eBooks

Companies around the globe generally deal in two opposing cash positions - a cash deficit or cash surplus. And in today’s hyper-competitive world, it is more important than ever for companies to grow capital...

Companies around the globe generally deal in two opposing cash positions - a cash deficit or cash surplus. And in today’s hyper-competitive world, it is more important than ever for companies to grow capital or address a surplus of cash in a way that is scalable with their business.

As Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet, has said, “There’s no question that liquidity is sacrosanct.” Companies that can identify and use cash with confidence can now leverage liquidity as an asset for strategic value...

As Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet, has said, “There’s no question that liquidity is sacrosanct.” Companies that can identify and use cash with confidence can now leverage liquidity as an asset for strategic value creation.

Cash is still king — but the value of cash and forecasted liquidity held or planned by the company can only be realized via cash visibility, when the treasurer knows what cash is available,...

Cash is still king — but the value of cash and forecasted liquidity held or planned by the company can only be realized via cash visibility, when the treasurer knows what cash is available, where it is held and what flows are expected in the future. However, all too often, treasurers do not have access to their organization’s full cash picture. There are many good reasons for working with multiple banks across different markets, but complex banking structures and sprawling geographical footprints can make it difficult to achieve complete cash visibility into current balances, never mind impacting the accuracy of cash and liquidity forecasting. Luckily, achieving full cash visibility over cash is not an insurmountable goal. This eBook outlines the action plan treasurers can take to gain full visibility over their cash, from gaining a clear view of current bank accounts to increasing the accuracy of the cash forecast. "More than a quarter of global cash is not visible to corporate treasury on a daily basis.” Source: PWC’s Global Treasury Benchmarking Survey   What is Cash Visibility? Cash visibility is critical to making effective decisions. Armed with clear visibility over the company’s current cash position and future liquidity flows, treasurers can: Invest cash strategically Support the CEO, CFO in strategic initiatives with the right levels of cash and liquidity Use cash management structures effectively Minimize debt and interest expense Make better informed hedging decisions Reduce bank fees Bolster treasury’s reputation within the organization Key Vocabulary Cash Visibility means knowing what cash the company currently has and where it is held. It also means being able to predict what cash the company will have in the future. Cash Budgeting generally performed by FP&A, is more focused beyond one year and has an increased emphasis on free, cash-flow guidance. The reconciliation of indirect budget-based forecasts with direct cash flow forecasts are increasingly managed quarterly. Cash Positioning is concerned with today and often the next five business days. The purpose is to manage daily liquidity to ensure shortfalls are covered and surpluses are concentrated to earn some yield on excess cash. Cash and Liquidity Forecasting typically extends cash positioning with horizons anywhere from one week to one year. Forecasting leverages multiple data sources to increase confidence in the projected liquidity balances so that better cash decisions can be made. Why is Cash Visibility Important? Cash visibility is the lifeblood of any organization. A company that has clear visibility can invest or deploy cash strategically while minimizing debt and interest expenses. Accurate visibility also increases the effectiveness of hedging decisions and enables the treasurer to mitigate their organization’s risk to exposures while supplying the CFO with funding in support of strategic initiatives. Conversely, a lack of clear visibility can result in numerous issues, including: Insufficient buffer of surplus cash to absorb unforeseen expenses Idle cash, lower returns on investments Insufficient return on cash Higher than necessary borrowing costs Unnecessary bank fees and costs Inadequate support for CFO strategic decision-making Less competitive results and less effective treasury organization as a partner for finance Related Resource Unreliable cash visibility and forecasting is the treasury issue that causes CFOs the most concern. "The top benefits of using Kyriba are the visibility that it provides, the timeliness with which it provides that visibility, and the ease of use, in that it provides it all in one simple one-stop shop.” TRISH FISHER Director, Treasury Operations, WeWork The Path to Cash Visibility Whether the treasurer is seeking to pay down external borrowing or maximize return on investments, the first step is to know what cash is currently available. But that’s not all, treasurers also need to be able to predict future liquidity flows and keep the right people informed. Achieving cash visibility is possible by using 5 definitive steps to move towards greater cash visibility and flexibility: Identify and Record Without an inventory of your banks and accounts, a complete cash visibility picture is unattainable. Prioritize and Rationalize Identify where to begin, difficult regions or banks, and determine accounts for closure. Automate Bank Connectivity and Reporting Harness the most costeffective and leading connectivity methods to access data from banks in an automated way. Generate and Streamline Cash Positioning with Liquidity Forecasting Accurately predict cash flows over the coming hours and days, and match actuals to forecasts to speed up daily reconciliation and cash application. Enhance and Optimize Future Cash Flow with Liquidity Planning The ability to see a holistic, aggregated view of cash and liquidity sources creates more accurate views and predictable free cash flow. Knowing your predictable liquidity creates a better understanding of any future liquidity shortfalls. Step One: Identify and Record Regardless of the scale and breadth of your organization’s banking and accounts structure, it is important to understand the banking landscape of all business units and subsidiaries. Whether operating in a domestic or international capacity, banking relationships. the accounts, the purpose of those accounts, and the core attributes of the bank, the accounts and their purpose all are necessary to begin a cash visibility project. This has many implications for the success of global cash visibility projects, such as: Establishing a full inventory of managed accounts, ensuring all balances are identified Ensuring the proper scope and prioritization of your project Optimization and rationalization across banks and accounts Effective comparisons and evaluations across banks for technical capabilities for connectivity, tech, regional coverage and other important services An effective bank relationship and bank account management database is the starting point for successful projects, but particularly when it comes to cash reporting. Where cash is rolling up in concentration or pooling structures, how funds are being transferred, purpose of the accounts, and even regulatory limitations all have a say in how you engage with your banking partners and the extent of cash flexibility. Step Two: Prioritize and Rationalize Bank reporting rationalization ensures accounts are identified and open for the right reasons. Often, particularly in international or more complex organizations, accounts are opened in haste to support business development and decisions. This is often necessary for statutory purposes, or to deal with an unforeseen acquisition or reorganization. However, if this situation exists, it’s possible cash and liquidity is not well defined or identified, as well. Organizations must understand and rationalize accounts, prior to moving into the next ‘step’, but this can continue throughout the project in parallel, too. The focus here is on creating a streamlined, but effective banking and account structure that fulfills treasury’s mission of safeguarding and optimizing cash, while still meeting specific business unit or subsidiary’s requirements. Bank improvements in reporting quality as well as the leading application of configuration within leading treasury management systems, creates the scenarios where previously opened, special-purpose accounts are no longer required to serve special purposes such as revenue, collections, treasury, or payables accounts. With banks being able to provide significantly improved quality of liquidity information within bank statements and other special purpose reports, and the speed of that data increasing through APIs, some companies can conduct business with one or two bank accounts per legal entity, business unit or country office. The focus here is on creating a streamlined, but effective banking and account structure that fulfills treasury’s mission of safeguarding and optimizing cash, while still meeting specific business unit or subsidiary’s requirements. Step Three: Automate Bank Connectivity and Reporting Visibility over multiple accounts requires automated bank connectivity. Companies of all sizes are often challenged in finding and implementing the right bank connectivity solution and is a critical driver of lack of visibility into cash. On the surface, bank connectivity is easy, so long as treasury teams prioritize the following: Security Automation Speed and Cost There are a variety of connectivity options to deliver security, automation and cost objectives. Yet, not all connectivity options are alike. Bank connectivity comes in a number of different forms, including: Host-to-host solutions, such as FTP, or leading practice connections using application programming interfaces (APIs) Country or region-specific protocols such as EBICS, Editran, Zengin Global cooperatives like SWIFT , which offer flexibility to manage your own connectivity or use a service provider and fully managed service bureaus The ideal connectivity solution for an organization will actually depend on factors such as bank and payment transaction volumes, bank account structures, and the location of company banks. These characteristics — in combination with what technologies the banks can (and prefer) to support — will drive the ideal connectivity choices. In practice, a combination of connectivity methods is likely the best solution to optimize costs while maintaining automation and security. Without utilizing varying connectivity methods, the company may spend more than necessary and potentially sacrifice information transparency. While managing multiple connectivity methods on your own may seem complex, connectivity-as-aservice models gives organizations faster global access to banks with pre-configured and existing connections. This coverage of the connective landscape for banks saves effort and time spelling big cost savings for the project phase as well as ongoing productive operations. When you select the right vendor to simplify bank connectivity by taking care of everything — from building connections, monitoring availability, and delivering automation all while providing new technology like APIs, organizations win and save money. Step Four: Generate and Streamline Cash Positions and Liquidity Forecasts The goal of cash positioning is to establish a realtime view of cash at any point in time and to be able to reconcile prior-day forecasts to enable the deployment of cash throughout the organization more quickly and accurately. Effective cash positioning reduces idle cash, creating opportunities to earn immediate yield while providing certainty over risk exposures that cash is exposed to. As a process, cash positioning involves gaining a real-time view of the company’s cash position at any moment in the current day(s) by consolidating a number of different sources and replacing old data with more up-to-date information. With today’s APIs gaining the real-time, near-instantaneous view of cash and liquidity is easier than ever. Within treasury technology, building the cash position typically involves combining a number of data sources: Prior-day balance — automatically downloaded from banks at the start of the day Current-day bank reporting — automatically downloaded from banks throughout the