Cash is the lifeblood of all businesses. Without liquidity, businesses wither and die. The mission of the treasury department is to manage the liquidity of a business. This means all current/projected cash inflows/outflows must be monitored to ensure there is sufficient cash to fund company operations, as well as to ensure excess cash is properly invested. To do this, the function must ensure that existing assets are safeguarded through the use of safe and reliable forms of investment and hedging activities.

Treasurers list their most important tasks as:

  • Enhance liquidity risk
  • Optimize working capital (WC)
  • Improve cash flow (CF) forecasting and visibility of cash
  • Improve cash conversion cycle (CCC)
  • Optimize inventory levels

Activities related to Cash include:

  • Cash forecasting. Compile information to create an ongoing cash forecast. Information may come from the accounting records, the budget, capital budget, board minutes (dividend payments) and for expenditures related to acquisitions and divestitures.
  • Working Capital monitoring. Review corporate policies related to WC and model their impact on cash flows.
  • Cash Concentration. Create a system for funneling cash into a centralized investment account to facilitate the effective investment of cash.

Activities related to investing are broad and include:

  • Investments. The corporate investment policy is used for allocating excess cash to various investments, depending on their ROR and how quickly they can be converted into cash.
  • Grant credit. Issue credit to customers, which involves management of the policy under which credit terms are granted.
  • Compliance. Ensuring the organization is in compliance with various laws and regulations.
  • Fund raising. Determine when additional cash is needed, and raise funds through the acquisition of debt, sale of stock, or changes in company policies that impact the amount of working capital required to run the business.
  • Risk management. Use various hedging and netting strategies to reduce risk related to changes in asset values, interest rates, and foreign currency holdings.
  • Credit rating agency relations. Communication with rating agencies of the company's financial results and condition.
  • Bank relations. Keep the company's bankers apprised of the company's financial condition/projections, and potential changes in need for borrowed funds.

This segment focuses on each of these roles and the sub-components involved.

Note: This course is also a part of The Controllership Series.

Learning Objectives
  • Discover and outline typical Treasury activities.
  • Explore cash forecasting.
    • Examine how to prepare a cash forecast.
    • Examine WC and monitoring.
    • Understand cash concentration.
  • Explore investments and banking.
Last updated/reviewed: August 15, 2023
74 Reviews (409 ratings)

Reviews

5
Anonymous Author
Good training on highly important area of forecasting that is more important and of practical use than is realized. it is also more difficult than it looks due to the many factors that influence cash and financing a company.

5
Anonymous Author
This course provides a great overview of the key areas related to treasury management. Finance professionals in larger companies can gain a high level understanding of the Treasury function while those working for a smaller organization which may lack a dedicated Treasury function can get started with the critical function of forecasting cash and monitoring working capital.

5
Anonymous Author
The Treasury Function Part 1: Cash, Liquidity and Investments The Treasury Function Part 1: Cash, Liquidity and Investments The Treasury Function Part 1: Cash, Liquidity and Investments The Treasury Function Part 1: Cash, Liquidity and Investments The Treasury Function Part 1: Cash, Liquidity and Investments vThe Treasury Function Part 1: Cash, Liquidity and Investments

5
Anonymous Author
Solid overview of the goals and techniques for cash forecasting and treasury management. Only one point to consider around concentration: a small amount of diversification of deposits is helpful with risk management. When SVB collapsed in March, we were happy to have another account at a major bank where we could stash some runway.

5
Anonymous Author
Thank for yet another great course! Lynn Foutain has very good slides, they are well organized and structured, provide good definitions and all the material necessary to be used in the future if needed as a reference material. She also uses good examples. The Final exam questions are relevant and easy to navigate.

5
Anonymous Author
Great refresher on the importance of cash forecasting, cash concentration, investing and banking. Cash is King and it is important to make sure that you are monitioring cash inflows and outflows and that you can rely on the information that you receive from the others in your forecasting.

