The push to improve cash-flow forecasts as companies gain visibility and push out their time frames.
Companies that want to fine-tune their forecasts can turn to technology for help, and there are signs that they’re increasingly willing to do so. While businesses have been reluctant to untie the purse strings for such projects in recent years, the Treasury Strategies survey showed 35% of respondents this year say they expect to implement new cash management technology, up from 30% in September 2012 and 25% in September 2010.
Treasury Strategies’ Carfang said the newest treasury technology focuses on “gathering more data.” Information about a company’s counterparties, risks and currency exposures “are all part of a really robust treasury management system, but you also have better visibility into your supply chain and your distribution chain, and it’s those two that come together to form your cash forecast,” he said.