Why Treasurers Should Be Influencers Inside Their Companies

In today’s rapidly evolving corporate landscape, treasurers need to do more than manage cash flow, investments, and risk. They must step up as influencers within their organizations. Unlike the influencers you find on TikTok or Instagram, corporate treasurers need to wield influence across various departments—like Procurement, Sales, and Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)—to ensure the seamless flow of accurate and timely information. They must also know how to influence their own leadership, particularly the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), to secure the budget and resources needed for critical improvement projects and technological advancements.

The Challenges: Information, Formats, and Timing

Treasurers often find themselves navigating a sea of data that isn’t always suited to their needs. For example, departments like Sales, Procurement, and FP&A are typically more focused on profit and loss (P&L) statements rather than cash-based formats that are essential for treasury operations. While P&L data provides valuable insights into a company’s profitability, it doesn’t always align with the cash reality—when the money actually hits or leaves the bank account. Timing differences between revenue recognition and actual cash inflows can lead to misalignments in financial planning and decision-making.

Why Treasurers Need to Be Influencers

To mitigate these challenges, treasurers must adopt a more proactive role, akin to that of an internal influencer. Here’s why:

Breaking Down Silos: Treasurers need data from multiple departments to accurately forecast cash flow and manage liquidity. However, these departments often operate in silos, focusing on their metrics and KPIs. By building strong relationships and becoming a trusted advisor, treasurers can break down these barriers and create a more cohesive, cross-functional flow of information.
Ensuring Data Relevance: A significant portion of data that treasurers receive from other departments may not be in the format they need. For example, while FP&A may focus on accrual accounting for budgeting and forecasting, treasury needs cash-based information. By influencing how data is prepared and shared, treasurers can ensure they receive more relevant information.
Getting Involved Early: Treasury is often an afterthought in strategic decisions—be it new product launches, large capital expenditures, or mergers and acquisitions. By establishing themselves as influencers, treasurers can ensure they are involved early in the decision-making process, allowing them to assess the cash flow implications and provide valuable insights into liquidity risks.
Timely Information Flow: The timing of information sharing is critical for treasury management. Sales might know when a big deal is about to close, or Procurement might know about a large upcoming payment, but if these pieces of information don’t reach Treasury on time, it could affect liquidity planning. Treasurers must influence departments to prioritize timely communication of critical cash-impacting events.

Influencing the CFO for Budget and Resources

A critical aspect of a treasurer’s role as an influencer is to also engage effectively with their direct boss, often the CFO. Treasurers may need to influence the CFO to secure budgets for improvement projects, new technologies, or additional resources that enhance treasury operations. Here’s how treasurers can achieve this:

Build a Compelling Business Case: CFOs are driven by numbers, strategic value, and return on investment (ROI). Treasurers should craft a compelling business case that highlights the value of any proposed improvement projects or new technologies. This involves demonstrating the expected benefits—such as cost savings from automation, reduced risk exposure, or enhanced liquidity management—and providing clear metrics that tie back to the company’s financial goals.
Showcase Strategic Alignment: Treasurers should align their proposals with the broader strategic objectives of the organization. Whether it’s improving working capital efficiency, enhancing cash visibility, or managing FX risk better, demonstrating how these projects support the company’s long-term goals will help secure CFO buy-in.
Present Quick Wins and Long-Term Gains: CFOs often look for both short-term and long-term benefits when approving budgets. Treasurers can influence their decision-making by presenting “quick wins” that show immediate impact (e.g., faster reconciliation processes) alongside long-term gains (e.g., robust cash forecasting models that reduce the cost of capital).
Demonstrate Competitive Advantage: Highlighting how investment in treasury technology or projects can provide a competitive advantage can be a strong influencing factor. For instance, implementing a new treasury management system (TMS) could lead to faster decision-making, better risk management, or superior cash optimization, all of which can provide an edge over competitors.
Engage in Continuous Dialogue: It’s important to maintain regular, open lines of communication with the CFO. Treasurers should not wait until budget season to make their case; instead, they should provide ongoing updates on treasury performance, challenges, and opportunities, ensuring the CFO is always aware of potential needs and benefits.

