This article is written by Cobase
Starting a career in treasury can feel intimidating. The numbers are big, the consequences are real, and the room is often filled with people who have been doing this work for decades. Decisions made in treasury do not stay theoretical for long. They affect cash availability, business continuity, and trust across the organization. In this environment, credibility is not optional. It is foundational. Without it, even the best analysis struggles to carry weight. For early career professionals, that reality becomes clear very quickly. Credibility is something that must be earned early, built carefully, and reinforced consistently over time.
Ed Farrow, Senior Treasury Analyst at JCB, understands this reality well. From the start of his career, he saw that credibility in treasury does not come from sounding confident or holding the right job title. It comes from how you show up every day. From being prepared when questions arise, from following through on commitments, and from taking responsibility for the details others rely on. Much of this work happens quietly, without recognition, and often when no one is watching. Yet over time, those small, consistent actions shape how colleagues, stakeholders, and partners learn to trust you.
Treasury sits close to risk in a way few other functions do. Cash, liquidity, funding, and financial exposure are not abstract ideas or long term considerations. They influence whether a business can operate smoothly from one day to the next. When treasury works well, the impact is felt across the organization, even if it is rarely visible.
Because of this proximity to risk, trust becomes essential. Stakeholders need to believe that treasury understands what it is doing, often before results are visible or confirmed. They rely on treasury to see problems early, assess them accurately, and act in the best interest of the business. That trust is built over time, through consistent decisions and reliable outcomes.
Unlike many other roles, treasury frequently deals with decisions that cannot be easily reversed. Once a payment is made, a hedge is placed, or funding is secured, the consequences are real. There is little room for trial and error. That reality makes credibility a requirement, not a bonus. Without it, treasury’s input struggles to carry the weight it needs to influence decisions.
Many early career treasurers encounter a surprising dynamic. Responsibility often arrives before authority. You may find yourself monitoring cash positions, supporting funding activities, or helping manage financial exposures long before you feel fully confident in your own expertise.
This gap can feel uncomfortable. You are expected to contribute meaningfully while still learning the role. Yet it is precisely in this space that credibility begins to take shape. How you handle responsibility, even when you are still finding your footing, leaves a lasting impression.
Showing care, asking the right questions, and taking ownership of your work matters more than projecting certainty. Over time, these early experiences become the foundation on which trust is built, both in your own confidence and in how others perceive you.
Ed Farrow joined JCB straight from his academic studies, stepping directly into a global treasury environment with real responsibility from the outset. There was no extended adjustment period or theoretical runway. From day one, his work connected to real decisions with real consequences for the business.
Treasury at JCB spans international operations, liquidity management, and financial risk. That means cash flows across borders, exposure to market movements, and decisions that support the day to day functioning of a global organization. Being part of that environment early in his career made it clear that treasury is not an abstract discipline. It is practical, time sensitive, and closely tied to how the business operates.
The learning curve was steep, and expectations were high. There was little room to observe from the sidelines. Instead, Ed was expected to engage, learn quickly, and take ownership of his responsibilities. That intensity shaped how he approached his role and how seriously he took the trust placed in him.
Rather than rotating through multiple functions or learning treasury at a distance, Ed learned by doing. He experienced treasury from the inside, seeing how decisions moved from analysis to action and how those actions affected the wider business.
This hands on exposure helped him understand not just what needed to be done, but why it mattered. Cash visibility was not just a report. It was a prerequisite for confident decision making. Risk management was not a theoretical exercise. It was about protecting the business from real uncertainty.
Learning treasury this way shaped how Ed thought about credibility from the start. Being close to the impact of decisions made it clear that credibility is built through care, attention to detail, and a strong understanding of the business context behind the numbers.
One of the first challenges many early career treasurers encounter is perception. Age can work against you, especially in a function where responsibility is high and experience is often equated with credibility. In meetings with banks, auditors, or senior stakeholders, assumptions are made quickly. Experience is often assumed rather than tested, and credibility is not automatic.