day, either at specific times (e.g., 1st or 2nd presentment) or as a constant stream of data via an API Expected payables and receivables — from the organization’s ERP and reported/cleared from bank statement details Treasury financial transactions and settlements — which are integrated within the treasury system Building a cash position is just the start. After building a cash position, it is then necessary to maintain and reconcile it. Maintaining the cash position involves updating and replacing cash flow data with more accurate information via intra-day updates from internal systems and banks. Reconciliation of the cash position is the matching of actuals to forecast flows, which is often done first thing in the morning as a part of typical treasury processes. The goal is to identify and understand surprises — for example, if a transaction did not happen yesterday then it may happen today, meaning the unreconciled variance needs to be rolled into today’s position. For many organizations, this process can be time consuming, so rules-based automation or artificial intelligence can be introduced to simplify the process. Key requirements for cash positioning include interactive dashboards and clear communication within — and outside of the treasury organizations: Interactive dashboards enable cash managers to drill down through multiple levels into any component of the cash position. Positions should be viewable by multiple dimensions in real-time by line item, bank, entity, currency, etc. Communication within and outside of treasury is critical. The treasurer, CFO and finance personnel managing subsidiaries all require cash visibility, so delivering visual and detailed reconciled cash positions is a critical outcome of daily cash positioning. Effective cash positioning and liquidity planning leads to numerous benefits for the finance organization: Keeping the CFO and the Board up to date with reliable and accurate cash position information Mobilizing cash across the organization for funding and investment purposes Enabling cash management processes such as pooling, sweeping and intercompany borrowing Optimizing interest income and expense via better informed borrowing and lending operations Reducing external borrowing by using internal cash resources effectively Step Five: Enhance, Optimize and Predict Cash and Liquidity While cash positioning can be used to predict cash flows in the coming hours and days, cash forecasting with liquidity planning information creates more accurate, longer horizons beyond weeks, extending into months, years. Cash forecasting must not only be accurate, but predictive using more historical and current data to be truly effective. Without complete confidence in projected forecasts, the cash forecast cannot support treasury in improving cash utilization. Cash forecasting is needed to help treasury invest cash over longer maturities, secure borrowing to fund operations and make more effective hedging decisions. And confidence in the cash forecast is the difference between achieving these outcomes and hoping to do so. So why do so many companies struggle to achieve an accurate forecast? Common challenges include a lack of accurate data sources, lost results from past forecasts, ineffective methodologies and a lack of alignment with performance metrics. If a forecast isn’t reliable, treasury is unable to trust it and therefore cannot use the cash forecast to make critical decisions. It is crucial to incorporate data sources from treasury, like financial transactions along with all the normal P2P and O2C cycle flows from the ERP Cash forecasting and Liquidity Planning creates future views of anticipated free cash flow and helps all of finance from FP&A to the CFO better strategic accuracy in decision-making. Identify, Find the Data Consolidate the Information Measuring Forecast Accuracy Predictive Analytics: Optimize Your Forecast Find the Data: Collaborating with Other Teams Forecasting incorporates key data points from elsewhere in the business so that effective collaboration can be administered between AP, FP&A, IT and regional controllers who own valuable forecasts data and/or administer systems to enhance forecast visibility. This collaboration is essential in making sure everyone involved knows what they are expected to provide with executive oversight to ensure that collaboration is prioritized. Consolidating Forecast Data Automating the integration of forecast data into a single system of record is the next critical factor in achieving effective forecasting. In many cases, source data may come from various ERP modules or in some cases other special purpose systems like procurement or revenue recognition/accounts receivable. In the past and in some situations, spreadsheet data to augment or provide coverage for areas or business units without systems could be a source, too. While consolidating data into a single system could be an IT-intensive exercise, best practice is to eliminate the need for internal IT resources, reducing the cost and time required to integrate systems. This can be done by having pre-built connectivity and integration through APIs provided by your treasury system. Measuring Forecast Accuracy The final piece of cash forecasting is to measure the accuracy of the cash forecast at a detailed level. Measuring forecast performance is critical to understanding how effective each line item and source of information was, offering valuable insight into where the forecast can be improved. This analysis must be done at a detailed level. For example, measuring accuracy before and after a 90-day/13- week period can hide many anomalies and offers no meaningful conclusions. Many organizations will measure week over week, while some will drill down at a daily level. Once accuracy is measured, the treasury team must implement a feedback loop to effect meaningful change. Regional controllers, for example, can only improve if presented with detailed facts. Further, standardized KPIs — that ideally would form a component of performance reviews and compensation calculations — go a long way in reinforcing desired forecast behavior. This is where commitment from the CFO will drive effective forecast performance. Optimize: Predictions for your Cash and Liquidity Once the foundation is established for forecasting your liquidity with the prior steps, the next level naturally leads to identifying the technology solution that will offer your organization and team the support and improvements for your liquidity forecasting. Technology can do more to provide value through expanding the horizon of your forecast, depth of insight, accuracy, and enhanced user experience with information already within your organization’s grasp. Through tools that leverage artificial intelligence companies today should be more advanced and be capable of: Create predictive dashboards and enhanced reporting Cash forecasts with risk models built-in Identify optimum cash cushion, draw-down levels, and investment levels Characteristics to look for when evolving and upleveling your forecasting efforts should include looking to solutions using AI-based predictive analytics for forecasting including calculations based on risk models that give treasury and FP&A teams the optimal cash cushion. Additionally, look for solutions giving you: Cash flow by level of confidence Recommendations for optimal investment strategy Predict liquidity requirements To successfully deploy an AI-driven predictive forecasting model, organizations must prepare structured and normalized historical data. Machine learning algorithms will identify patterns within the data to make predictions about when, for example, customers will actually remit payment. This AI-predicted data stream will align with other forecast data sources to deliver a more intelligent cash forecast to predict future liquidity needs. Human interaction remains important to ensure liquidity forecasting and planning aligns with internal risk policies of the team and organization. AI is a tool to complement, rather than replace, treasury teams as they execute more complex tasks and processes. In this role, AI is a critical piece in the drive to towards real-time treasury decision making and the progressions towards 24/7 liquidity management. Optimizing Cash Visibility Benefits Achieving full cash visibility takes time and effort, but the rewards are significant. Armed with a complete, accurate and up-to-date picture of the current cash position and liquidity planning flows, treasurers can: Make timely and confident decisions about activities, including investments, borrowing, cash concentration and hedging Pay down external borrowing with a clearer view of the cash available Invest strategically with a clear picture of current and future flows Reduce bank fees by closing or combining redundant bank accounts or negotiating with banks from a position of knowledge Minimize debt and interest expense by making the best use of internal cash and reducing external borrowing Gain a clearer picture of risk exposures and manage those risks more effectively Optimize planning of borrowing and lending operations Increase effectiveness of hedging by ensuring decisions are based on complete pictures of current balances and planned future transactions Cash Visibility – Final Thoughts The future of treasury technology is here and advancing rapidly; some banks have deployed their own APIs to integrate with their customers’ systems. New platforms are opening new products and services for corporate customers. One of these innovations is the movement towards real-time bank reporting. In many parts of the world, intra-day reporting happens less than twice per day, and in some cases not at all, meaning that daily cash positioning is largely driven by prior-day reporting and expectations of clearings throughout the day. Real-time bank reporting, delivered only by APIs, is the future and will be a game-changer for cash managers looking to achieve instant cash visibility into accounts. Additionally, Liquidity Planning extends the value of real-time treasury with the inclusion of cash, treasury instruments, planning information and liability information to deliver longer range strategic decisions by the CFO. Combined with real-time payments, treasury teams will be in an enviable position of not only having real-time views into bank accounts but also being able to mobilize cash domestically — and eventually cross border — within seconds. The transformation to real-time reporting will further pressure treasury teams to employ the right processes and analysis to effectively manage cash information in real time. It will be a change for those organizations that lack modern treasury technology, but an opportunity for enabled organizations to earn a competitive advantage in the utilization and deployment of cash. How Kyriba Can Help Kyriba can support you in achieving full visibility over cash. Kyriba helps organizations reduce the cost and complexity of bank connectivity — whether a company is connecting via SWIFT, using APIs, leveraging country protocol or using a combination of channels prioritizing security, automation and cost minimization. Organizations can easily keep track of signatories, manage workflows and store documents thanks to the control over all global bank accounts given by Kyriba’s bank relationship management solution. Additionally, companies can maximize the accuracy of their cash and liquidity reporting with Kyriba’s detailed and flexible variance analysis and feedback loop to forecast sources. With a full picture of current balances and future flows, you’ll be better positioned to make confident decisions about cash.   Want to learn more about how to achieve cash visibility for better cash forecasting? Check out this webinar to hear Kelkoo Group, a leading e-commerce company, shares their best practices and the payoffs of superior cash forecasting.

Although many CFOs think of application programming interfaces (APIs) as an expedited pathway for bank connectivity, bank connections are just the tip of the iceberg. APIs open integration to a variety of systems, introducing...

Although many CFOs think of application programming interfaces (APIs) as an expedited pathway for bank connectivity, bank connections are just the tip of the iceberg. APIs open integration to a variety of systems, introducing capabilities and process automation that had not previously been possible. APIs offer an information and processing gateway to realizing digital transformation.

