How will finance adapt to the pandemic?
Take on the role of a CFO navigating through the pandemic. Learn how your priorities align with emerging trends and best practices in treasury management.
Start your interactive journey
Can you lead your company through the pandemic?
COVID-19 has had a revolutionary impact on how companies operate -- touching everything from the supply chain to cybersecurity.
1
Security Breach!
You’re the CFO of a graphics card producer, and have seen a surge in demand during the pandemic. Then, your CEO’s email was compromised, and malicious actors made off with a $500,000 fraudulent wire transfer. Now the money’s gone!
Protect your Company
2
Can’t keep up with demand!
You’re the CFO of a global medical equipment supplier. Almost overnight, demand for your products has spiked. Good news turns bad: Your inventories are depleted. You want to give your suppliers an accurate picture of demand, but none of your data is centralized.
Get Control of Your Data
3
Business Model in Peril!
You’re the CFO of an organic Greek yoghurt company that recently expanded into food service. But the pandemic has effectively shut down the restaurants that were the company’s growth engine. Now, we need to digitally transform our business model.
Start the Transformation
Choose a scenario below to test your strategy in navigating your company through the pandemic.
Are you familiar with cyber-security issues at some level?
Security breach!
You’re the CFO of a graphics card company, and have seen a surge in demand during the pandemic. But your CEO’s email was compromised, and malicious actors intercepted a $500,000 wire transfer -- and now the money’s gone! Your CEO is furious that her company is one more victim of this type of email-based wire fraud, a $1.7 billion-a-year wire industry. She wants to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
DID YOU KNOW...
Yes, I am. I’ll apply that experience to my decisions, too.
No, but I know enough about wire fraud to help in this matter.
Great, you’ll likely need to draw from that experience with cyber-security issues to address this challenge. “This is a Finance problem. So, fix it,” the CEO tells you. As you discuss the issue, you try to get the CEO to acknowledge Corporate Security, IT, and others have a role to play in protecting the company against fraudsters and hackers. “It sounds like you’re passing the buck. Your Treasury team controls the flow of money in and out of this company,” the CEO says. “I need someone to own it and fix it.”
Debrief with the CEO
Let me talk to IT and Security. I’m sure they are already on it.
Don’t worry, Finance will take this on. I already think I know what’s needed.
What do you tell your CEO?
2/3
There are gaps in security when it comes to authorizations of payments.
Most of the team is working remotely during the pandemic, and financial processes are not as smooth as you would like.
Financial data is siloed throughout the organization.
The company needs real-time tracking of international payments.
Your analysis identifies four aspects of operations that are not up to the standard of excellence you want for Finance:
Your team does a thorough analysis of Finance’s operations
Payment authorizations caused the fraudulent transaction to begin with, so let’s fix what we know is broken.
Our teams are geographically dispersed, so let’s improve security around this new way of working.
Finance needs centralized control and access to information to reduce risks.
We’ve talked about real-time payments for years. We need it now.
Given competing priorities and time and budget constraints, you can only take on one issue this year. What do you focus on?
Choose one
The company needs to implement real-time tracking of international payments.
Turns out Finance will have no choice but to be heavily involved. The CIO’s office has identified four aspects of operations that are not up to the standard of excellence the company needs for Finance:
The CIO identifies Finance as a weak link in the company’s security preparedness
No problem. The company won’t let any online threats and risks derail its growth. “This is a Finance problem. So, fix it,” the CEO tells you. As you discuss the issue, you try to get the CEO to acknowledge Corporate Security, IT, and others have a role to play in protecting the company against fraudsters and hackers. “It sounds like you’re passing the buck. Your Treasury team controls the flow of money in and out of this company,” the CEO says. “I need someone to own it and fix it.”
You’re right, the time is now for real-time payments. An early 2020 survey found 85% of corporate executives are implementing real-time payments or intend to in three years, according to a report from PYMNTS.com and Mastercard. Advantages of real-time payments
Good choice
CONTACT US TO LEARN MORE
Need a centralized way to gain real-time insights and manage your treasury operations?