Ed experienced this dynamic early on. Sitting at the table with people who had spent years, sometimes decades, in finance, he became aware that his voice carried weight only when it was backed by substance. Speaking louder or trying to appear more senior was not the answer. Instead, he focused on being right, being prepared, and being reliable.
Over time, that approach changed how others responded. Questions became more open. Trust increased. Credibility grew not because of how long he had been in the role, but because of how consistently he delivered. It was a reminder that in treasury, perception shifts slowly, but it shifts decisively when trust is earned.
In treasury, mistakes rarely stay small. A missed payment, an incorrect assumption, or a delayed decision can have immediate and visible consequences. Cash does not wait, markets do not pause, and errors often ripple beyond the treasury function itself. This reality adds pressure, particularly when you are still learning.
For early career professionals, that pressure can feel intense. Every decision seems to carry extra weight. The margin for error feels narrow, and the cost of getting something wrong can feel personal as well as professional.
That pressure, however, can shape you in different ways. It can undermine confidence if it leads to hesitation or fear of making decisions. Or it can sharpen focus, encouraging greater preparation, attention to detail, and accountability. Ed learned to channel that pressure into discipline. By treating each task with care and learning from small missteps, he built resilience alongside credibility.
A job title might open the door, but it does not keep you in the room. In treasury, credibility is built through delivery rather than designation. People remember whether you follow through on commitments, whether your numbers are accurate, and whether your insights stand up when questions are asked.
Ed learned this quickly. Early on, he saw that credibility was not something you achieved once and then carried forward automatically. It had to be earned repeatedly, often in small and unremarkable moments. A report delivered on time. A question answered clearly. A risk flagged early enough to make a difference.
Over time, these moments add up. Colleagues begin to trust your input. Stakeholders rely on your assessments. Banks respond with confidence. Credibility becomes less about how you introduce yourself and more about how others speak about you when you are not in the room.
In treasury, being visible is far less important than being consistent. Loud contributions or dramatic interventions rarely build lasting trust. What does build trust is showing up prepared, delivering what you promise, and doing it again and again without drawing attention to yourself.
Ed focused on reliability rather than recognition. He made sure his work was thorough, his assumptions were sound, and his follow through was dependable. Over time, this approach created a quiet reputation. One that did not rely on self promotion or constant visibility.
That kind of reputation travels quickly and organically. People remember who they can rely on, especially in moments of pressure. In treasury, consistency speaks louder than visibility ever could.
Preparation is one of the most effective ways to build credibility early in treasury. Knowing your data, understanding the drivers behind it, and being able to explain it clearly makes a noticeable difference. In a function where decisions are often challenged and scrutinized, preparation creates confidence, both for you and for the people relying on your input.
Ed focused on being meticulous from the start. If a question came up, he wanted to already know the answer or, at the very least, know exactly where to find it and how quickly he could get there. That level of readiness reduced uncertainty in conversations and made interactions more productive. Instead of scrambling for information, he could focus on discussing implications and next steps.
Over time, this approach built trust. Stakeholders began to rely on his numbers, not because they were perfect, but because they were well understood and thoughtfully presented.
The shift from reacting to anticipating is subtle, but it is powerful. Early in a career, it is natural to respond to questions as they come. With experience and preparation, that response turns into anticipation.
When treasury professionals begin to think one step ahead, trust grows naturally. Questions are addressed before they are asked. Risks are flagged before they escalate. Conversations move faster because the groundwork has already been done.
This is where credibility starts to compound. Each prepared interaction builds on the last, creating a sense of reliability that others come to depend on.
Curiosity plays an important role in how credibility develops over time. Asking thoughtful questions shows engagement and care, not uncertainty. Ed approached his work with a genuine desire to understand how things fit together, not just within treasury, but across the wider business.
By staying curious, he learned why certain processes existed, where assumptions came from, and how decisions affected other teams. That broader understanding strengthened his judgment and improved the quality of his contributions. Curiosity helped him move beyond execution and into insight, which is where credibility truly takes hold.
In treasury, preparation builds trust, but curiosity sustains it.
