering decision-making, limiting talent, and draining value from the function, it’s time to think again. “I’m not advocating entirely ditching Excel! It’s just about choosing the right tool for the job,” explains Anderson. “Spreadsheets are still useful. But they’re not enough for managing currency exposure at scale. And we see more mid-market firms making the switch to dedicated FX portfolio management tools. Because they’ve realised that Excel was creating blind spots they couldn’t afford to ignore.” In contrast, a centralised FX portfolio management platform creates a single source of truth. “Everyone sees the same data. Everyone works from the same numbers. And when a fast decision is needed, treasury is prepared and ready, not busy reconciling.” The benefits are real: And perhaps most importantly, a team that’s no longer buried in ‘busywork’, thanks to the significant reduction in time spent on manual data entry and reconciliation As Anderson concludes: “Spreadsheets have served their purpose, and still do in many areas. But FX portfolios have evolved. The tools we use to manage them need to evolve too. Because when you’re using something that wasn’t built for the job, you’re not managing risk. You’re adding to it.” Also Read Join our Treasury Community Treasury Mastermind 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.

The US, China and the New Economic Reality – Waiting for What Comes Next
This article is written by HedgeGo The geopolitical and economic landscape is undergoing profound change. The US is at the centre of a global restructuring process accompanied by strategic economic policies. Changing approaches to trade and fiscal policy play a key role, in particular the increasing use of tariffs as a primary instrument for asserting economic interests. The State of the US Economy The United States runs large trade and current account deficits, which are offset by capital inflows from abroad. This means that foreign investors buy US assets to offset the deficits. At the same time, high fiscal deficits reinforce this mechanism by stimulating consumption and overall demand in the US. The result is rising deficits and increasing dependence on external capital flows. One solution to this problem would be a drastic fiscal consolidation programme. However, this would have serious negative consequences, ranging from a slump in consumption and a correction of overvalued financial markets to a possible recession. The associated collapse in demand for US dollars would severely disrupt the international currency structure and reduce the attractiveness of US assets. It seems highly unlikely that the US would be willing to pay this price for economic stability. Instead, it will continue on its current course: an externalising approach to economic policy that seeks to pass on the costs of its own surpluses and deficits to external actors. US Economic Power Set to Wane One aspect that is often underestimated is the role of the US in global trade in services. In particular, the large technology companies on NASDAQ generate a significant proportion of their revenues abroad – around 41% of their revenues come from international markets. Free access to these markets is therefore vital for the US economy. But there is a potential risk here: If countries under pressure use access to their markets as a bargaining chip or favour alternative suppliers, the US could find itself on the economic defensive. This is particularly true of regions that are vital to the global economy because of their resources or economic structures. Countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia increasingly have economic alternatives – especially China – that allow them to break away from their one-sided dependence on the US. A deeper tectonic shift in economic power structures is emerging. China in the Right Position China’s economic rise in recent decades has been dynamic, but not without excesses and structural challenges, for example in the property sector. Nevertheless, the country has established itself as a global economic partner and increasingly offers alternatives to US-led structures. While the costs of an economic exit from the US would have been prohibitive in the past, they are now much more calculable. This opens up new opportunities for countries that want to escape Washington’s economic pressure. Most importantly, China is no longer just catching up economically, but is already competing with the US in a number of technological and strategic areas, such as artificial intelligence (DeepSeek). As a result, the United States is increasingly losing its role as the hegemon with no alternative, which could have long-term consequences for the global economic system. Adaptability as a new core competency. Current developments are characterised by increasing volatility. In times like these, adaptability becomes a critical skill – not only at the government level, but also at the corporate level. While treasury departments have focused heavily on process optimisation and risk mitigation over the past 15 years, they are now faced with the challenge of adapting to a rapidly changing reality. Companies that do not develop this ability to adapt will find themselves unable to act in times of crisis. Processes that ensure efficiency in stable times may prove useless when economic conditions change fundamentally. Conclusion The coming years will be characterised by economic restructuring, geopolitical power shifts and increasing uncertainty. The US has failed to address its structural weaknesses through sustained reform and is instead trying to shift the costs of its economic strategy to other players. At the same time, China is emerging as an alternative economic power, offering new prospects for countries seeking to break away from US dominance. In such an environment, stability and predictability are increasingly illusory. The successful players will be those who can adapt quickly and flexibly to new circumstances. The era of stable processes is being replaced by an era of adaptive resilience. 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.