Insights by Nitor

This is the third in a series of three blogs focused on how to develop and implement an effective working capital optimization initiative. Our last blog concluded with options for achieving internal alignment within procurement, finance, and treasury, with the goal of optimizing working capital. Here, we’ll look at the importance of change management.

This blog is part 2 in a 3-part series focusing on how to develop an effective working capital optimization initiative.  This blog was previously posted by Scott Pezza and James Wilson on Digitalist Magazine.

The first blog in this series, “Working Capital: The Link Between Procurement, Finance, and Treasury,”  concluded with an example of how you can harmonize the goals of these three departments to pay suppliers early with an efficient invoice-approval process and supply chain finance relationship. Even in that simple example, there are multiple types of functionality at play that may exist in several different interconnected systems. In this blog, we’ll look at all the pieces that can be brought together to effectively manage your working capital and achieve your desired goals.

Working Capital Context – Which parts of the Cash Conversion Cycle do Procurement, Finance and Treasury teams care about?

This blog is the first of a 3-part series focusing on how businesses can get started on an effective Working Capital optimization initiative.

There is an old adage that you cannot manage what you do not measure. In response to this conventional wisdom, numerous Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) have been developed in the core Working Capital functional teams of Procurement, Finance, and Treasury. The overarching goal in mind is simple: Strong Supplier Relationships AND Operational Efficiency AND Strategic Value. All three? That’s a challenge as each team has a different set of tactical and, at times, strategic goals, that often compete with each other.

On September 13th, Nitor hosted a 1-hour webinar discussing how to make better, strategically-informed decisions about liquidity, titled: The Power of True Liquidity Positioning and Forecasting with a Treasury Management System.

(If you were unable to attend the live event, don’t worry, you can access the recording with the link below.)

This session, featuring Jeff Scott, Principal at Nitor, highlighted the importance of implementing a Treasury Management System. 

Imagine this common scenario:

The Strategic Sourcing group has spent hundreds of hours creating savings for the organization. All year you have heard about the forecasted savings, but when those negotiated dollars do not reach the P&L, questions arise over why the savings were not realized. What happened? 

Organizations can equip their sourcing professionals with several tools, such as creating standard terms and clauses to expedite the process and establishing an accessible contract repository (see previous blog "Retaining Value Through Contract Management” for more information on these topics). While the team can utilize these tools in the negotiation and drafting of the contract, they are not present in everyday purchasing transactions to enforce the purchasing terms. 

Now, more than ever, organizations depend on Treasurers to be the fiscal watchdog. Most critically, Treasurers are asked to be the steward of the company’s most important asset: Cash. Everyone knows this asset is the life blood of an organization, propelling the generation of goods and services and the rewards that come along with their delivery. Treasurers also keep the organization running smoothly by forecasting what financial flexibility the organization can rely upon through various business cycles. Because when cash runs out, or if there’s even a question about liquidity, production is thrown off, or worse, grinds to a halt.

Agree or disagree with this overarching generalization, the fact is some things in life are not absolute. Take the case of automating your entire invoice volume (a promise rarely kept).  This promise is not broken out of misunderstanding, overselling or over-promising.  It’s just the reality of our time, when we want and expect a single solution to solve all our problems.

On June 26th Nitor hosted a 1-hour webinar about how to best enable Procurement Transformation, titled: Realizing Value Through Procurement Transformation.

(If you were unable to attend the live event, don’t worry, you will be able to request access to the recording in the link below.)

The session, featuring Gary Stoddard, Partner at Nitor,  highlighted what it takes for organizations to realize true value when looking to transform their Procurement practices.

CFOs today depend on the strategic function of treasurers more than in previous years. One reason why the treasurer’s role has become more aligned to the CFO’s agenda is a direct result of the treasurer’s ability to unlock value within the organization at a low cost, and drive strategic objectives of the CFO, such as offering a more comprehensive view of cash and payments, acquisition strategies and capital allocation strategies.

CFOs today are under more pressure than ever before from their board of directors and CEO to unlock trapped cash. Unfortunately, regional operations hold unnecessary cash buffers to protect their balance sheet. This cash-hoarding culture is detrimental to free cash flow, and could eliminate the opportunity to execute the corporate capital allocation strategy, including share repurchase targets, corporate debt repayments, shareholder dividends, and M&A initiatives.