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. When you have real-time data, you respond faster than competitors still working with yesterday’s numbers.
The CFO’s new reality
Today’s CFOs in manufacturing face unprecedented pressure. Interest rates remain elevated. Geopolitical tensions create supply chain disruptions. Project financing requires more scrutiny. Meanwhile, boards demand real-time insights into liquidity positions and working capital optimization.
The treasurers who thrive in this environment aren’t the ones with the best Excel skills. They’re the ones who leverage technology to become strategic partners to their CFOs. They use AI to improve forecasting accuracy from 65% to 90%. They implement real-time connectivity to eliminate 82% of manual processes. They build scenario models that help leadership make better decisions about major capital investments.
What happens next?
Mark’s story isn’t unique anymore. Across industries, treasurers are transforming from data collectors to strategic advisors. The tools exist. The business case is clear. The competitive advantage is real.
The question isn’t whether your organization needs better liquidity risk management. According to Kyriba’s latest research , companies using their platform showed a 10.5% improvement in generating disposable liquidity in Q2 2024 alone.
The question is whether you’ll be among the first to make the change, or among the last to catch up.
Because somewhere, a CFO is about to make that 7 AM phone call. And the treasurers who are ready with real-time answers will be the ones shaping their company’s future.
“Hey! Ever feel like your finance team is flying blind when it comes to cash visibility or managing liquidity across regions? Kyriba fixes that. We’re a cloud platform that gives CFOs and Treasurers real-time visibility and control over their cash, payments, and risk. Think of it as your central nervous system for liquidity: fully connected to your banks, ERPs, and payment systems. Faster decisions, fewer surprises, and better use of cash. Want a quick look? Send me a message! Regards, Jeroen”
Author’s note
The customer name has been intentionally anonymized in this article to protect their confidential business information. “Mark” and his company represent a real Kyriba customer engagement, but identifying details have been modified or omitted.
The financial benefits referenced (€497,000 in total annual savings are even modified (lowered) so that individuals do not identify), but they represent a percentage of the projected annual benefits calculated collaboratively with the customer’s treasury team during our initial Value Engineering assessment, conducted prior to project implementation. These projections were based on comprehensive Performance Maturity Assessment (PMA) and Risk & Threat Assessment (RTA) analyses.
Halfway through the implementation year, this customer has already begun realizing these substantial savings across productivity gains, financial optimization, and risk reduction.
A follow-up assessment is planned to:
- Measure the customer’s improved maturity and performance levels against industry benchmarks
- Evaluate the reduction in liquidity management risks compared to their pre-Kyriba state
- Validate the actual realized benefits across efficiency improvements, financial performance gains, and risk exposure reduction
This case study reflects real outcomes from a live customer engagement, demonstrating the tangible value that organizations can achieve through strategic liquidity performance management transformation.
Stay sharp. Stay skeptical.
Disclaimer Alert
Folks, let’s get a few things straight: this article is my own personal take on the matter, and it’s as personal as your grandma’s secret cookie recipe – unapproved by anyone but yours truly! So, consider this article as my solo journey into the quirky world of tech, where my (sales) creativity dances with analysis. If it makes you chuckle or raises an insightful eyebrow, that’s awesome! If it makes you scratch your head in bewilderment, well, that’s part of the fun too.
But remember, dear readers, this is all in good fun, and it doesn’t constitute official tech doctrine or employer-approved wisdom. It’s just me, my thoughts, and a touch of humor thrown into the tech mix.
About the author
The author is a seasoned Sales Account Executive at Kyriba Netherlands, where he helps organizations optimize their financial operations through cloud-based treasury, payment, and risk management solutions. With over 30-years of enterprise technology sales experience, Jeroen combines his deep understanding of the Dutch market with his passion for helping businesses transform their financial processes.
Based in Arnhem, where he often finds inspiration cycling along the city’s beautiful nature reserves of the Veluwezoom, Jeroen has built a reputation for developing strong, lasting relationships with key decision-makers across the Netherlands’ enterprise landscape. Although recently started at Kyriba, his customer-centric approach and strategic insights have consistently helped organizations navigate the complexities of digital transformation that so many modern treasury management and financial risk mitigation departments currently face.
As a technology enthusiast with extensive experience in enterprise software, Jeroen is passionate about helping businesses leverage innovative solutions to optimize their liquidity and streamline their financial operations. His collaborative approach and ability to understand unique customer needs have made him a valuable resource for companies looking to modernize their treasury and risk management practices.
Jeroen has wrote many articles / blogs with his own personal view on the matters. There is no consistency in the cadence of his publications, he publishes when he feels like it. You can find these articles on his LinkedIn profile.
Article used:
Deloitte Global Treasury Survey
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- TreasurySpring Announces Launch of a Public API and Partnership with Kyriba
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