Moderne Betrugsversuche sind innovativ und entwickeln sich ständig weiter. Um diese Bedrohungen in den Griff zu bekommen, benötigen Unternehmen topaktuelle Erkennungs- und Präventionslösungen.

Moderne Betrugsversuche sind innovativ und entwickeln sich ständig weiter. Um diese Bedrohungen in den Griff zu bekommen, benötigen Unternehmen topaktuelle Erkennungs- und Präventionslösungen. In diesem E‑Book stellen wir Ihnen die häufigsten Betrugsrisiken in der aktuellen Unternehmenswelt vor und untersuchen die führenden KI‑basierten Tools, mit denen CFOs und CIOs Angriffe aufhalten können, noch bevor sie passieren. Wir bei Kyriba kennen die Gefahren, die Cyberkriminelle für das Geld Ihres Unternehmens darstellen. Im Folgenden sehen wir uns an, auf welche Weise wir unsere Kunden schützen, und teilen unser Wissen mit Ihnen. Tools wie künstliche Intelligenz (KI), Machine Learning (ML) und Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) sind echte Gamechanger im Kampf gegen Betrug. Wir nutzen diese Technologien bereits – und das sollten Sie auch. Betrug im Wandel Betrugsrisiken haben mit der Coronapandemie exponentiell zugenommen, im Homeoffice konnten die strengen Sicherheitsprotokolle vom Unternehmen nur sehr schwer umgesetzt werden. Laut einer KPMGStudie 2022, bei der über 600 Führungskräfte befragt wurden, hat die Umstellung auf Remote-Arbeit das Betrugsrisiko gesteigert und die meisten Unternehmen haben im letzten Jahr Betrugsfälle erlebt. Betrugsausblick Quelle: KPMG Fraud Outlook 2022 Die Verluste, die sich aus Betrugsfällen ergeben, sind signifikant. Die Befragten verzeichneten 2021 einen durchschnittlichen Gewinnverlust von einem Prozent aufgrund von Betrug und fehlender Compliance. Und je größer das Unternehmen ist, desto mehr Kriminelle werden es angreifen. Es braucht Investitionen und Aufmerksamkeit Die Pandemie wird in absehbarer Zeit nicht enden, sondern es Unternehmen weiterhin erschweren, mittels eines effektiven Betriebs- und der richtigen Personalplanung der immer größeren Betrugsgefahr zu begegnen. Daher überrascht es, dass mehr als die Hälfte der Befragten nicht vorhaben, ihre Budgets für Investitionen in Betrugsbekämpfungsmaßnahmen anzupassen. Da jedoch derzeit weniger als die Hälfte der Unternehmen über Programme zur Prävention, Erkennung und Abwehr von Betrugsversuchen verfügt, ist es offensichtlich, dass größere Investitionen in den Betrugsschutz absolut erforderlich sind. CFOs, Treasurer und CIOs benötigen ganz klar ein umfassenderes Abwehrsystem in Form einer neuen, führenden, automatisierten KI‑basierten Art der Betrugserkennung. Allgegenwärtige und immer neue Betrugsrisiken Betrug per Business Email Compromise (BEC) stellt auch weiterhin ein riesiges Problem für Treasury- und Finanzabteilungen dar. BEC‑Angriffe beginnen in der Regel damit, dass ein Mitarbeiter eine dringende E‑Mail erhält, die scheinbar von einem Mitglied der oberen Führungsebene stammt und in der eine Geldüberweisung angefordert wird. In Wahrheit imitiert der Angreifer jedoch eine legitime E‑Mail-Adresse. Hierzu verschaffen sich Kriminelle in der Regel per Phishing Zugang zum E‑Mail-System des Unternehmens. Eine Abwandlung dieser Betrugsart umfasst E‑MailRechnungen, die scheinbar von einem häufig genutzten Lieferanten stammen und in denen die Zahlungsanweisungen aktualisiert werden. Laut der Cyber Division des FBI haben die Verluste durch BEC‑Angriffe zwischen 2019 und 2020 um 5 % zugenommen – mit über 1,7 Milliarden US‑Dollar Verlust in 2019 und über 1,8 Milliarden US‑Dollar Verlust in 2020. Scheck- und Überweisungsbetrug bereitet Treasury- und Finanzabteilungen auch weiterhin Kopfzerbrechen, da diese Zahlungsmethoden am anfälligsten für Betrugsversuche sind. AFP fand in einer Studie heraus, dass 66 % bzw. 39 % der Finanzexperten 2020 Betrugsaktivitäten unter Verwendung dieser beiden Zahlungsarten gemeldet hatten. Scheckbetrug nimmt jedoch seit einigen Jahren konstant ab, da immer weniger Unternehmen Schecks für B2B‑Zahlungen einsetzen. Deepfake-Stimmbetrug ist eine verhältnismäßig neue Angriffsmethode, die sich jedoch als äußerst effektiv erwiesen hat. Bei dieser Betrugsmasche setzen Kriminelle in Telefonaten Deepfake-Stimmtechnologie ein. Diese Software kann die Stimme einer Person allein anhand eines kleinen Audioclips imitieren. Deepfake-Angriffe haben im letzten Jahr internationale Aufmerksamkeit erregt, als bekannt wurde, dass Betrüger mit dieser Methode 35 Millionen US‑Dollar von einer Bank gestohlen hatten. HÄUFIGE SCHWACHSTELLEN IN UNTERNEHMEN Ransomware-Angriffe , sind zwar technisch gesehen kein Betrug, doch sie stellen dennoch eine allgegenwärtige Gefahr für die Systeme und Bankkonten von Unternehmen dar. Bei einer Ransomware-Attacke wird das interne System eines Unternehmens infiziert (in der Regel über Phishing) und vom Angreifer übernommen. Benutzer werden aufgefordert, ein Lösegeld zu zahlen, wenn sie nicht dauerhaft aus ihren Systemen ausgeschlossen werden wollen. Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) ist die neueste Entwicklung in diesem Bereich. Hierbei verkaufen oder vermieten Entwickler ihre Ransomware-Exploits an Kunden, die sie dann ganz einfach auf ihre unglücklichen Opfer loslassen können. Tools zum Schutz vor Betrug Um moderne Bedrohungen wirksam zu bekämpfen, sollten Betrugspräventionslösungen folgende Funktionen bieten: Automatisierte Zahlungsprozesse zur Standardisierung von Kontrollen Echtzeitscreening sämtlicher Zahlungsdaten zur Erkennung verdächtiger Transaktionen Benutzerdefinierte Zahlungsscreening-Regeln Lösungsworkflow zur Untersuchung verdächtiger Zahlungen Option, um zu verhindern, dass Benutzer, die gegen eine Zahlungsregel verstoßen haben, gewarnt werden Überwachung des Status und der Priorität von Alarmen in einem KPI‑Dashboard Moderne Lösungen zur Erkennung von Zahlungsbetrug, wie z. B. das Payment Fraud Detection-Modul von Kyriba, bieten diese Funktionen und mehr. Screening, Alarme und Benachrichtigungen in Echtzeit Mit der Zunahme von Same‑Day- und Echtzeit-Zahlungssystemen sind auch Echtzeitreaktionen auf Betrugsversuche immer wichtiger geworden. Moderne Software für Betrugserkennung nutzt künstliche Intelligenz (KI) und Machine Learning (ML), um Zahlungen anhand von Verlaufsdaten zu screenen und Anomalien zu erkennen. Durch die Bereitstellung vollständiger Daten ermöglichen solche Lösungen eine datenbasierte Entscheidungsfindung. So bestimmt beispielsweise die Lösung „Payment Fraud Detection“ von Kyriba die Refelmäßigkeit jeder Zahlung – egal, ob automatisiert oder manuell – und kennzeichnet solche mit geringer Refelmäßigkeit. Die Lösung stellt Einblicke in die Variablen bereit, mit denen die ZahlungsrRefelmäßigkeit festgelegt wird. So können Benutzer einsehen, warum etwas als Anomalie eingestuft wurde. Und der vielleicht größte Vorteil für Benutzer besteht darin, dass Prozesse in keiner Weise verlangsamt werden – trotz der gesteigerten Transparenz der Zahlungsdaten. Zahlungen können aus verschiedenen Gründen als Anomalie gekennzeichnet werden: hohe Anzahl von Zahlungen desselben Dritten Zahlungen mit ungewöhnlich hohen Beträgen Zahlungen an Länder, die laut Unternehmensrichtlinie unzulässig sind verdächtige Änderungen an Zahlungen, die aus einem ERP importiert werden Zahlungen an ein Bankkonto, das von mehreren third parties verwendet wird doppelte Zahlungen Nachdem die Datenwissenschaftler von Kyriba mehrere MachineLearning‑Modelle getestet hatten, wählten sie zwei Lösungen aus, um Unregelmäßigkeiten in Zahlungen zu erkennen. Isolation Forest Ein Isolation-Forest-Modell ist ein unüberwachter Algorithmus, der nach dem Prinzip der Isolation von Anomalien arbeitet – anomale Instanzen in einem Datensatz sind tendenziell leichter vom Rest der Stichprobe zu trennen. Im folgenden Beispiel sehen wir, dass die Isolation von Anomalien im Vergleich zu den Normalpunkten weniger zufällige Partitionen erfordert: Generative Adversarial Network Ein Problem, auf das viele Machine-Learning-Modelle bei der Betrugserkennung stoßen, sind die fehlenden Daten in