Curiosity is often underestimated in treasury, especially early in a career. There can be a fear that asking questions will be seen as a lack of knowledge or confidence. Ed experienced the opposite. He found that asking thoughtful, well considered questions helped him understand the business more deeply and make better decisions.
Good questions show engagement, not weakness. They signal that you care about getting things right rather than simply getting them done. By asking why a process existed, how a number was derived, or what assumptions sat behind a decision, Ed gained insight that went beyond surface level execution. Over time, this curiosity strengthened his judgment and made his contributions more relevant.
Asking better questions also builds trust. Colleagues recognize when someone is genuinely trying to understand the bigger picture. That effort creates stronger collaboration and leads to better outcomes for the business.
Some of the most meaningful gains in credibility come from small, quiet improvements. Not every contribution needs to be visible or celebrated to be valuable. Ed focused on identifying areas where processes could be simplified, automated, or made more reliable.
Automating a manual step, cleaning up a report, or reducing reconciliation effort may seem minor in isolation. But these changes remove friction from daily work. They save time, reduce errors, and make treasury operations smoother for everyone involved.
Often, these improvements go unnoticed in the moment. There is no announcement or recognition. Yet they change how people experience working with you. Over time, colleagues associate your work with clarity, efficiency, and reliability. That association becomes a powerful form of credibility, built quietly and sustained through consistent action.
Technology played an important role in helping Ed reduce risk in day to day treasury work. Manual processes leave room for mistakes, especially when volumes are high and time pressure is constant. By automating repetitive tasks, Ed was able to remove many of those points of failure.
Automation reduced errors and increased consistency. Numbers became more reliable, processes more predictable, and outputs easier to trust. That reliability translated directly into credibility. When stakeholders no longer needed to double check the data, conversations shifted. Time was spent discussing implications rather than validating inputs.
Consistent systems create confidence. When information can be relied on, trust in the people behind it grows naturally.
Reducing manual effort did more than improve accuracy. It changed how time was spent. Technology created space to step back and think rather than constantly react. That space allowed Ed to analyze trends, challenge assumptions, and look ahead instead of focusing solely on execution.
With fewer hours spent on repetitive tasks, he could contribute at a higher level. Discussions became more forward-looking. Insights became more strategic. Over time, this shift moved his role beyond execution and into influence.
Technology did not replace judgment. It amplified it. By freeing time and reducing noise, it allowed human thinking to take center stage, which is where credibility continues to grow.
Bank relationships depend heavily on trust. In treasury, credibility with external partners is not built through impressive language or complex explanations. It is built through reliability. Doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it, matters more than sounding confident or sophisticated.
Ed approached these relationships with care and consistency. He focused on being dependable, accurate, and clear in every interaction. If he committed to providing information, he delivered it on time. If assumptions changed, he communicated openly. If there was uncertainty, he acknowledged it rather than overpromising.
Over time, this approach shaped how banks and stakeholders responded. Conversations became easier and more constructive. There was less friction and more collaboration. Trust reduced the need for constant verification and created space for more meaningful dialogue. Credibility, once established, made every interaction smoother.
One of the most formative aspects of Ed’s career was being trusted with responsibility early on. That trust was not always comfortable. It brought pressure and raised expectations, but it also accelerated learning in a way few other experiences could.
Being responsible for real outcomes forces growth. It sharpens focus and highlights gaps in understanding quickly. Ed learned by doing, by owning his work, and by understanding the consequences of his decisions. That responsibility pushed him to prepare more thoroughly, think more critically, and act with greater confidence over time.
Training provides knowledge, but responsibility builds judgment. Being trusted early shaped Ed’s development and reinforced a core lesson of treasury. Credibility grows fastest when responsibility is real and accountability is shared.
Many early career professionals believe that credibility comes from projecting confidence or seniority before they truly feel it. In treasury, this instinct is understandable. The environment is serious, the stakes are high, and no one wants to appear unprepared. Yet trying to sound more experienced than you are often backfires.