5
Anonymous Author
This was informative and easy to follow. I'm in the banking industry and originally read the title of this course to be from that perspective so I was initially a little disappointed - but its always good to learn something new.

5
Anonymous Author
Thorough overview of Treasury's functions and goals. Good explanations, examples and comprehensively laid out. Excellent course to understand Treasury's corporate role for those not working in Treasury.

4
Member's Profile
This was a very good overview of treasury responsibilities. This would be a valuable course for anyone wanting to learn more about treasury. The instructor delivered the message in very simple terms.

5
Member's Profile
As someone not in industry the idea of "treasury" has always been thrown around but not well defined to me. This was a very neat and tidy presentation which frames the work of a treasury group.

5
Anonymous Author
The course provides plenty of relevant insights on the treasury function, with regards to cash, liquidity, and investments. The presentation was very clear and easy to understand

4
Anonymous Author
i thought the instructor was clear. The course was organized and material was relevant to my work. I also liked having the option to listen to the entire video or just segments.

4
Anonymous Author
More of a description of the treasury mgmt function than examples of the activities. That being said it was a thorough overview of the functions and best practices of treasury.

4
Member's Profile
This is a good review of the treasurer function. The significance of cash management can often be over-looked but this course will show why it is so important to a business.

4
Anonymous Author
Good introduction

5
Member's Profile
Excellent covering the responsibilities of the Treasury area . It provided the steps to complete a cash forecast and why it is so important to an organization.

5
Member's Profile
I liked how the course was laid out. It had very useful information presented in a logical manner. The instructor used real-world examples to make her point.

5
Member's Profile
Good content on managing the treasury function, giving guidance on both the principles and the execution of treasury management within an organization.

4
Member's Profile
minor... but the random use of acronyms in the slides was confusing. best to simply spell out what the speaker is referring (ST, LT, ML, etc)

5
Member's Profile
This is a nice overview of the Treasury function. I appreciated the focus on ratio's commonly used to evaluate a company's cash performance.

4
Member's Profile
I like the materials provided by the instructor. They were detailed and made it possible to read the material in order to get information.

5
Member's Profile
This was a fun course. I learned about monitoring our collection ratio. A collection ratio would seem to be a vital ratio at the moment.

5
Anonymous Author
This is a very thorough course - would be great to get a cash flow forecast excel tool since so much of the course was on CFF. Thanks

5
Anonymous Author
Great outline of a very important role and function, especially in smaller companies where cash can be tight and needs to be managed.

5
Anonymous Author
Very interesting high level summary of what the Treasury department does. Great course to take if you want to learn the cliffnotes.

5
Member's Profile
Great course on a topic that is not well-covered elsewhere. Highly suggested for anyone involved in running/supporting a company.

5
Anonymous Author
Compreshensive and yet an easy-to-digest course. Highly recommend for any professional working in or near the Treasury function

5
Anonymous Author
Very informative intro course to treasury. I didn't know treasury department is responsible for more things than just cash!

5
Anonymous Author
I really enjoyed this course - treasury functions in a small business like my own are imperative but sometimes overlooked

5
Anonymous Author
I deal with treasury departments on a regular basis so this is useful primer to understand their day to day operations.

5
Member's Profile
This was a good crash course on cash / liquidity. I am looking forward to part two, so that I can take a deeper dive.

4
Member's Profile
I enjoyed learning about the role of the Treasury Function in a company and how they can interact with the Controller.

5
Member's Profile
This was very helpful course as this function is often overlooked in small businesses. The material was interesting.

5
Anonymous Author
The course was informative, even though it was short. The material was laid out in a very organized, simple manner.

5
Anonymous Author
Great introduction to the Treasury Function detailing cash forecast, capital monitoring, and investing and banking.

5
Anonymous Author
Good overview of the needs of a treasury function. Learned something new when it comes to consolidating accounts.

5
Anonymous Author
This is a good refresher on treasury management, especially for those who haven't had to manage treasury before.

5
Anonymous Author
Great course on Treasury functions. I liked the detail about cash forecasting and working capital monitoring.