diesem Bereich. Die meisten Unternehmen haben bisher keinen signifikanten Zahlungsbetrug erlebt, weshalb es ihnen an umfangreichen Stichproben fehlt. Andere waren vielleicht Opfer von Zahlungsbetrug, aber können oder wollen keine Details nennen. Das Trainieren von KI‑Modellen gestaltet sich also schwierig, da Tools zum Schutz vor Betrug (Fortsetzung) Algorithmen nur aus guten Zahlungen und – im besten Fall – aus einer Handvoll schlechter lernen können. Generative adversarial networks (GANs) können dieses Problem lösen. Ein GAN ist ein Deep-Learning-Modell, das zwei separate neuronale Netze gegeneinander antreten lässt. Ein Netzwerk (der Generator) vermischt echte Daten mit synthetischen und versucht so das gegnerische Netzwerk (den Discriminator) auszutricksen. Kyriba erstellt ein „Betrüger“-Netzwerk (den Generator), das synthetische betrügerische Transaktionen in Zahlungen versteckt, die gemäß Kundenverlauf legitim sind. Dann geht ein „Polizei“-Netzwerk (der Discriminator) die Daten durch und trennt die unzulässigen Transaktionen von den richtigen. Indem das Betrugserkennungsmodell mithilfe dieser konkurrierenden Netzwerke trainiert wird, kann Kyriba betrügerische Transaktionen in Echtzeitdaten besser erkennen. Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) Model Dashboards Dashboards können so eingerichtet werden, dass sämtliche verdächtigen Zahlungen angezeigt und in der Lösung priorisiert werden – anhand von Faktoren wie Erkennungsregeln, Risiko, Anzahl von Vorfällen und einer Scorecard zur Betrugserkennung. Dashboards bieten autorisierten Benutzern ganzheitliche Einblicke in sämtliche Zahlungsscreenings und können ausstehende Aktionen effizient handhaben. Workflows zur Betrugsprävention Moderne Module zur Verhinderung von Zahlungsbetrug unterstützen auch vollständig automatisierte End-to-End-Workflows zur Handhabung ausstehender verdächtiger Zahlungen. Darüber hinaus können Benutzer festlegen, wie die einzelnen erkannten Zahlungen gemanagt werden sollen, und dabei die Aufgabentrennung zwischen Veranlasser, Genehmiger und Prüfer einer erkannten Zahlung durchsetzen. Prüfer können nach Zahlungsregel und spezifischem Szenario bestimmt werden (z. B. prüft der Treasury-Manager Zahlungen unter einer Million US‑Dollar, während Zahlungen über einer Million an den Treasurer gehen). Außerdem können auch Mitarbeiter abseits der TreasuryAbteilung mit der Prüfung bestimmter erkannter Zahlungen beauftragt werden. Berichterstellung und Audit Trails Führende Technologielösungen können gewährleisten, dass erkannte Zahlungen dauerhaft im System verfolgt werden – für tägliche, monatliche oder jährliche Berichte. Der Verlauf wird nie gelöscht und sämtliche Details verdächtiger Transaktionen, darunter auch der Audit Trail erkannter und gehandhabter Aktionen, werden für immer zwecks interner und externer Berichte aufbewahrt. Zahlungshubs Mit einem Zahlungshub, b können Unternehmen über einen zentralen Ort auf all ihre Betrugsschutz-Funktionen zugreifen. Zahlungshubs konsolidieren Zahlungsströme aus ERPs, Finanz- und Rechtsabteilungen, Treasury, Kapitalmarkt und dezentralen Teams und verwandeln so disaggregierte Prozesse in eine zentrale Datenquelle für sämtliche ausgehenden Zahlungen. Ein Zahlungshub transformiert außerdem Zahlungsdaten in bankenspezifische Dateiformate und stellt mithilfe verschiedener Protokolle, darunter Host-zu-Host, SWIFT und regionale Netzwerke, direkte Verbindungen zu globalen Banken her. Durch Integration von Zahlungen aus ERPs oder anderen Systemen kann die gesamte Zahlungsumgebung eines Unternehmens in einem einheitlichen, risikobasierten Framework zur Betrugsprävention untergebracht werden. Mit API‑basierten Verbindungen und Integrationen in einen Workflow zur Genehmigung und Betrugsprävention werden die Kontrollen verbessert und lassen sich ganz leicht verwalten. Betrugsschutz per Zahlungshub Matrix mit Lösungen zur Betrugsabwehr Treasury- und Finanzmitarbeitern stehen viele Tools zur Betrugsprävention zur Verfügung. Die folgende Liste bietet eine Übersicht einiger wichtiger Funktionen, mit denen moderne Tools Betrugsrisiken mindern. Tabelle mit Lösungen zur Betrugsabwehr Lösung Wichtige Schutzmaßnahmen Funktionen Szenarien der Betrugserkennun Vordefinierte Erkennungsregeln Kennzeichnet ungewöhnliche Zahlungen zur weiteren Prüfung Regeln können einfach angepasst oder neu erstellt werden Echtzeitscreening KI-/ML-Dashboard Screent Zahlungen anhand von Zahlungsverlaufsdaten Zeigt sämtliche verdächtigen Zahlungen an und priorisiert ihre Lösung Workflow zur Betrugsprävention Vollständig automatisierter Workflow Ermöglicht Benutzern die Handhabung ausstehender verdächtiger Zahlungen Bietet Benutzern die Möglichkeit festzulegen, wie Zahlungen gemanagt werden sollen Setzt die Trennung von Aufgaben rund um erkannte Zahlungen durch Weist Prüfer nach Zahlungsregeln und spezifischem Szenario zu Ermöglicht es, Mitarbeiter außerhalb der Treasury-Abteilung zur Zahlungsprüfung zuzuweisen Bietet eine Option, um Alarme vor Veranlassern/Genehmigern einer Zahlung zu verstecken Ermöglicht szenariobasierte Stopps von Zahlungen, bis diese auf gelöst wurden Bietet eine Umgehungsoption für Zahlungen mit niedrigen Werten Richtet abgestufte Genehmigungen ein Berichterstellung und Audit Trails Umfassendes KPI‑Reporting Erkannte Zahlungen werden dauerhaft im System verfolgt Der Verlauf wird nie gelöscht APIs: Die Zukunft der Betrugserkennung Echtzeitzahlungen, die sich immer stärker verbreiten, erfordern den Einsatz von APIs. Mithilfe dieser Technologie können zwei oder mehr Softwareanwendungen über interne oder externe Server hinweg kommunizieren. Durch offene Verbindungsprotokolle, mit denen Drittanbieter ihre Technologielösungen entwickeln können, ermöglichen APIs Echtzeitzahlungen in der Unternehmenswelt. Die alte Methode per Dateiübertragung ist einfach zu langsam, um Daten in Echtzeit zu übertragen. Und da Zahlungen, die einmal per Echtzeittransaktion überwiesen wurden, nicht mehr aufgehalten werden können, muss Betrug bereits im Genehmigungsprozess erkannt und verhindert werden. Durch die Implementierung von APIs in Ihre Zahlungsplattform können Benutzer Bankkonto-Validierungen und Zahlungsrichtlinien-Screenings vollständig automatisieren und automatisch Ausnahmen erkennen. APIs können Zahlungen sofort mit Drittanbieterdaten abgleichen. So kann beispielsweise sichergestellt werden, dass Zahlungsempfänger nicht auf Sanktionslisten stehen oder dass das Bankkonto auch wirklich dem Empfänger gehört, an den Ihr Unternehmen Geld senden will. Indem Sie APIs in Ihre Zahlungsplattform implementieren, kann Ihr Unternehmen nicht nur in Echtzeit auf Drittanbieterdaten zugreifen, sondern sie auch in Echtzeit abgleichen und Ausnahmen handhaben. Ungewöhnliche Zahlungen werden zur weiteren Prüfung unter Quarantäne gestellt, während normale Zahlungen wie gehabt verarbeitet werden. Erkenntnisse und Fazit CFOs und Treasurer brauchen heutzutage umfassende Zahlungskontrollen, um moderne Betrugsrisiken in den Griff zu bekommen – und dazu zählen neben künstlicher Intelligenz und Machine Learning auch APIs. In Unternehmen gibt es drei Bereiche, durch die sie anfällig für Betrug sind: technische Systeme, Prozesse und menschliches Versagen. Moderne Bedrohungen umfassen BEC‑Angriffe, Scheck- und Überweisungsbetrug, Deepfake-Stimmfälschung und Ransomware. Auf der anderen Seite stehen Technologien zur Betrugsbekämpfung, wie z. B. Erkennungsregeln, Echtzeitscreening, -alarme und -benachrichtigungen, Workflows zur Betrugsprävention, Berichterstellung und Audit Trails sowie Zahlungshubs. Während sich Bedrohungen immer weiterentwickeln, müssen Treasury- und Finanzteams ihr Bewusstsein für diese Bedrohungen schärfen. Möchten Sie erfahren, wie Sie Programme zur Erkennung von Betrug im Zahlungsverkehr und zur Reaktion auf Vorfälle aufbauen können, um den Schutz von Anfang bis Ende zu maximieren? Sehen Sie sich dieses On-Demand-Webinar an. Cybersecurity- und Betrugsexperten von Corelight und Kyriba erläutern Strategien zur Betrugsabwehr.