Centralization of financial data and centralized access for your Finance team are also important factors of a secure treasury management system. These priorities should not be neglected.
Keep in mind...
Restart your journey
It’s up to you to define the company’s priorities. What do you choose?
If financial data is siloed within business lines or dispersed among geographic regions, your team doesn’t have the visibility it needs to ensure end-to-end security of your treasury management system.
Real-time payments capabilities also go hand-in-hand with a centralized treasury management system. Real-time data that is scattered or siloed in an organization is not useful for financial planning.
If your Finance team is dispersed and working remotely, then that has likely forced modifications to some procedures. In the wake of a data security breach, assess the situation and identify weaknesses so they can be fixed quickly.
Can your team access your treasury management systems remotely and securely?
Questions to consider
You’re right in pointing out that the fraud the company suffered was because of an unauthorized payment slipping through.
Having centralized access to payments data and real-time payments capabilities are also key components of a more secure treasury management system.
Two-level authorization of payments and alerts can reduce your company’s exposure to payment fraud.
Did you know…
During the coronavirus pandemic, there has been an increase in cyber-attacks and security threats around the world. Even the most well-prepared companies have had to redouble security efforts and review established procedures to close gaps.
• • • •
Back
Greater visibility through scheduling of specific payments.
Increased security through instantaneous transaction alerts
Faster payments
Is there real-time access to information?
Is financial information siloed, making it hard to get accurate and timely insights from the business?
Share:
Is this a situation that you’ve experienced before at some level?
You’re the CFO of a global medical equipment supplier. Almost overnight, demand for your products has spiked. Bad news: Your inventories are depleted. You want to give your suppliers an accurate picture of demand, but none of your data is centralized. Cash flow and revenue data not only exist in multiple systems, but are subject to delays in processing, depending on business unit and geographic region.
Yes, I have. I’ll apply that experience to my decisions, too.
No, but I’m a quick learner.
The CEO of your company is setting up cross-function global task forces to tackle this challenge quickly and strategically. There’s a task force focused on technology, another on growth targets, another on customers. The CEO asks you if Finance will participate? You understand the strategic importance of the task forces, but you also know the global finance team has been critically falling behind on their monthly reports and revising their cash flow forecasts.
NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO EXPERIMENT. MY TEAM NEEDS TO FOCUS ON DOING ITS CURRENT WORK.
Finance can lead the effort. I want my team to start doing things differently.
Finance cautions that it's team is dispersed globally, and tracking the initiative’s impact on cash flow is too difficult with current tools.
Procurement proposes a regional supply chain model that’s more flexible.
The Growth task force is concerned about funding growth given strains on liquidity that may arise as a result of this initiative.
IT is concerned about security and fraud in global payments.
The task force shares recommendations, but there are competing priorities. Four primary challenges emerge:
Perfect! Finance can play a valuable role in this initiative.
FINANCE IS STRUGGLING, AND THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED FIRST.
WE NEED TO ANALYZE THE REGIONAL OPERATING MODEL AND ITS TREASURY IMPLICATIONS.
VISIBILITY INTO LIQUIDITY IS KEY. SUCCESS HINGES ON FUNDING THIS WITH FREE CASH FLOW.
Security comes first and can’t be a tier-two priority.
Ability to support more agile regional operations.
Visibility into day-to-day liquidity
Forecasting capabilities
Cyber-security
The various task forces have coalesced around a growth strategy based on a global network of five regional operating units. They need to move quickly and ensure Finance can support this new operating model. They ask you to analyze four topics:
The task forces produce a strategy.
An assessment of how finance might support a regional operating model is an important first step.
Visibility into day-to-day liquidity is core, so let’s tackle this first.
Financial forecasting is key to growth, so that’s clearly the priority.
Security should always come first, so I’ll start there.
Which do you prioritize first?