In treasury, overstating certainty can damage trust quickly. Stakeholders value accuracy and honesty more than polished delivery. When something is presented with too much confidence and later proves incorrect, credibility takes a hit that is difficult to recover from. Ed learned that it was better to be precise than impressive.
Honesty, paired with preparation, goes much further. Saying you will confirm an answer, explaining assumptions clearly, or acknowledging uncertainty shows maturity rather than weakness. Over time, people learn that your input can be trusted because it is grounded in reality, not performance.
Credibility is not a milestone that you reach and move past. It is a daily practice that is built and reinforced through small, consistent actions. Every interaction, every report, and every decision contributes to how others perceive you.
Ed’s experience shows that credibility grows through consistency, curiosity, and care. It grows when you prepare thoroughly, ask thoughtful questions, and take responsibility for your work. It grows when you follow through, communicate clearly, and remain accountable even when things are challenging.
In treasury, credibility compounds quietly. Over time, those daily habits turn into trust, and that trust becomes influence. Not because it was demanded, but because it was earned.
Earning credibility early in treasury is challenging, especially in a function where the stakes are high and experience is often assumed to be the primary currency. Yet it is also one of the most valuable foundations a professional can build. Ed Farrow’s perspective shows that credibility does not come from job titles, age, or confidence alone. It is built through preparation, reliability, and a genuine commitment to doing the work well, even when that work goes unnoticed.
Treasury rewards those who earn trust quietly. It rewards consistency over performance, judgment over appearance, and care over speed. Over time, that trust compounds. Conversations change, responsibilities expand, and influence grows naturally. A seat at the table is not demanded or granted all at once. It is earned through daily actions, thoughtful decisions, and the willingness to carry responsibility long before recognition follows.
Treasury Masterminds is a community of professionals working in treasury management and those interested in learning more about topics such as cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click [HERE] or fill out the form below to get more information.
By Alexander von Schirmeister,
CEO at Nomentia
A bank portal still works. The ERP still produces data. A spreadsheet still calculates a forecast. A payment approval workflow still moves from one person to the next. Reports still reach the CFO, even if they arrive later than expected. From the outside, treasury appears to function. Inside the process, finance teams know exactly how much effort is required to keep that appearance of control intact.
Modern treasury cannot rely on disconnected systems because the questions it needs to answer are no longer isolated. Cash visibility depends on bank data, account structures, ERP information, payments in progress, forecast inputs, intercompany flows, financing activities, and exposures. Liquidity planning depends on operational data from the business, but also on treasury assumptions, market conditions, working capital movements, and funding plans. Risk management depends on reliable exposure data, but also on trade execution, hedge documentation, limits, reporting, and accounting. If each part of this picture sits in a different place, the treasury team becomes the integration layer.
That integration work rarely surfaces. It lives in copy-and-paste routines, manual file checks, email reminders, reconciliation notes, spreadsheet tabs, and individual memory. It is also where most treasury management challenges quietly begin.
Disconnected systems create time loss because data has to be gathered before it can be analysed. They create duplicated work because teams maintain local trackers even when central tools exist. They weaken cash visibility because the latest view may depend on which bank file has arrived or which entity has responded. They weaken controls because exceptions are harder to identify when workflows are not connected.
The CFO does not usually see the process friction. The CFO sees the answer. If the answer is late, inconsistent, or hard to explain, confidence falls. Senior leadership needs reliable responses to simple but high-stakes questions: How much liquidity is available? Which cash flows are expected? Where is working capital tied up? Are internal payments efficient? Which exposures are material? Are guarantees, hedges, and commitments under control? These questions cannot be answered well when the data behind them has to be rebuilt every time.
The 2026 Nomentia Treasury and Cash Management report highlights that many treasury teams are in a transitional phase. They have moved beyond purely manual treasury, but still rely on multiple systems and partial automation. The pattern is familiar: the organisation has invested in technology, yet treasury still spends too much time reconciling information and validating reports. The issue is not that systems are missing. The issue is that they are not connected enough to support the pace of decision-making.
Disconnected systems are especially risky in three areas.