Applying Principles of Quality and Efficiency from the Manufacturing World to Treasury and Finance to Achieve More Efficient FX Risk Management One of the principal tenets of Lean is a focus on customer value....

Applying Principles of Quality and Efficiency from the Manufacturing World to Treasury and Finance to Achieve More Efficient FX Risk Management One of the principal tenets of Lean is a focus on customer value. Activities that do not have a direct bearing on the value of the product or end result are targeted for elimination. Our customers, using our platform and Lean principles work to transition their foreign currency related systems and processes to create greater automation and efficiency.

Robotics Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are no longer buzzwords and concepts. As technology advances and the applicability of various scenarios grow, treasury and the larger finance organization find...

Robotics Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are no longer buzzwords and concepts. As technology advances and the applicability of various scenarios grow, treasury and the larger finance organization find themselves in a new position: how to take advantage of tools and technology driving greater efficiency while, at the same time, focusing on core, valued activities.

A major shift is underway in the world of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. With both customers and ERP software vendors driving a mass migration to the cloud, many companies have already completed their...

A major shift is underway in the world of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. With both customers and ERP software vendors driving a mass migration to the cloud, many companies have already completed their ERP cloud migration projects—and thousands more are set to follow suit by the end of this decade. But ERP cloud migration is a costly and time-consuming undertaking, particularly where IT is concerned. For companies seeking to digitize their enterprise applications, it’s clear that corporate IT will be heavily taxed for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, cloud ERP software vendors and system integrators are poised to reap the benefits of years of migration project work. The Challenges of Bank Integration For corporations,  ERP cloud migration projects are often global in nature — and many will need to tackle the complexity of a global banking integration project. This element of ERP migration is particularly challenging, significant coordination is needed with the company’s banks, and there is a considerable disparity between the payment formats required by different geographic regions and clearing systems. Indeed, bank integration is often cited as one of the riskiest and most challenging elements of ERP cloud migration. Simplify and Accelerate The good news is that companies can considerably simplify and accelerate a major component of cloud ERP migrations: bank integration for reporting and payments. Connectivity-as-a-service (CaaS) providers deliver pre-delivered, pre-tested capabilities for bank reporting and payments formats that shave months off the migration project, and reduce connectivity and format costs by up to 80 percent. In this Ebook You will learn about the key areas to look at during an ERP cloud migration payments project, including: Following banks’ schedules Navigating variations due to geography, banks, statutory reasons Connectivity with your specific cloud ERP software (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, etc.) Resourcing challenges You’ll also find out how you can significantly reduce the cost and time required to complete your ERP cloud migration project. Bank and ERP Cloud Integration: What’s Involved? Bank integration is unlike any other system integration. Today’s corporate IT teams are experienced in building interfaces between different back-office systems—but these are typically stagnated interfaces that do not require additional resources. In contrast, when working on a bank interface, the IT team will typically need many different resources to coordinate with each other, including IT, treasury, accounts payable (AP), the connectivity team, the bank’s tech team, and others. What’s more, the project timeline is usually at the mercy of the bank’s schedule. Bank ERP integration can similarly be time-consuming. IT first has to determine if the cloud solution is compatible with their ERP. Then, the data needs to be extracted out of the ERP and re-formated. IT departments are often stymied and reliant upon outside consultants to deliver integrations or core capabilities within the ERP. Furthermore, once the initial specifications for these connections are determined, they need to be tested - and they rarely pass on the first try. As a result, the development team will need to rebuild, re-test and work through the coordination effort all over again. In some cases, two to five rounds of testing may be needed. What are the Challenges in ERP Cloud Migration? For IT, the bank integration component of an ERP cloud migration brings a number of additional challenges. Working on the Banks’ Timelines Delays in the ERP migration project often arise due to delays by the company’s banks. If the company has a robust relationship with a core banking partner, it may be able to move up the project queue for that particular bank. But with many corporations needing to manage dozens of banks globally, the IT team will be forced to follow those banks’ schedules—which means working across different time zones and navigating banking holidays and seasonal moratoriums on testing. Navigating Geographical Variations No two banks are the same, and it’s a common misconception that SWIFT is a standard message type across banks. While SWIFT is moving from MT to XML, each bank will still have its own unique requirement in terms of how it will accept incoming files. For any payment type, companies will need to ensure that payments are formatted correctly for a specific bank’s requirements and that they contain the information the bank needs to complete the payment. Most corporations will need multiple formats per bank, which might include different formats for low value, high value and FX transactions. Given the complexities, it’s no surprise that IT firms routinely take two years or more to work through all these bank connections and payment format testing. Payments Integration and Fraud Prevention Payments integration is a challenge, given the ever-increasing threat of fraud. Even with effective tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the threat level is the highest it's been yet, according to Strategic Treasurer's 2021 Treasury Fraud & Controls Survey. In addition to financial loss, fraud events damage a company’s reputation and lead to the loss of essential data or assets. It is therefore essential to use ERP integration as a way to put technology in place to protect your organization. This should include digitizing payment workflows, standardizing controls and screening payments as part of an integrated payments hub. Complexities for IT Adding to these challenges, bank integration brings a number of complexities where IT is concerned. Limited IT bandwidth Corporate IT teams are already thinly spread across numerous projects and support requirements. As such, the time involved in undertaking a bank integration project can be particularly onerous. No Reusable Data When IT teams work on an ERP implementation, they have to develop their banking interfaces as a one-off exercise. While ERPs may be moving to the cloud, ERP solutions are still typically private cloud providers—and no ERP in the market has readily available, reusable banking formats that can be shared among users. Multiple Stagings Bank and payment format development is no different than for any other interface or application, as IT has to work through the same rigorous processes. If the business users need a new payment format, such as a new ACH for an existing bank, they will still need to go through the process of testing, QA, nonproduction and production. This process can take months, meaning there will be a considerable delay before the end user has access to the payment format. Resource Requirements Once formats are in production, the IT infrastructure team will need to manage those formats going forward. This involves activities such as troubleshooting bank issues, editing formats as required by the bank and working with the business to add new banks when the need arises. Depending on the company’s banking footprint, two to five people will likely need to be tasked with managing these connections on an ongoing basis. Integration Made Easy Standard ERP integration is a lengthy process that is incredibly taxing on IT. But there is an easier way. Leading technology providers should offer a pre-built, pre-tested connectivity solution that takes minimal time to get up and running and provides access to even greater functionality immediately. Leading ERP and Bank Connectivity Technology Considerations ERP integration brings many challenges to IT - but these can be overcome by adopting a technology solution that simplifies both bank and ERP connectivity. With 20 years experience in connectivity, Kyriba can integrate bank reporting and payments, while mitigating risk--all in record time thanks to our use of application programming interfaces (APIs). Accelerate your ERP Migration Project and Reduce Costs Our out-of-the-box, bolt-on bank connectivity can help you achieve exceptional time and cost savings on bank integration. While standard integrations might required months of testing, our connections are pre-tested and ready to go. Access a Payment Format Library As a multi-tenant application, Kyriba is unique in the marketplace as our entire 2,500-strong customer base uses the same predeveloped and tested payment formats. What’s more, we have full-time staff whose sole responsibility is to build and test payment formats. As a result of 20 years of development, we offer more than 45,000 pre-developed and bank-tested unique payment scenarios. Simplify Interfaces Minimal IT resources are needed when it comes to interfacing between the ERP software and Kyriba. Using both SFTP and API, we take all payment files into our prebuilt interfaces with no code specs needed from IT. Focus on the Wider Project Kyriba’s connectivity platform frees IT up from the daunting task of bank integration—so you can focus on keeping the ERP project on schedule and on budget. Avoid the Need for Swift Connectivity and Certifications When you use Kyriba for connectivity, IT won’t need to manage the Alliance Lite2 SWIFT connection— and there will be no need for annual testing and certifications. Manage Ongoing Maintenance and Support When the project is over, Kyriba will handle all ongoing maintenance and will act as the banking IT support arm for business users, meaning you won’t need dedicated IT resources to troubleshoot bank issues. Connectivity as a Service By offering Connectivity as a Service (CaaS), Kyriba can actively manage bank connections on your behalf. As a result, no IT support will be needed to manage your company’s bank connections or undertake file testing with banks—and with Kyriba's API capabilities, companies can also add new banks in a fraction of the time that would be needed for custom development within the ERP. Market-Leading Payment Fraud Protection With IT increasingly tasked with risk mitigation, Kyriba’s market-leading payment fraud solution adds considerable value. The solution uses machine learning to detect any anomalies or suspicious activity, and provides alerts to stop payments for investigation before they are sent to the bank. Payment Tracking Kyriba offers real-time payment tracking with four levels of acknowledgement. By harnessing SWIFT gpi, Kyriba is able to track the entire lifecycle of the transaction. Innovation and Agility Hub Payment technology is evolving rapidly. Kyriba’s innovation and agility hub can deliver Real Time Payments (RTP) and can connect with other clearing systems and payment solutions. Smart Assignment Kyriba’s machine learning will have visibility to your banking partners and costs associated with each payment. Smart assignment can intelligently route your payments through the lowest cost provider. Bank Monitoring Kyriba offers global bank monitoring of all incoming and outgoing files. Kyriba clients can rest assured that they have fully outsourced banking support. Established Partnerships As an Oracle GOLD partner, Kyriba's Payments Network supports over 1,000 Oracle customers. Our payments solutions have also achieved SAP-certified integration with the SAP NetWeaver® technology platform and SAP S/4HANA. APIs and Connectivity The future of connectivity lies in Application Programming Interface (API) technology. This is where Kyriba has a key advantage. As the leader in connectivity in treasury and finance, Kyriba understands how to maximize the power of APIs to help finance leaders drive digital transformation and more informed decision-making. Bank APIs APIs offer an expedited pathway for bank connectivity, as well as a gateway to real-time business intelligence and digital solutions. Unlike file transfer protocol (FTP), APIs do not require files to be sent or downloaded. Data is exchanged point to point between the systems immediately, allowing for instant data transmission and eliminating substantial risk. Kyriba connects with over 600 global banks every day on behalf of our 2,500 clients using a variety of connection protocols, including APIs. Banking services available via API vary by bank, but can include real-time payments, domestic payments, cross-border payments, bank balance and transaction reporting, and SWIFT gpi payment tracking. Users receive immediate responses from banks, and the ability to access new data and notifications in real-time. ERP APIs Kyriba also works with ERP system providers to embed other systems via API integration into their workflows so that the user doesn’t need to take any action outside their ERP. These add-ons perform the initial formatting so that files can be exported from the ERP, translated to the API provider’s format and pushed out to the connectors. Corporate end-users can also integrate APIs into their ERPs on their own. These plug-and-play solutions are facilitated through our Open API platform, which provides users with common ERP integrations that connect to their own applications. Kyriba users can browse our online catalog, which lists all our available APIs and their prospective use cases. Here are a few examples: Bank Account Groups: This API allows for the creation of new account groups to filter and/or group accounts in processing and reporting. Users can modify the set of accounts that belongs to a specific group, and retrieve or update the pooling account of the group. Companies: This API allows for the setup of companies. Users can get a list of the companies located in a country, receive a list of companies whose name contains specific characters, and obtain all the setup fields of a specific company. Third Parties: With this API, users can manage and set up third parties who represent the companies they manage. Users can retrieve and update third-party details, and create or delete third parties via API. Optimized Bank Connectivity Conclusion There are many challenges for IT when deploying an ERP project, from working around banks’ schedules and specifications, to navigating the complexities of geographical variations - all while juggling an already heavy workload. Fortunately, Kyriba’s in-house developed, complete CaaS solution encompasses all ERP software vendors, internal financial systems, third party providers, and over 600+ pre-configured, pre-tested connections with banks across the globe - allowing for fast and simplified ERP migration. Payment and connectivity costs can be reduced dramatically, while the time spent on bank integration can be streamlined by as much as 80%. What’s more, freeing up the IT team from having to work within the constraints of the banks will help you keep the wider ERP project on time and on budget. Check out this webinar to learn how Treasury and IT worked together at Hilton Grand Vacations with Kyriba to speed up connecting more than 10 banks and 300 bank accounts as part of their Oracle ERP cloud migration project. 