5
Anonymous Author
Good overview of the treasury function. The presentation was easy to follow and I learned a bit from this.

4
Anonymous Author
informative classes, would be useful for anyone who just learn about the treasury function in the business

4
Anonymous Author
Course varied between beginner and intermediate, but overall, I thought it was a very worthwhile course.

5
Anonymous Author
Nice overview of the role of the treasury function particularly for someone not familiar with the role.

4
Anonymous Author
The course felt a bit long, but overall appreciated the high level overview of the Treasury function.

5
Anonymous Author
Though I am not directly into cash flow analysis in my work, this lesson was an eye openiner for me.

4
Member's Profile
Overall a solid course on Treasury concepts. A good reminder on ratios and other related concepts.

5
Member's Profile
A good course on the treasury function and its importance as it relates to the Conrollership roll.

5
Member's Profile
good information and clearly taught and concise, highly recommend and looking forward to part two

4
Member's Profile
I enjoyed this course very much. I have done various parts of this successfully in the past.

4
Member's Profile
Good overview of Treasury functions. Helpful terminology review for communication purposes.

5
Anonymous Author
Very insightful information and clear description of function of the treasury department.

5
Anonymous Author
This class was well presented and it had a lot of great information and points to consider.

5
Anonymous Author
Great refresher and will plan to take again. Learning plan was well developed and helpful.

4
Anonymous Author
just typing 50 characters to get credit for this CPE course. misdugfobsdkjcbosubvocbslvjbs

5
Anonymous Author
Not only is this important for a business but also for your personal cash management.

5
Anonymous Author
Excellent course. I enjoyed learning with Lynn. She is awesome. I love her. Five stars

5
Anonymous Author
Nice review on cash and liquidity for businesses and the benefits of cash forecasting.

5
Member's Profile
Lynn did a great job with this course, I learned quite a few things about Treasury.

4
Anonymous Author
GOOD BASIC COURSE OUTLINING THE TREASURY FUNCTION. I APPRECIATE MORE EXAMPLES

5
Anonymous Author
Great course. I learned a lot about the treasury function. Great instructor.

5
Anonymous Author
This course provided a great overview of the importance of cash forecasting.

5
Anonymous Author
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5
Member's Profile
This was a really good overview of the treasury function of a business.

5
Anonymous Author
Good introduction to the investing segment of the treasury function.

5
Member's Profile
Overall, I really enjoyed this course. Thank you for providing this!

5
Member's Profile
The content is clear with great explanations from the instructor.

4
Member's Profile
Informative course covering the basics of the treasury function.

4
Anonymous Author
Easy to comprehend. Practical and relevant for all industries.

5
Member's Profile
Good introduction to cash forecasting and key considerations.

5
Anonymous Author
Great course, striaghtforward and concise, I would reccomend!

4
Anonymous Author
This is a good Introduction to Treasury. goes over Risks

5
Anonymous Author
Really enjoyed the overview of this area, many thanks!

5
Anonymous Author
Great overview of treasury and cash flow forecasting.

5
Member's Profile
Comprehensive broad overview of the Treasury Function.

5
Anonymous Author
All apects of treasury were very clearly explained

Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Foundational

No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.

Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Instructor for this course
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
  Introduction to The Treasury Function Part 1: Cash, Liquidity and Investments7:31
  Cash Forecasting11:24
  Cash Forecasting Continued10:43
  Preparing a Cash Forecast13:38
  Working Capital Monitoring6:50
  Cash Concentration5:25
  Investing and Banking15:08
  Investing and Banking Con'd16:56
  Summary1:49
CONTINUOUS PLAY
  The Treasury Function Part 1: Cash, Liquidity and Investments1:29:24
SUPPORTING MATERIAL
  Slides: The Treasury Function Part 1: Cash, Liquidity and InvestmentsPDF
  The Treasury Function Part 1: Cash, Liquidity and Investments Glossary/ IndexPDF
REVIEW AND TEST
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam