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: May 12, 2022

Included In Certifications

This course is included in the following Certification Programs:

18 CoursesThe Controllership Series Certification

  1. The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Elevating the Role
  2. The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Strategic and Annual Planning
  3. GAAP Principles, Assumptions and Considerations
  4. The Treasury Function Part 1: Cash, Liquidity and Investments
  5. The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Cash and Investments
  6. ASC 842 Accounting for Leases - Deep Dive
  7. Revenue Recognition (ASC Topic 606) Standard Overview
  8. The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Inventory Part 1
  9. The Controllership Series: The Controller Function - Inventory Part 2 - Inventory Valuation, Physical Inventory Methods and Inventory fraud
  10. The Controllership Series: Overhead, Direct and Indirect Costs and Allocation Methods
  11. The Controllership Series: Financial Statement Preparation and Presentation
  12. Analyzing Financial Ratios - Leverage
  13. Analyzing Financial Ratios - Performance And Efficiency
  14. The Controllership Series: The Controllers Role in Data Analytics and Big Data
  15. The Controllership Series: The Financial Close Process
  16. The Controllership Series: Managerial Accounting Basics and Cost Principles
  17. The Controllership Series: Sales, Collections and Customer Credit
  18. Tools for The Controllership Series Certificate
38 Reviews (189 ratings)

Reviews

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

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
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.

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
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.

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
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)

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
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
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.

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

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
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

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

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

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

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

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