More than 70 percent of SAP and Oracle customers are due to undergo an ERP cloud migration within the next three years, a major undertaking. But such a project also offers a great opportunity...

More than 70 percent of SAP and Oracle customers are due to undergo an ERP cloud migration within the next three years, a major undertaking. But such a project also offers a great opportunity to approach payments more strategically in areas such as fraud detection, bank connectivity and payment formats.

 A Strategic Treasury Focus Boosts Cash Flow and Minimizes Risks Treasury operations manage the lifeblood of their companies: cash liquidity. CFOs know that their treasury teams are critically important, handling everything from cash flow...

 A Strategic Treasury Focus Boosts Cash Flow and Minimizes Risks Treasury operations manage the lifeblood of their companies: cash liquidity. CFOs know that their treasury teams are critically important, handling everything from cash flow forecasts to optimizing working capital, along with foreign exchange currency risk and investing and borrowing. The team’s performance has a direct impact on the bottom line. Yet, 22% of CFOs and senior finance executives say they don’t see their treasury team as a profit center, according to a recent survey by CFO Research and Kyriba. And only a quarter of the executives say their treasury operations are operating at a high level with a strategic approach. This report examines what the survey says about the links between treasury and overall performance, the obstacles that treasury teams face and how CFOs can boost their treasury performance to improve overall profitability. Which of the Following Best Describes Your Role? KEY POINTS Senior finance executives expect treasury teams to manage critical tasks linked to cash flow and risk, according to a survey. That three-quarters of finance executives view their treasury operations as strategically lacking. Obstacles faced by treasury teams include complex financial structures and siloed systems, and a lack of technology investments, real-time business intelligence, expertise and process automation. A lack of spending on treasury and a focus on everyday tasks over strategic objectives block progress for treasury teams. Working capital optimization is the top treasury concern of financial executives moving forward. The surveyed finance executives also acknowledge that their treasury organizations need to make technology and process improvements to meet industry best practices. Predictive analytics, payments automation and cash management are the top three technology and process improvements that treasury teams need to make, according to the survey respondents. WHY TREASURY PERFORMANCE SHOULD DEMAND YOUR ATTENTION There is widespread agreement among CFOs and other senior finance executives: Treasury performance is critical to the health of their organizations, and they expect their treasury teams to manage a range of critical tasks. According to a 2020 CFO Research/Kyriba survey, senior finance executives give similar weighting to a range of treasury department priorities: accurately forecasting cash flow, operational efficiency, fraud prevention, compliance, optimizing working capital and FX risk management are somewhat evenly matched. Rather than singling out one or a few of the priorities, the 156 surveyed executives indicate that all are nearly equally important. The survey also reveals another theme: finance executives tie treasury performance directly to cash and liquidity management. The surveyed executives measure treasury performance based primarily on free cash flow, cash used for working capital, productivity and efficiency, investing and borrowing performance, and reduced risk exposure. These are all important, of course -- liquidity drives business performance, CEOs often give guidance to the investment community about meeting free cash flow targets and cash is needed for working capital. What Are Your Current Priorities Related to Treasury? But whether or not the finance executives formally track these factors as key performance indicators for their treasury teams, nearly all of the executives have the same expectations. They want better returns from cash, more optimized investment and borrowing, best practices executed for liquidity and cash management, and protection against fraud. On the topic of the best ways for treasury teams to optimize liquidity, the survey respondents again see almost-equal priorities rather than one or two favorites, giving nearly the same importance to reducing borrowing costs, increasing returns on excess cash, generating free cash flow, mobilizing global cash more efficiently and implementing supplier financing programs. They also give similar weights to each of eight areas where their treasury teams could make a better contribution to overall business performance. Increasing cash flow is the favorite at 41%, followed by increasing interest earned on excess cash, protecting against payments fraud, improving treasury team productivity, centralizing treasury data and processes, reducing currency volatility impacts, providing secure and efficient global payments, and providing business continuity planning for global treasury. Finance executives expect their treasury teams to meet all of these cgoals, and if they aren’t done right, it costs their organizations in financial losses or missed opportunities. CFOs recognize that cash is the lifeblood of their organizations. When treasury can manage cash and liquidity well—if it can provide visibility to cash and deploy it effectively, optimize investment and borrowing, and protect cash from fraud and currency risks—then it sets itself up to optimize how cash is made available and deployed, such as for cash operations, stock dividends or company growth in other parts of the world. THE CURRENT STATE OF TREASURY Despite the consensus that treasury operations are integral to company success, the survey also shows that treasury operations are lagging considerably behind the vision that the CFOs and other finance executives have for them. Surprisingly, 22% of the surveyed executives say they don’t see their treasury team as a profit center. On behalf of those who don’t share that view, 53% of the surveyed executives say their treasury teams contribute as a profit center by earning greater returns on cash and 34% say they contribute by unlocking supplier discounts for early payments. Rounding out the profit-center views, 28% see contributions from treasury’s FX intercompany management and 24% from viewing treasury as an in-house bank. On the bright side, 78% of the CFOs and other senior finance executives in the survey view the role of treasury as actively contributing to the bottom line. And most are earning greater returns on cash from areas such as investment income on the large cash balances that companies frequently hold in today’s economy. They also value cash management and see cash as something that can help create profitability and improve margins. The glass-half-empty view? The executives in the 22% contingent probably are not aware of the potential links of treasury to value creation, and are likely not investing in things like cash forecasting or technology that will help their treasury teams contribute in strategic roles, viewing cash merely as a means to pay bills, and not much more. How Do You See Your Treasury Team Contributing as a Profit Center? When asked about their current state, only one quarter of surveyed finance executives describe their treasury operations as “strategic,” the highest level, meaning that treasury “creates value through enterprise-level insight and intelligence.” Three out of every 20 finance executives surveyed say treasury is operating at an “ad-hoc” level, or the lowest level, which is primarily reactive. Anything below strategic is suboptimal. But why are treasury teams being placed in the not-strategic category? The surveyed finance executives report several internal obstacles that restrict the CFO’s ability to support organizational growth and bottom-line value, with a fairly even distribution between those obstacles: complex financial structures, siloed or disparate financial systems, lack of resources, insufficient technology investments, lack of real-time business intelligence, lack of expertise and lack of process automation. All of these obstacles point to a mindset that the company hasn’t invested the time and money necessary to improve treasury processes and the systems that support them. They also signal a lack of collaboration and coordination in the way the financial structure is set up. A lack of spending on treasury and a tactical focus, where time is spent on completing everyday tasks at the expense of forward-looking achievements, translates to lower productivity for treasury teams, especially for the range of critical tasks and high expectations that CFOs have set out for them. Companies are getting in their own way when they fail to prioritize treasury operations and don’t invest in the capabilities and tools that treaury needs. HOW TO GET BETTER CFOs value the importance of treasury operations, and most of them recognize that their treasury teams haven’t reached a strategic level yet. So how do they set up treasury to achieve its full potential? The key barrier is that treasury teams often get so bogged down in reactive tasks that they don’t create opportunities to work on strategic tasks. If treasury can get around its mountain of tactical work, it can be more proactive with insights and analysis. One way that CFOs appear to be attacking this issue is through technology. The survey shows that more than one-third of the respondents use connectivity middleware/payment hub software, data visualization/business intelligence software and mobile devices for multifactor authentication with their finance teams. A slightly lower percentage of the surveyed finance executives employ application programming interfaces to banks and trading partners, as well as machine learning and robotic process automation. All of these technologies help harness data and can make treasury teams more effective and analytical, which helps them make better decisions about managing cash and liquidity. Fostering more analysis of data and information creates an opportunity for treasury and finance to become more strategic. TREASURY ORGANIZATIONS NEED TO MAKE TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS TO MEET INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICES. PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS ARE AT THE TOP OF THE LIST, CITED BY 45% OF THE RESPONDENTS AS AN AREA OF INTEREST, FOLLOWED BY PAYMENTS AUTOMATION AT 32% AND CASH MANAGEMENT AT 31%. In Which of the Following Areas Does the Treasury Organization Need to Imporve Its Technology and/or Process to Match Industry Best Practices? The surveyed finance executives also acknowledge that their treasury organizations need to make technology and process improvements to meet industry best practices. Predictive analytics are at the top of the list, cited by 45% of the respondents as an area of interest, followed by payments automation at 32% and cash management at 31%. The number of organizations utilizing technology that still acknowledge the need for improvement show a level of aspiration. CFOs and their organizations are recognizing they need to make changes to achieve the performance standards they’ve set for their treasury teams based on free cash flow and other factors. What Are Your Top Three Treasury Concerns for 2020 and Beyond? Looking ahead, the top three treasury concerns for 2020 and beyond are working capital optimization, according to 41% of the surveyed executives, followed by payments fraud for 29% and low interest rates for 28%. The other items on the treasury concerns list include treasury operating costs, treasury productivity, currency volatility and business continuity. The diverse pattern of responses indicate that other than with working capital optimization, every organization will have its own individual set of priorities for fortifying its treasury operations. Also, with no consensus about treasury deficiencies, each organization will have to carefully examine and gain a better understanding of its own treasury team, which could lead to visibility that hasn’t previously existed. The bottom line is that CFOs and other finance executives value their treasury teams, and they have a good understanding of all the vital benefits that their teams can deliver—a point made repeatedly through the survey results. Although there may not be a simple fix, they’ve identified a list of internal obstacles that they must overcome to improve treasury. They also recognize the opportunity at hand: to bring their treasury operations up to a strategic level where they can fulfill their potential. To make that happen, they need to arm their treasury teams with the right tools to understand and analyze data, and to make better decisions. Starting with some simple investments in technology, CFOs can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of treasury. And as that efficiency and effectiveness grows, it increases the probability of good outcomes like increased profitability. CONCLUSION Treasury performance is tied directly to cash and liquidity management. CFOs know that accurately forecasting cash flow, operational efficiency, fraud prevention, compliance, optimizing working capital and FX risk management are all critical tasks that their treasury teams must manage to sustain the health of their companies. Most of them also recognize that their treasury teams need work. Most treasury operations fail to achieve their full potential because they get bogged down in tactical, reactive work. Treasury teams need investments in predictive analytics, payments automation and cash management. As technology and process improvements help treasury teams to harness more data and employ more analytics, those teams will become more strategic and capable of meeting their CFOs’ expectations. And companies will enjoy improvements in free cash flow, cash usage for working capital, productivity and efficiency, investing and borrowing performance, and reduced risk exposure.     Check out this on-demand webinar and learn how 2021 AFP Pinnacle Award Winner HCSC transformed into a data-driven treasury with 1000+ hours of productivity improvement and 90% reduction in working capital requirements.

