Early exposure across all treasury function is key to building a comprehensive understanding of treasury. Seek out internal opportunities to broaden your experience through secondments or project participation.
ACT qualifications offer a solid technical foundation that supports professional growth as practical experience develops. The knowledge I gained through my ACT studies were immediately applicable to treasury operations, enabling meaningful contributions even before I had acquired the necessary experience.
In today’s treasury environment, curiosity and a proactive approach to technology can set you apart. Take the initiative to explore and experiment. Some of the most effective improvements I have seen have come from simply playing around with technology and discovering smarter ways of working.
One of the most unexpected challenges early in my treasury career was navigating the impact of the global financial crisis. I was responsible for liquidity reporting at a New Zealand bank, and what had been a routine process quickly evolved into a high-profile function with greater requirements and scrutiny.
I had to rapidly deepen my understanding of liquidity risk, partner closely with trading, risk and finance teams, and design new reporting processes that were quickly adaptive and accurate. It was a steep learning curve, but it taught me the importance of adaptability, continuous learning and stakeholder engagement – skills that have remained essential throughout my career.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are becoming central to treasury strategy. From green bonds to ESG-linked KPIs, treasury professionals must understand how financial decisions align with broader sustainability goals.
Digital transformation is reshaping treasury, with automation, and real-time analytics streamlining operations and enabling more strategic decision making. AI and machine learning are beginning to support forecasting, fraud detection and liquidity management. Regulatory expectations are also evolving, particularly around liquidity, risk and transparency.
Navigating this requires technical expertise and strategic agility. To keep abreast of changes, take advantage of ACT seminars, training and networking events. Banking partners offer valuable sources of market insights and strategic updates. Also, make the most of the experience around you – connect with experts in your team and ask questions. Sharing ideas and learning from others is one of the most effective ways to build your confidence and grow your career.
Forge your own path: there is no single path to success in treasury. The most impactful careers are built by exploring roles that align with your unique strengths and interests.
Commit to lifelong learning: you’ll never reach a point in your treasury career where you know it all – and that’s what makes it so dynamic and rewarding.
Lead with initiative: don’t wait for opportunities – create them. Volunteer for projects, improve processes and solve problems before they are assigned to you. Proactive thinking sets future leaders apart.
If I were to restart my treasury career, I’d begin my ACT studies as early as possible. Gaining a solid understanding of core treasury fundamentals, such as cash, liquidity and risk management, which are covered in the ACT Diploma, provides a strong foundation for long-term success.
Equally important, but often overlooked, are soft skills and building strong cross-functional relationships. I’d recommend anyone starting off in their career to spend as much time in the office, regardless of their working-from-home (WFH) arrangements, especially at the start of a new role, so they can learn from peers and connect with other teams. These relationships could be crucial in future if aiming
for senior roles.
An early challenge I faced was how to differentiate from my peers. Having a mentor, or even someone who takes an interest in your career progression, will have an infinite impact on how far or how much you enjoy treasury. I think the best advice I received is the importance of networking and the importance of building your personal brand. The reality is that there are dozens, or even hundreds, of similarly qualified candidates in a very competitive field, so how can you differentiate yourself? Often this may mean putting yourself out there, physically and digitally. So go to the networking events or post your experiences/achievements on LinkedIn and make real connections.
Buzzwords such as ‘AI’ and ‘blockchain’ are often thrown around when discussing treasury trends, which can make tech adoption daunting, but digital transformation and automation can streamline outdated processes, improve forecasting and reduce errors.
While the level of adoption depends on capacity, budget or expertise, these advances should be embraced to help build a more efficient treasury function. Increasingly, treasury teams are leveraging data and analytics not just for better treasury decisions, but also to support broader strategic initiatives, adding real value to the business. Embracing technology is no longer optional; it’s a critical step towards future-proofing the treasury function.
Your treasury journey will take you on different and often unexpected paths, but embrace the change. For someone who has experienced a ‘squiggly line’ career, this means you will see non-linear growth, multiple career pivots, where you may change industry direction or even profession. My own career path started as an FX trader before pivoting into banking, then oil and gas, before spending eight years in tech.
Treasury is a profession that lends itself to resilience and adaptability in a fast-moving world, so find the industry and role that you’re most passionate about, and who knows what’s around the corner...
Starting a career in treasury today, I would do what I did: take ACT qualifications. At a junior level, our exposure to treasury can be quite limited – taking qualifications is the fastest, most comprehensive and unbiased way to gain an overall understanding of what a treasurer does.
I can’t remember being surprised necessarily, but I do remember a ‘faux pas’ I made, when I was a little short tempered when asked something by a senior manager in the team. I think I was in the middle of something and he asked something that, to me, had an obvious answer. The impression I made followed me around for years.
Being a young member of the team, my performance and my development were closely watched, and that particular point came up every single performance review I had for a few years.