The CEO of the company is setting up cross-function global task forces to tackle this challenge quickly and strategically. There’s a task force focused on technology, another on growth targets, another on customers. The CEO asks you if Finance will join one of the task forces. You understand the strategic importance of the task forces, but you are already stretched thin handling day-to-day challenges.
I had better pass, but I’ll delegate someone on my team to join a task force.
OK, I’m in. I already cancelled my European vacation this year, anyway.
By prioritizing security, you’ll gain a head start on subsequent challenges related to this growth initiative.
Great! You understand the importance of security.
Adopt a centralized treasury management solution to improve security (giving your team visibility into all the geographic inflows and outflows of cash).
Create real-time alerts to reduce the risk of fraudulent transactions.
Implement two-level authorization of payments.
Implement end-to-end security in your treasury management system.
Finance security best practices
If the company is not prepared to track cash flow in real time, you’ll be flying blind monitoring and forecasting liquidity. Visibility into receivables and accounts payable is fundamental to measuring success and planning for the future.
You’re showing true foresight!
Convince some of your non-finance colleagues that the success of the initiative will hinge on a centralized treasury management solution with real-time capabilities. This will enable the Finance team to support growth.
Next steps
Don’t doubt yourself. You’re actually in-tune with the new world reality that began to unfold in 2019 with trade tensions and heightened geopolitical uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated the trend toward regional thinking.
This is a bold approach
Centralization of treasury management will be an important consideration. That centralized system will also need access to real-time or near real-time information for forecasting and planning purposes and to minimize risks of online fraud.
Corporate initiatives often uncover issues that have gone unnoticed or ignored. If you can identify Finance’s pain points and find a solution, the growth initiative can move forward quickly.
It’s time to get to the root of setbacks
Find your pain points
Data is siloed. Implement a centralized treasury management system, so Finance can spend more time analyzing data and less time chasing it.
Too many delays. Decrease delays by ensuring Finance has real-time access to information.
Lack of flexibility. Give your team remote access to data and your treasury management system.
A new model based on regional operations will introduce new risks related to online fraud and cyber-threats. End-to-end security in your treasury management system will be critical for the company’s global operations.
Prioritizing security makes a lot of sense
Adopt a centralized treasury management solution to give Finance visibility into geographic inflows and outflows.
A more geographically dispersed business model will mean data – including financial information – will be more dispersed and potentially harder to gather. As a result, getting a handle on Finance’s forecasting capabilities will be vital.
You’ve identified a crucial first step
Ensure that access to real-time data is also centralized, as this is a core tenet of effective forecasting and financial planning.
Centralize your treasury management system to ensure financial data is accessible to Finance.
In today’s volatile and uncertain business environment, focusing on real-time capabilities is important. Tracking cash flow in real time is helpful for improving security and for financial planning. As businesses become more global, they need a treasury management platform that delivers real-time alerts. Real-time payments data goes hand-in-hand with a centralized treasury management system. Real-time data that is scattered or siloed in an organization is not useful for financial planning.
Smart thinking
Demands on Finance will only increase with this growth initiative, so an in-depth look at how the team is working today makes a lot of sense.
Good thinking
Is your team spending too much time chasing rather than analyzing data?
Is there real-time information or are delays slowing Finance’s operations?
Does your team have remote access to data and your treasury management system?
Gauge what’s working in Finance and how agile your team can become:
Though the coronavirus pandemic has led to a sudden and deep contraction in economic activity, the impact on demand has been uneven, with some industries seeing a spike that’s difficult to satisfy.
Do you have experience at some level with digital transformations?
We urgently need to transform our business model!
You’re the CFO of an organic Greek yoghurt company that recently expanded into food service. But the pandemic has effectively shut down the restaurants that were the company’s growth engine. The company made near-term adjustments (tapping a line of credit, furloughing staff, adjusting production), but it needs a long-term solution. The executive leadership team is launching a transformation to further automate production, digitize processes, expand direct-to-consumer sales, and streamline integration with both suppliers and large retailers and wholesale distributors.