Activating your organization’s liquidity can optimize cash, payments and risk to generate increased business value. But what does it mean to activate liquidity and how can you do it?

Activating your organization’s liquidity can optimize cash, payments and risk to generate increased business value. But what does it mean to activate liquidity and how can you do it?

This new e-book is designed to provide a quick, graphical overview into how payment hubs can help increase efficiency, reduce costs and enhance fraud prevention.

This new e-book is designed to provide a quick, graphical overview into how payment hubs can help increase efficiency, reduce costs and enhance fraud prevention.

Why are 10 CFOs ‘sounding off’ about treasury? Because they feel passionate about the direct and immediate value that that treasury can deliver when properly activated via cloud-based technology.

Why are 10 CFOs ‘sounding off’ about treasury? Because they feel passionate about the direct and immediate value that that treasury can deliver when properly activated via cloud-based technology.

It seems counterintuitive. Even as businesses spend more time and money than ever combatting payments fraud, the crime itself becomes more ubiquitous. In a new study by CFO Research, 40 percent of senior finance...

It seems counterintuitive. Even as businesses spend more time and money than ever combatting payments fraud, the crime itself becomes more ubiquitous. In a new study by CFO Research, 40 percent of senior finance executives report that organizations in their industries are experiencing a much higher incidence of payments fraud than they did two years ago. Payments fraud is any fraud that involves falsely creating or diverting payments. Check fraud, credit card fraud, access fraud, and “spear-phishing” are common varieties seen by CFOs. Some finance chiefs report that the risk associated with payments fraud now approaches the materiality of foreign exchange risk and other high-value uncertainties. Indeed, beyond the sometimes substantial hard-dollar costs, payments fraud can result in lower productivity among employees tasked with dealing with the fallout, adverse customer experiences, the actual loss of customers, a stained corporate reputation, and, for publicly traded companies, losses in stock market valuation. For CFOs charged with safeguarding corporate coffers, there is no silver bullet that can stop payments fraud in its tracks. Managing and minimizing the problem is a discipline unto itself. Done well, it is a holistic, proactive undertaking that combines best-practice processes with dedicated detection and monitoring programs built on the latest advanced technologies. Done well, it also allows CFOs to do a better job of keeping corporate directors apprised of the risks their companies face in this area, and the safeguards in place to mitigate them. Figure 1. The Biggest Challenges My Finance Team Faces in Trying to Combat Payments Fraud Identifying—and Resolving—The Challenges to Success The biggest challenge that CFOs face in combatting payments fraud is finding and implementing the right technology. Technology was cited as a key challenge by nearly one-in-two (45 percent) of survey respondents in the recent CFO Research survey. Conducted in collaboration with Kyriba, the survey polled 167 U.S. finance executives at companies with more than $100 million in annual revenues across a wide range of industries. (See Figure 1). Other commonly cited obstacles include securing the budget for anti-fraud initiatives (38 percent), and finding the time to pursue them (37 percent). Rounding out the top five challenges, finance executives say it’s a challenge to assemble a team with the skill sets (29 percent) and knowledge base (25 percent) needed to fight payments fraud effectively. And, anecdotally, some respondents also suggest that companies aren’t doing enough on the front lines to fight fraud. “Work with the clerks and managers that are likely to be the first people to be contacted or become aware of a fraud attempt,” one survey respondent advises. “They can stop attempts before they get to the payment phase.” Another finance executive suggests it is simply time to buckle down to the task at hand and do a better job of it. “Set aside sufficient budget, do the proper research, then employ the right specialists to get this in place,” the respondent admonishes. “Invest in strong technology and air-tight workflow,” writes another. “Allocate the people and resources to combat and reduce fraud—(the) benefits fall to the bottom line,” writes still another. Report from the Front: Fraud Is on the Rise Payments fraud is on the rise. Four in ten (40 percent) of survey respondents say organizations in their industries are experiencing a much higher incidence of payments fraud than they did just two years ago. Another 15 percent say they can’t confirm or rebut the idea, leaving open the possibility that increases in payments fraud are broader still. These findings are directionally consistent with other studies, including the 2017 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey conducted by the Association for Financial Professionals. It found that 74 percent of organizations had experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2016, up from 62 percent in 2014 and the highest level recorded since the AFP began tracking the problem in 2006. Contrary to what one might expect, it isn’t always smaller, less sophisticated enterprises that are being impacted by payments fraud. In 2016, the AFP survey found, organizations with at least $1 billion in annual revenue were actually more likely than their smaller counterparts to have been hit by the crime. And while the majority of the respondents to that survey reported that their company’s direct payments-fraud losses were relatively small—less than $100,000—32 percent of financial professionals at companies with at least $1 billion in revenue and more than 100 payment accounts reported losses exceeding $500,000. Within that group, 16 percent said their losses exceeded $2 million. The reason behind the growing incidence of payments fraud isn’t hard to fathom. Throughout history, criminals have demonstrated a remarkable dedication to trying to outsmart their victims, and the advent of new technologies such as social media and mobile shopping and mobile banking have simply widened the field of opportunity. While check fraud remains the most common type of payments fraud, for example, criminals today are increasingly exploiting the digital technologies that make it faster and easier for companies and consumers to interact with each other. Last June, the Federal Bureau of Investigation felt compelled to issue an alert warning about the growing problem of “business email compromise,” in which fraudsters target businesses working with foreign suppliers, or businesses that regularly make wire transfer payments. The relentless enthusiasm exhibited by criminals searching for new ways to defraud businesses means that businesses must combat their efforts with equally relentless countermeasures. Elevating Payments Fraud Detection to a First-Order Priority Only 10 percent of the executives in the CFO Research survey feel strongly that most finance teams in their industry have strong processes and technologies in place to capably and efficiently detect fraud or ensure fraud-related compliance. It is a weak endorsement of current strategies for managing payments fraud. And where companies do seek to battle back, the tactics they use often are aimed at historical threats rather than evolving fraud strategies. Asked which are the most important tactics used by their companies, 45 percent of survey respondents cite auditing (audit trails). That’s followed by expanded use of electronic payments (41 percent) and daily reconciliations (35 percent). All three are valuable tools, to be sure. By contrast, consider that only about one-third of survey respondents (34 percent) say they employ dedicated fraud detection and monitoring systems that can proactively ferret out fraud attempts. The CFO too often appears to be checking the rear-view mirror instead of scanning the road ahead for trouble. Many finance executives also admit that they need to be doing more to support their boards of directors in this area. Asked where their boards most often fail to receive critical information and decision-support data from the CFO, 43 percent list fraud monitoring and mitigation—more than any other area. Thirty-seven percent also say their organizations lack the tools or technology to enable the board to make good decisions on this issue. Figure 2. Tactics for Managing Payments Fraud That My Finance Team Should Substantially Improve The Way Forward: Fraud Detection Where to begin? Dedicated fraud detection and monitoring systems top that list of tactics that the finance team should substantially improve. Cited by 36 percent of survey respondents, fraud detection and monitoring handily outpaces other tools and practices that include limiting the use of paper payments (26 percent), automated approval workflows (24 percent), audit trails (22 percent) and daily reconciliations (22 percent). (See Figure 2). Several survey respondents noted that the ever-shifting and expanding payments-fraud landscape is sufficiently daunting that they advise turning