If I could go back and correct that small reaction I had, I would: managing ‘self’ is the first step in managing others, a prerequisite to gaining more responsibilities and becoming trusted to handle relationships that have higher stakes. It doesn’t take much to leave a bad impression and it takes a disproportionate amount of effort to try to make up for it.
I see AI as having the potential to completely reshape how we work (overall, not just in treasury). AI will allow us to gain efficiencies in gathering data and turning it into meaningful information incredibly quickly. The critical skills for younger treasurers will therefore not be to learn to perform a process or gather data, it will be to learn to analyse information, make sense of it and apply it to the situations or events they are facing.
It becomes straight away about understanding what you’re doing, instead of executing a task. I have no doubt that early-career professionals will quickly adapt – it makes the world of work a lot more interesting!
When I started working in treasury, I was really keen to progress quickly through the ranks, and I was quite impatient to always be moving on to a new project, a new role, a promotion. For me, doing a role for 18 to 24 months seemed like a really long time.
Although I don’t regret any of the career moves I’ve made, I do wish I could be a little
more patient – it can take years to learn to a job well, to spot patterns, to go through challenges a few times and be able to apply previous learnings to a new situation.
I’m still learning to be patient now – I just remind myself that I may still have another 20 years of working in front of me, so there’s no rush to do it all now!
If I were starting my treasury career today, my focus for the first two to three years would be simple but critical: invest time in understanding how businesses actually operate. Treasury is not an isolated function; it’s intertwined with commercial, legal, regulatory and operational aspects. You can’t manage financial risk effectively without knowing how and where it arises in the business. Alongside that, I’d recommend honing technical skills in cash flow forecasting, financial risk management and the fundamentals of working capital.
One thing that surprised me early in my treasury career was how much of the job depends on relationships. Like many people starting out, I assumed treasury would mostly be about spreadsheets, systems and financial models. But I quickly learned that networking is a critical part of being an effective treasurer. Strong relationships with banks, financial partners and fellow treasurers often make the difference between a good solution and a great one.
Treasury isn’t just about managing cash, it’s about elevating the business, and that requires trust and collaboration beyond the finance function.
Looking ahead, I believe two forces are reshaping treasury: AI and ESG. AI is no longer optional; it’s transforming how we operate. From automating reports and building dashboards to even drafting agreements, AI enhances accuracy and frees up time for strategic work.
Treasury is evolving from an operational role into an advisory function, helping CEOs and boards make decisions about financing, investments and acquisitions. At the same time, the ESG agenda is becoming central. Treasurers must now understand sustainable financing, whether through green loans, sustainability-linked bonds, or investment decisions that align with ESG principles. This is no longer just a regulatory checkbox; it influences how banks lend and how investors evaluate companies.
If I could give one piece of advice to anyone starting out: master the technical skills, but never underestimate the power of understanding the business, and the people, you serve.
If I were starting my treasury career today, I would get an ACT qualification, get a mentor, and get out and about! An ACT qualification builds the basis for a successful career in treasury. Once you have made your first steps, I would really recommend making use of the ACT’s mentoring programme. Having a seasoned treasurer to guide you and provide hands-on career advice is invaluable.
Finally, you must go out to conferences and networking events. Treasury is a team sport, and therefore you need partners inside your company and outside. You must start building your network early on. Within your organisation you should be well connected with your colleagues from the tax, legal and accounting departments. Most treasury projects won’t fly without their support. Externally, really make use of the vast expertise of your banking partners. Use them as idea generators, sparring partners and, of course, as friends, as your career develops along with theirs.
I underestimated how difficult it can be to get projects implemented in a large organisation. Good intentions, a nice project plan and the right skills might just not be enough. You need to know how your organisation works and understand the importance of corporate politics, as well as the dynamics between HQ, regions and individual subsidiaries. Over time, you realise that you need to know your colleagues in the subsidiaries on a personal level to get things done. You need their trust so that they escalate issues and challenges to you early on. You must build influencing skills on how to motivate others to support you and your projects and goals.
In treasury today, I see more and more the mindset (influenced by WFH and cost
initiatives from corporates) that everything can be done remotely, and that travelling only creates costs and is not of much use. As mentioned before, treasury is a team sport, and therefore you must meet people face to face to become a winning team.
What comes to my mind is certainly AI, as chatbots such as ChatGPT and Copilot provide you with access to treasury knowledge that just was not there a few years ago. The skills to use these tools appropriately is already key. Hence, if you are starting your career in treasury, I urge you to engage deeply with this and, in a broader sense, with technology and systems. But never forget that, in the end, it is the human behind the screen who has to make sense of it all.
Seek out like-minded people (hint: the ACT is a perfect source) and connect – across functions, across industries, across borders and across cultures!
This article first appeared in The Treasurer Issue 3, 2025