Why I Chose Kyriba

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, selecting the right treasury management system (TMS) is crucial for companies seeking to optimize their financial operations. The TMS selection process involves careful evaluation, where the unique needs and goals of the organization are considered.

In this panel session from KyribaLive 2023, moderated by Chris Reynolds, Director of Strategic Accounts at Kyriba, treasury professionals shared their experiences and insights on why they selected Kyriba as their preferred TMS solution.

Tailoring TMS to Meet Unique Treasury Needs

One of the key factors that stood out about Kyriba was its exceptional customization capabilities. Stephen Kincaid, Vice President and Assistant Treasurer at Walker and Dunlop, emphasized how Kyriba’s ability to tailor its platform to meet their specific requirements was both a strength and a differentiator. With a comprehensive range of configurable options, including access profiles and detailed screens, Kyriba allows them to drill down and address their specific business needs precisely.

Additionally, Stephen stressed how his personalized dashboards provide him with customized visibility into bank balances, returned items and payments, allowing him to take action on items right away. For example, Stephen’s payments dashboard lets him immediately see and resolve payment issues. He also created a dashboard to display balances by bank, making it easy to determine if he needs to move money to get a better rate.

For many organizations operating in niche industries, finding a TMS that can cater to their specific requirements can be challenging. Stephen discovered that Kyriba was a perfect fit for their company, thanks to the recommendation of a peer in the same industry. This peer’s positive experience using Kyriba, combined with its reputation for delivering prompt and effective solutions, solidified Stephen’s confidence in selecting Kyriba as their TMS provider.

Configurability, along with its single platform capability and comprehensive functionality, was also a major reason why Bray International selected Kyriba. Morty Mandel, Vice President and Director of Finance, highlighted the “ease of customization really puts the power into the users’ hands.”

Tam Luu, overseeing treasury for a real estate private equity firm, further commented on the benefits of Kyriba’s customizability. As a company with many confidential accounts, being able to tailor the security design was “huge” because it allowed them to configure what accounts people see, what products are available to them, and even the buttons they are allowed to see.

Tam also recognized Kyriba as an bank-agnostic solution. This versatility allows their organization to remain nimble and challenge the banks for the most competitive debt terms. With Kyriba, they significantly reduced the time required to open accounts and establish connections with new banks, enabling them to adapt swiftly to market conditions and secure favorable deals.

Unveiling Global Cash Visibility and Combating Fraud

Zach Symons, representing McCormick and Company, emphasized the value of Kyriba’s global cash view feature. With over 300 accounts spread across 35 banks worldwide, McCormick sought a TMS that could provide comprehensive visibility into their cash positions. Kyriba enabled them to gain real-time access to their account balances, even across different regions and local banks. This newfound visibility empowered McCormick to optimize their cash pooling strategies, leading to improved interest returns.

Morty also highlighted cash visibility as a major benefit of Bray International’s Kyriba implementation. Improved cash visibility allowed them to streamline their intercompany transactions. Morty commented, “Having the visibility to the cash allowed us to start moving it around to where it needed to be.”

As well, in their first year with Kyriba, Bray International conducted a census of their cash accounts around the world and found many unused accounts they didn’t know existed. They reduced their accounts from approximately 150 to 70. Chris added Kyriba clients can set up alerts for bank accounts that aren’t being used, allowing them to save money and simplify their banking footprint.

Highlighting the value of Kyriba’s Payment Fraud Detection module, Zach explained how McCormick uses it to spot duplicate payments and also noted its importance for first-time payments to beneficiary accounts. Not only does the tool verify legitimate payments, it also helps identify incorrect banking details. Thanks to this feature, McCormick can quickly and easily stop a payment with inaccurate or incomplete details, correct the information, and resend the payment. As Zach pointed out, “That’s time and money saved.”

Best Practices for a Seamless Kyriba Adoption

As the conversation progressed, the panelists emphasized the importance of careful planning during the design and implementation phases of adopting a TMS. Stephen highlighted the significance of the blueprinting session and recommended investing ample time to ensure consultants grasp the organization’s requirements. Stephen remarked, “The more time you can spend in that initial design phase, the better your consultants are going to be able to assist you.”

Stephen also recommended re-evaluating how manual processes will transfer to automated processes, commenting “You don’t want to just copy and paste. You want to make sure that you can find efficiencies in using automation and not just redo the same processes you have today. Really lean on your consultants for them to help you with best practices.” This thorough planning minimizes project disruptions and facilitates a seamless transition to Kyriba.

Morty stressed the importance of starting with smaller scopes and building a strong foundation. By gradually implementing Kyriba’s functionality, organizations can achieve successful outcomes while avoiding project overload. Morty also commended Kyriba’s flexibility, which allowed his company to adjust their initial decisions and explore alternative paths without feeling locked into a rigid system. He remarked, “The flexibility of the system made it such that we didn’t ever paint ourselves in a corner that we couldn’t back out of. We were able to make some changes and move and shift things around, and to me that’s pretty powerful.”

Empowering Strategic Treasury Management

The conversation among treasury professionals highlighted the compelling reasons why they selected Kyriba as their TMS solution. From Kyriba’s exceptional customization capabilities to its industry-agnostic nature and global cash visibility features, the panelists unanimously agreed that Kyriba provided the tools and flexibility needed for strategic treasury management. By investing time in the design and implementation phases and adopting an incremental approach, organizations can leverage Kyriba to streamline their financial operations and drive growth in an ever-changing business landscape.

As you consider your treasury management needs, take inspiration from the experiences shared by these professionals and explore how Kyriba’s robust features and customization capabilities can empower your organization to achieve financial excellence.