Yes, I do, and I’ll use my experience to guide my decisions in this situation.
No, but I understand the urgency.
The CEO forms a steering committee to drive change throughout the organization, and she’s debating who would be best to chair the committee. As a digital transformation, the initiative feels like it belongs to IT, but you also realize the transformation will touch every aspect of the company’s finances. It could be a chance for Finance to step up and lead strategically.
Finance will support the initiative, but the CIO or COO are in a better position to orchestrate the operational changes.
Finance should clearly lead our company’s transformation; I’ll head the effort.
Finance should be a Center of Excellence and serve as a model for transforming other areas of the organization.
The company needs to become a real-time enterprise.
The Sales and Production teams want improved forecasting data that’s timely to help guide their decision making.
With cyberattacks on the rise in the pandemic, Corporate Security wants all units of the company to bolster security.
The transformation steering committee identifies four areas of focus:
The transformation is in good hands
Finance is a great spot to focus.
The real-time economy is here, and this mindset can drive the transformation.
Finding a solution to forecasting should be easy. Let’s get that out of the way first.
Security should come first. Period.
They turn to you to define the company’s approach for the transformation effort. What is your first priority?
The task force has identified Finance as a potential Center of Excellence to serve as a model for transforming other functional areas of the organization, but they first need an assessment.
Becoming a real-time enterprise has become the mantra of the transformation, and the task force wants Finance to be part of this effort.
Both Sales and Production teams want more financial data and more timely financial data to guide their decision making.
The transformation steering committee identifies four areas that require an assessment of Finance’s strengths and weaknesses:
The steering committee comes to you with recommendations
Finance should be a Center of Excellence.
Real-time payments are already here, so this should be a quick assessment.
Finance should be able to easily support better projections, so let’s dive in there.
Security should always be a priority.
Where do you begin?
The CEO forms a steering committee to drive change throughout the organization, and she asks Finance to join the committee. You agree Finance should join the steering committee, you’re not sure if you need to join or you can delegate someone from your team.
I need to focus on guiding the ship day-to-day. I’ll delegate someone on my team to join a task force.
OK, I’m in. The transformation is too important for me not to be on the committee.
By prioritizing security, you’ll gain a head start on subsequent challenges related to digital transformation.
If financial data is siloed within business units or Finance doesn’t have real-time visibility into the company’s liquidity position, then forecasting is hampered.
Well, this is not as easy as I thought
Visibility into receivables and accounts payable is fundamental to planning for the future. Ensure your treasury management platform provides centralized control and access to information, and financial data flows in real time. Only then will the company have a head start in building a forecasting solution to support the transformation.
You’re right, the time is now for real-time payments. An early 2020 survey found 85% of corporate executives are implementing real-time payments or intend to in three years, according to a report from PYMNTS.com and Mastercard.
Advantages of real-time payments
This is a good opportunity to showcase your team’s agility. If you identify and solve Finance’s pain points quickly, you’ll be on the path to creating an enviable Center of Excellence.
Show them how it’s done!
Check to see if your team is already following best practices.
Delegating payment authorization to executives via a two-level approval process.
A lot of Finance teams may say they do a good job forecasting. But, if you’re being asked for more, it’s a good time to look at how you could improve.
Areas of improvement
Delayed data - Make sure data flows in real-time and you’ll be in a good spot to help your colleagues with enhanced forecasting.
Siloed data - If data is siloed, forecasting will suffer. Ensure your treasury management system provides centralized control and access to information.
If you’ve already implemented real-time payments, you’re in a good spot. An early 2020 survey found 85% of corporate executives are implementing real-time payments or intend to in three years, according to a report from PYMNTS.com and Mastercard.
You’re ahead of the curve!
The coronavirus pandemic and related lockdowns have forced many businesses to re-evaluate how they operate and pursue digital upgrades or full-blown transformations.
If this is all familiar ground, then you can focus on streamlining measures, like:
Ensure teams can work collaboratively, yet securely across the treasury management platform.