over the work—particularly fraud detection and monitoring activities—to third-party providers for whom it is a core capability. As one survey respondent puts it, “Outsource much of the fraud function to companies that have strong controls. Third parties may be better at this than your team.” Ten Best Practices for Combatting Payments Fraud Understand your vulnerabilities. With so many types of payments fraud, it’s impossible to do a good job of combatting them without understanding what they are. Examples include external threats such as hacking of treasury systems by third parties, as well as a raft of internal threats. The latter include fraudulent payments sent by employees to a company’s bank, either willfully or as an unknowing consequence of a spear-phishing attack; and fraudulent purchase orders and invoices created by employees that are then paid out to related third parties. Erect roadblocks to unauthorized access to corporate information systems. Deploy robust login and user authentication procedures, including dual-factor and in some cases multi-factor authentication. Move finance data to the cloud. While data security has long been cited as a reason for not moving data to the cloud, the growing consensus today is that cloud providers, for whom security is a core competency, offer greater, not weaker, security systems and protocols than most companies can deliver on their own. Because a significant percentage of payments fraud originates internally, moving corporate finance data to the cloud can reduce the opportunity for it to occur. Boost control over global bank accounts. Maintaining a handle on bank accounts becomes more difficult as companies grow and expand globally, but it’s a task that can’t be ignored. Companies need to make sure they have systems that can provide transparency into accounts, authorized signers and account documentation; track all bank activity; and efficiently reconcile accounts with banking partners. Make use of digital signatures. All commerce and banking today is electronic at some point in the payments cycle. Digital signatures, which can help authenticate transmitted payment files, can minimize opportunities for payments fraud. Centralize payments activity in a single system. Coupled with multiple, standardized and electronic approvals, an integrated payments system allows for a complete and detailed electronic paper trail for all payments, minimizing opportunities for fraud. Standardize settlement instructions for financial trades. For any kind of investment transaction, including foreign exchange and derivatives transactions, embedding standardized settlement instructions in corporate financial systems can not only improve efficiency but also help block any redirection of funds to unauthorized accounts. Educate employees. Even the best anti-fraud program will spot fraud only after it’s occurred. That’s still extraordinarily valuable, especially when the system is able to spot the fraud quickly. But one of the best ways to prevent payments fraud is to educate employees about the various types of fraudulent schemes they may encounter, so that they can avoid being duped by them and prevent fraud from occurring in the first place. Update and test your fraud-detection capabilities. Corporations should review their payments-fraud detection/monitoring systems and protocols to make sure they’re working. Some companies may have the resources to do this internally, but many will find it makes sense to engage a third-party expert to both create defense systems and to test them regularly. Regularly participate in opportunities to share with and learn from other organizations. Few “industries” adapt and evolve faster than the payments-fraud industry. A company can no more allow its fraud detection and prevention program to remain static than it could allow its products or services to remain unchanged. Companies should make sure the finance function, and any others that touch on the payments process, participate in conferences and workshops where they can share with and learn from other organizations combatting the same challenges. Conclusion Focusing on the five core challenges to addressing payments fraud is a strong way to get started. Technology, Budget, Time, Skills, and Knowledge are all critical components to developing and implementing an effective strategy. The sidebar, “Ten Best Practices for Combatting Payments Fraud” adds some tactical specificity to the CFO’s search for an answer to payments fraud. No matter which route CFOs take, it’s clear that getting going sooner rather than later makes sense—especially if they count their own organizations among those that are only modestly effective at managing payments-fraud risk today. CFOs increasingly feel that fraud detection and monitoring must become one of their core responsibilities, because it is the only chance they have of staying at least even with an evolving threat. And that threat is not only about the money; it is about the customer, and the brand, and the business. “You need to start already,” concludes one survey respondent. “The criminals are adapting faster than we are.” You Need to Start Already. The Criminals Are Adapting Faster Than We Are.” Check out this on-demand webinar and learn from cybersecurity experts from Corelight and Kyriba on how to build B2B payment fraud defense programs to maximize end-to-end protection.

Corporate fraud is at an all-time high -- is your organization protected? One of the mandates of the modern CFO is to make sure they have secure, end-to-end financial controls in place to prevent...

Corporate fraud is at an all-time high -- is your organization protected? One of the mandates of the modern CFO is to make sure they have secure, end-to-end financial controls in place to prevent both internal and external fraud and protect against loss.

In this eBook, Actualize Consulting and Kyriba address the many strategic advantages that an in-house bank provides, the key benefits that range from bank fee savings to increased visibility of corporate-wide FX exposures and...

In this eBook, Actualize Consulting and Kyriba address the many strategic advantages that an in-house bank provides, the key benefits that range from bank fee savings to increased visibility of corporate-wide FX exposures and enhanced controls, as well as the must-dos and dont's for a successful in-house bank launch. Considering if an in-house bank is right for your organization? This eBook is right for you!

The modern treasurer now manages an expanded risk profile with increasingly technical compliance challenges and increasingly sophisticated instances of cyber-crime. Meanwhile, strategic cash management, optimizing working capital and centralizing payments among others remain top...

The modern treasurer now manages an expanded risk profile with increasingly technical compliance challenges and increasingly sophisticated instances of cyber-crime. Meanwhile, strategic cash management, optimizing working capital and centralizing payments among others remain top priorities. Download this eBook to gain insight into seven competitive advantages and the the available tools, techniques and technology you can utilize to overcome those challenges.

This ebook outlines seven of the most critical reasons why treasury professionals in more than 100 countries use Kyriba to manage their organization’s most critical asset. Topics covered in the ebook include: Bank connectivity...

This ebook outlines seven of the most critical reasons why treasury professionals in more than 100 countries use Kyriba to manage their organization’s most critical asset. Topics covered in the ebook include: Bank connectivity Cash forecasting Security and fraud prevention Creating strategic value See for yourself why Kyriba’s SaaS treasury management system is the most-used TMS, trusted by more than 1,500 of the world’s largest and most respected organizations.

Lack of visibility over cash balances and risk exposures is cited year after year in industry surveys as treasurers’ top priority and biggest challenge. This ebook outlines straightforward steps that corporate treasurers can take...

Lack of visibility over cash balances and risk exposures is cited year after year in industry surveys as treasurers’ top priority and biggest challenge. This ebook outlines straightforward steps that corporate treasurers can take to achieve 100% visibility on global cash balances.

The increase in global trade and government regulations, combined with improved technology processes, is behind a push for organizations to deploy centralized financial solutions. In particular, forward-thinking financial departments, which have already implemented treasury...

The increase in global trade and government regulations, combined with improved technology processes, is behind a push for organizations to deploy centralized financial solutions. In particular, forward-thinking financial departments, which have already implemented treasury management systems in order to gain global cash visibility and optimize liquidity, are now focusing on payments and debits. Kyriba's white paper on payment factories provides valuable insight for anyone who is thinking of establishing a payment factory, or any finance professional who is looking to streamline their payments process and reduce transaction fees.