It is sometimes hard to believe how far and how fast cash management has risen up the corporate agenda. Two short summers ago, before the credit crunch froze the global financial system, boards played somewhere close to zero attention to cash and liquidity management. Now you talk to treasurers at the sharp end and they confirm that it is literally top of every board meeting agenda.
The ACT Annual Conference in Manchester in late spring also correctly paid a great deal of attention to cash matters. As one speaker at the conference put it:
And then there is the issue of cash. It’s no longer boring, is it? In fact, you could say it is downright sexy at times.
Recent surveys among treasurers also suggest it is an issue that is here to stay. If treasury management systems don’t presently give the level of control over cash that is required, then, even in these straitened times, corporates are prepared to make the necessary investment. It is easy to see why: no corporate can afford to lose control over its cash.
As the scope of articles in this issue of Cash Management illustrates, there is an increasingly wide range of important topics that treasurers need to take account of as they deliver sound and reliable cash management policies and practices. More than ever, treasurers need to keep cash management right at the very top of the bill.
PETER WILLIAMS
Editor