The first is visibility. If cash positions, transactions, forecasts, and payment statuses are not consolidated, treasury may see parts of the picture but miss the direction of movement. A balance report can show where cash is today, but it does not explain whether the position is temporary, restricted, exposed, or needed elsewhere in the group. Visibility without context can create false comfort.
The second is control. Treasury policies often look clear on paper, but control depends on how processes actually run. Who can approve a payment? Which entities have followed the forecast process? Which exposures have been validated? Which guarantee is close to expiry? Which hedge relationship needs attention? When workflows are disconnected, control becomes dependent on manual follow-up. That may work when volumes are low, but it becomes unreliable as banks, entities, instruments, and reporting expectations increase.
The third is decision speed. In volatile markets, delayed answers are not neutral. A late forecast can affect funding decisions. A delayed exposure view can affect hedge timing. A slow payment status check can affect supplier confidence. A late view of guarantees or credit line usage can affect working capital decisions. Treasury does not need real-time data for every decision, but it does need enough connected information to avoid making decisions with yesterday’s understanding.
A modern treasury management system should not be judged only by feature breadth. The more important question is how well it reduces the gaps between systems, data, workflow, and reporting. A strong setup connects bank information, ERP data, payment processes, cash forecasting, risk workflows, analytics, and audit trails into a reliable operating model. That does not mean every company needs every module at once. It means the architecture should support growth without forcing the team to rebuild its processes every time complexity increases.
Most people researching a TMS today will start with a web search or ask Copilot, Gemini, or ChatGPT. The answer they get back is usually a feature list. That’s not wrong, but it’s incomplete. A good treasury management system helps finance teams centralise cash, payments, forecasting, risk, controls, and reporting so they can make better liquidity and financial risk decisions with trusted data. Features are how it gets there. That’s the distinction worth keeping in mind when evaluating whether your current setup is still fit for purpose.
The path away from disconnected systems does not always require a large replacement project. In many organisations, the better approach is to identify the most painful manual bridges first. Where does treasury re-enter data? Where does the team wait for local input? Where do reports need manual explanation? Where are approvals outside the system? Where is the same number calculated in different ways? These questions show where fragmentation is creating the most business risk.
Connected systems create reliable answers. They reduce the manual work behind cash visibility, improve the quality of cash flow forecasting, and support stronger controls and compliance. They help the CFO understand not only what the numbers are, but what they mean for liquidity, risk, and action. Disconnected systems may still function. But they make treasury work harder than it should, and confident decisions harder than they need to be.
Treasury Masterminds is a community of professionals working in treasury management or those interested in learning more about various topics related to treasury management, including cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click the button below.
This article is written by TreasuryCube
In an increasingly complex financial environment, In-House Banks (IHBs) have emerged as a strategic imperative for corporations seeking enhanced cash visibility, optimized liquidity, and streamlined intercompany transactions. Drawing insights from a recent presentation by experts at Citi and seasoned treasurers, let’s explore what makes an IHB not just an option, but a cornerstone of modern treasury management.
An IHB is a centralized internal financial entity that manages cash, investments, foreign exchange exposures, and intercompany lending on behalf of corporate subsidiaries. Acting as a “virtual bank” for the organization, it reduces the volume of external banking transactions and provides critical advantages in cash management, governance, and compliance.
Importantly, an IHB is not a regional treasury center, shared service center, re-invoicing hub, or physical licensed bank. It’s a bespoke solution that integrates deeply with corporate finance operations.
An IHB addresses several core challenges that treasurers face:
Real-world IHB implementations, like those led by Brook Ballard at Oceaneering, showcase the tangible benefits:
Intercompany netting further reduces payment transactions, bank fees, and FX costs by consolidating cross-border intercompany settlements.
While beneficial for many, IHBs are particularly advantageous for:
At TreasuryCube, we recognize that the modern treasury is not just about managing cash, it’s about unlocking strategic value. An effective IHB is a critical tool to help achieve that vision, especially when supported by integrated technology, skilled people, and proactive governance.
Treasury Masterminds is a community of professionals working in treasury management or those interested in learning more about various topics related to treasury management, including cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click the button below.