Strategies for Treasurers to Become Influencers

Here are actionable strategies for treasurers to build their influence within their organizations:

Cultivate Relationships Across Departments: Treasurers should actively build relationships with key stakeholders in other departments. Regular meetings, cross-departmental workshops, and informal discussions can help bridge the gap between Treasury and other functions. Understanding the challenges and priorities of other departments will help treasurers tailor their requests for information in a way that aligns with broader organizational goals.
Communicate the Value of Treasury’s Role: Many departments may not fully understand the importance of treasury functions. Treasurers can communicate their value by demonstrating how effective cash management contributes to the overall financial health of the company—supporting growth initiatives, reducing financing costs, and optimizing working capital.
Leverage Technology and Data Analytics: Treasurers can make a strong case for more real-time and cash-based data by leveraging technology. Using data analytics tools, they can provide more accurate cash flow forecasts, identify potential liquidity risks early, and even offer predictive insights. This can help demonstrate the tangible benefits of improved data sharing and collaboration.
Standardize Data Formats and Reporting: One way to influence other departments is to help standardize data formats and reporting. Treasurers can work with departments like FP&A, Sales, and Procurement to develop standard templates that cater to both P&L and cash-based reporting. This can reduce the friction involved in sharing and converting data between formats.
Be Proactive in Decision-Making Forums: Treasurers should ensure they have a seat at the table in strategic discussions, whether it’s about capital allocation, funding decisions, or major investments. By being present and vocal in these forums, treasurers can advocate for a cash-centric perspective, ensuring that decisions are made with liquidity considerations in mind.
Create Cross-Functional Teams: Establishing cross-functional teams with representatives from Treasury, Sales, Procurement, and FP&A can facilitate better communication and collaboration. These teams can work on joint projects, such as optimizing the cash conversion cycle or managing foreign exchange risks, which require input from multiple departments.

The Benefits of Being an Influential Treasurer

By becoming influencers, treasurers can drive several key benefits for their organizations:

Enhanced Cash Flow Management: With better access to timely and relevant information, treasurers can optimize cash flow management, reducing the need for expensive short-term borrowing or ensuring sufficient liquidity for growth opportunities.
Improved Risk Management: By having a more comprehensive view of upcoming cash flows and financial commitments, treasurers can better anticipate potential liquidity shortfalls and manage risks more effectively.
Greater Strategic Alignment: Influential treasurers can help align treasury goals with the company’s broader strategic objectives, making it easier to support growth initiatives, capital investments, and mergers or acquisitions.
Stronger Financial Health: Ultimately, the influence of a well-informed treasurer contributes to a stronger overall financial position, enhancing the company’s ability to weather economic downturns, invest in new opportunities, and deliver long-term value to stakeholders.
Higher Respect and Visibility: By positioning themselves as influencers, treasurers elevate the visibility and perceived value of the treasury function within the organization. This leads to greater respect from peers and leadership, facilitating smoother collaboration and more frequent involvement in strategic decision-making.

Insights from Treasury Experts

We thought it would be valuable to get perspectives from Treasury expert James Kelly, who is also a Treasury Mastermind Board member.

James Kelly, Senior Vice President of Treasury at Pearson, Comments

Influencing skills are particularly necessary to get buy-in for cross-departmental projects. Treasurers often won’t be able to offer direct benefits to other teams and so need to be able to influence others to get involved. That may require a quid pro quo from time to time where treasury prioritises projects for others.

Treasurers often sit on the finance leadership team, but to justify that position, they need to show their worth beyond just treasury, showing commerciality, project management and technical skills

Even internal promotions within Treasury may require advocation from other teams, meaning it’s important to build alliances.

Conclusion

Treasurers have a unique vantage point within organizations, but to maximize their impact, they must step out of their traditional roles and become influencers. By cultivating relationships, communicating value, leveraging technology, influencing their CFOs for resources, and standardizing processes, treasurers can influence the flow of information, ensure their involvement in strategic decisions, and enhance their organisation’s financial resilience. In doing so, they not only elevate their own role but also contribute significantly to the company’s long-term success.

Additional Resources

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