For Treasurers, 100% Cash Visibility Is Nonexistent

Corporate treasurers know fraud is something to keep an eye on, but amid all of the high-profile breaches and hacks over the last few years, apparently, these money managers haven’t acted — yet.

New research from Kyriba, in its 2016 annual treasury survey, released Thursday (May 19), found that treasurers facing a shortage of resources are at a greater risk for fraud attacks — up to 19 percent more than they were just one year prior. Further, 36 percent said they continue to use spreadsheets, even though they know the manual tool leads to errors and inefficiencies.

Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of treasurers surveyed said they had been a target of fraud, either internal or external — that represents a 19 percent increase from the year before.

The most a treasurer reported losing from a cyberattack was $2.5 million, Kyriba said.

In addition to continuing dependence on spreadsheets, less than half of corporate treasurers said they believed they performed well or extremely well in the area of working capital management.

The role of the corporate treasurer is expanding, that’s for sure, but according to Kyriba’s analysis, these professionals are not taking on cyberfraud prevention as their top responsibility. The survey found less than 60 percent of treasurers said they have visibility into 80 percent of their firms’ global cash — none reported 100 percent visibility.

Researchers found a 14 percent increase between 2015 and 2016 in the number of treasurers that said they were responsible for cash position reporting. There was also a 17 percent increase in the number of treasurers that said they are responsible for group liquidity management.

In a statement, Kyriba VP of Sales for Northern Europe John Campbell said the survey suggests these money managers are embracing technology within the enterprise.

“With fraud, risk management and a heightened focus on unlocking cash and working capital consuming more of treasury’s time, treasurers will benefit from modular cloud treasury management solutions that simplify implementation and align perfectly with treasury’s expanding needs,” the executive stated.