This article is written by our partner, FIS
The reality of payment fraud has shifted from a question of whether an attack will occur to a growing likelihood of when and how it will occur.
For finance and treasury leaders, the strategies that provided a sense of security a few years ago may be insufficient against a new breed of sophisticated and relentless criminals. A 2024 survey from the Association for Financial Professionals underscored this reality, revealing that a staggering 79% of organizations were victims of payment fraud attacks or attempts.
This is not a distant risk: It’s an active, daily threat that demands a fundamental change in an institution’s defensive posture. The traditional, reactive approach – detecting and responding to fraud after it occurs – is, in many cases, no longer a viable strategy. The time has come to build a proactive defense.
Today’s fraudsters are often not lone actors but organized, well-funded operations that use advanced technology and psychological tactics. They study organizational structures, identify process gaps and exploit the path of least resistance.
Business email compromise remains a dominant method, where criminals impersonate executives or vendors with alarming authenticity to redirect funds. We’re also seeing the rise of AI-powered deep fakes, where a trusted voice on a conference call can be convincingly spoofed to authorize a fraudulent transfer.
These criminals understand that the entire payment lifecycle, from the initial onboarding of a vendor to the final reconciliation, presents a landscape of opportunity. They target the seams in your processes, exploiting the very human desire for efficiency and speed. This “disharmony,” a term coined by a FIS® and Oxford Economics study, captures the friction between the drive for growth and the drag of persistent security threats.
According to the study, 75% of C-suite executives identify fraud as a critical challenge.
How can organizations overcome the evolving threat of fraud? The answer lies in shifting from a fragmented, manual and reactive stance to an integrated, automated and proactive one.
A truly effective defense begins by fortifying the most common entry points. The vendor master file, for instance, is the heart of the payables process and a prime target. A single fraudulent change to a supplier’s bank details can lead to catastrophic losses before anyone realizes an error has occurred.
Overcoming this type of threat typically requires more than just diligence: It often demands a standardized, technology-enforced process. It includes implementing out-of-band verification, such as a phone call to a preverified contact, for any change to payment instructions. It means moving beyond trust and implementing strict, automated validation protocols.
As transaction volumes grow, manual reviews can become an impossible bottleneck, creating the very noise that criminals use to hide their illicit activities. This is where modern solutions like AI-assisted anomaly detection become increasingly indispensable.
Unlike static, rule-based systems that can only catch what they are programmed to look for, AI and machine learning establish a baseline of “normal” payment behavior for each vendor and transaction type. These systems operate in real time, analyzing payments for subtle deviations in amount, frequency or timing that would be difficult for the human eye to detect. When an anomaly is detected, the payment is automatically flagged for investigation before it leaves the organization. This preemptive capability is a game changer.
Organizations can achieve a greater level of control by consolidating their payment flows through a centralized payment hub. Instead of managing disparate security protocols across multiple ERPs and bank portals, a payment hub provides a more unified point of visibility and control.
A payment hub enables the consistent application of security policies, approval workflows and fraud detection analytics across the entire enterprise. It standardizes an institution’s defense, creating a fortress rather than a series of disconnected fences. A payment hub integrated with a third-party account validation service provides another critical layer, confirming that a beneficiary’s name matches their account information before a payment is ever initiated.
Reduce fraud risk and strengthen controls with FIS Payment Hub – Enterprise Edition
The path forward for finance and treasury leaders requires a strategic pivot. It means recognizing that fraud prevention is not merely a compliance checkbox but a strategic enabler of business resilience and growth.
Building a proactive defense involves a holistic approach that integrates advanced technology, standardized processes and a culture of vigilant verification. By embracing AI-driven monitoring, centralizing payment operations and empowering employees with specialized training, you can transform your security posture from reactive to preemptive.
This shift does not just mitigate risk: It builds the confidence and operational integrity necessary to thrive in a complex financial world.
Treasury Masterminds is a community of professionals working in treasury management or those interested in learning more about various topics related to treasury management, including cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click the button below.
