New on FinoLib · Volume IV: Finance Careers
I have added a new article to FinoLib, my finance education website: What Does a Treasurer Do? Role and Cash Management, part of Volume IV: Finance Careers. This page gives you the core of the topic in expert but plain language; the full article goes much deeper.
The idea in plain words
The Treasurer keeps cash available where and in the currency it is needed. They also manage interest-rate, currency and credit risk. Their core tool is the 13-week cash forecast, a rolling look at the next three months of cash coming in and going out.
Key points
■Weeks projected to breach a covenant or buffer are escalated early.
■Every hedge ties back to a real exposure.
■The CTP is the treasury credential; the CFA suits capital markets.
■Treasurers often become CFOs.
A closer look
The Treasurer’s job is making sure the company never runs out of cash where it needs it, in the currency it needs it, while managing the risks — interest rate, currency, credit — that come with moving money around a large organization.
A worked example
Building the 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast
Unlike the accrual-based numbers Controller and FP&A work with, treasury forecasts use the direct method — actual cash receipts and disbursements, week by week: Step 1 — Opening balance: Start with the actual cash balance across every bank account as of the forecast date. Step 2 — Cash inflows, by source: Customer collections (built from the receivables aging and expected collection patterns, not simply revenue), any drawn credit facilities, and any planned equity or debt proceeds. Step 3 — Cash outflows, by category: Payroll (highly predictable, fixed dates), supplier payments (built from the payables aging and negotiated payment terms), tax payments, debt service, and capital expenditure commitments.
Why It Matters
The 13-week rolling cash flow forecast is treasury’s most important working document at most companies, far more granular and near-term than the annual budget FP&A owns, because treasury’s job is preventing a liquidity crunch that could arrive within weeks, not managing performance over a full year.
Getting In and Moving Up
Question Typical answer Entry titles Treasury or cash management analyst; some enter from bank cash management. The ladder (typical years) Treasury Analyst (0–3) → Senior Analyst (3–5) → Treasury Manager for cash, FX or debt (5–9) → Assistant Treasurer or Director of Treasury (9–14) → Treasurer (14+). Qualifications that help CTP (Certified Treasury Professional, AFP): the treasury-specific credential, common in US corporate treasury. CFA: common for capital-markets and investment work. CPA or CA: optional, useful for hedge accounting.
Recap
The Treasurer keeps cash available where and in the currency it is needed and manages rate, currency and credit risk, with the 13-week cash forecast as the core tool.
More from the article
■Controller (C.1: The Controller) — reconciles cash and debt balances into the close; hedge accounting entries flow into the Controller’s ledger.
■Head of FP&A (C.3: The Head of FP&A) — treasury’s near-term cash forecast and FP&A’s longer-range plan need to agree, especially around covenant headroom and any planned capital raise.
■Tax Director (C.6: The Tax Director) — coordinates on cross-border cash repatriation, since intercompany loans and dividends carry withholding tax and transfer pricing implications.
■Head of Investor Relations (C.4: The Head of Investor Relations) — supplies debt maturity, credit rating, and liquidity data used in investor and analyst communications.
■Banks and rating agencies — not a finance role, but the Treasurer’s most constant outside relationship: day-to-day banking, covenant compliance, and ratings reviews.
■Daily — Reviewing the daily cash position across every bank account and currency the company holds, sweeping excess cash into higher-yielding short-term instruments, executing or monitoring FX hedges (Volume II, Part 4) as needed
■Weekly — Reviewing the rolling 13-week cash flow forecast, monitoring compliance with debt covenants, tracking counterparty bank credit exposure
■Monthly — Reporting on liquidity position and hedging effectiveness to the CFO, reviewing and updating FX/interest rate hedge positions against changing exposure
■Quarterly — Managing relationships with credit rating agencies ahead of any ratings review, presenting debt maturity profile and refinancing plans to the CFO and board
■Annually / As Needed — Leading bond issuances or bank credit facility negotiations, managing share buyback or dividend execution mechanics, running the annual insurance renewal process
■Entry titles — Treasury or cash management analyst; some enter from bank cash management.
■The ladder (typical years) — Treasury Analyst (0–3) → Senior Analyst (3–5) → Treasury Manager for cash, FX or debt (5–9) → Assistant Treasurer or Director of Treasury (9–14) → Treasurer (14+).
What the full article covers
The full article includes worked examples, a recap, a reveal-on-click quiz and the official sources behind every figure.
Volume IV: Finance Careers
Read the full article on FinoLib
The complete article, What Does a Treasurer Do? Role and Cash Management, with every worked example, diagram, quiz and source, is free to read in Volume IV, Finance Careers on finolib.com.
Explore the Finance Education Series: Vol. II — Capital Markets · Vol. I — Global Economy · Vol. III — Finance Encyclopedia · Vol. IV — Finance Careers · Vol. V — Personal Finance