Elevate Your Career Potential as a Treasury Manager: Key Responsibilities, Skills, and Certifications

Looking to level up from a finance professional to a Treasury Manager?  We lay out the key tasks of a Treasury Manager, from cash management and forecasting to compliance, and explore the impact of banking relationships on business operations. Tune in as we dissect the importance of cash position and the growth opportunities within this role.

Episode outline:

1.  Key responsibilities and tasks of the Treasury function,
2. What this role means for the organization, and 
3. How this role can be an opportunity for you. 

Certifications:

1. Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) from the Association of Financial Professionals
2. Association of Corporate Treasurers 

Please connect with me on:

1. Instagram: stephen.mclain
2. Twitter: smclainiii
3. Facebook: stephenmclainconsultant
4. LinkedIn: stephenjmclainiii

For more resources, please visit Finance Leader Academy:  financeleaderacademy.com. 

1. On the website, you can download the Become a Finance Leader Guide. You can use this guide to build your Finance Leadership skills so you can help senior leaders develop and execute the strategy.
2. I also offer a course, Advance Your Finance and Accounting Career: Developing a Promotion Strategy that Sets You Apart.

Chapters

• 0:05 Treasury Manager and Its Impact
• 13:08 Finance Leader Podcast and Resources

Transcript

Stephen McLain: 0:05

This week, I want to discuss the Treasury Manager role and how this role makes a positive impact within the organization. Also, how it can provide an incredible opportunity for you to grow your leadership and influence. The Treasury Manager works on key tasks and responsibilities for the business, from cash flow and liquidity to banking relationships and many more. Understanding liquidity and financing options provides choices for senior leaders. The Treasury Manager is often the key advisor and leader for the CFO and CEO to rely on when it comes to cash, credit and liquidity options. Don't overlook this opportunity as a way to grow your skills and your experience. Please enjoy the episode.

Stephen McLain: 0:54

Welcome to the Finance Leader Podcast, where leadership is bigger than the numbers. I am your host, Stephen McLain. This is the podcast for developing leaders in finance and accounting. Please consider following me on Twitter, facebook, instagram and LinkedIn. My user names and the links are in this episode's show notes. This is episode number 109 and I'll be talking about the Treasury Management role, and I will highlight the following topics Number one key responsibilities and tasks of the Treasury function. Number two what this role means for the organization. And three, how this role can be an opportunity for you. I really like this quote from hockey coach Herb Brooks risk something or forever. Sit with your dreams. Now welcome back to another season of the Finance Leader Podcast. I want to welcome the new listeners to the podcast.

Stephen McLain: 1:50

The goal for this podcast is to help finance and accounting professionals to develop their leadership skills, instead of only our technical skills and our knowledge. I believe that we all need to learn to develop our leadership to have a more positive impact on the organization, and it will be through our leadership that we will set ourselves apart from our competition so we get more advanced and senior role opportunities. I believe that anyone can learn and apply leadership. It does not matter what your role is or what your background is. You can make a difference through your influence and ability to lead from one set of circumstances to a better one. We can lead with the analysis and the numbers that we have. We lead when we sit with a senior leader and we show how their metrics are performing and how they can improve the performance of their team, showing the numbers in a way that makes more sense to them. That is leadership and that is positive influence. I am going to continually emphasize and show how you can become a better leader in the role you are working in, no matter what it is, and you don't need to have manager or director in your title to make a difference. We are in the second half of the year. How are you doing on your goal accomplishment for 2023 and how are you completing your required CPEs for this year? I always say don't wait until December to work on your CPEs. Work on them now. There are many training and development courses available to help accomplish and complete those CPEs Now. I covered a few interesting topics in the bonus episodes over this summer, which I want to expand in future episodes, so I will be working on that so we can all further learn and apply to our career.

Stephen McLain: 3:36

This week, it's all about the Treasury function. I believe we don't talk about this role enough that our finance and accounting professionals sometimes don't realize this role is available and what this role can do for them. You must have the mindset to do something different, to challenge yourself, to be different. The Treasury Management role is about cash flow, liquidity and finance options to accomplish the organization's strategic objectives. Cash flow represents what can happen in the business. Strategy is always about choices making the right choice with the resources you have. Committing resources to support the right strategy is what CEOs get paid to do. This is senior leadership, and this is why CEOs need the right team around them, so they get the correct advice to move forward with strategic decision making.

Stephen McLain: 4:26

The Treasury Manager is a key advisor on cash flow, credit arrangements, banking relationships, so the organization knows best what financial resources are available to make the right investment commitments and to finance current operations appropriately. If you are a CFO or CEO, this is how you can maximize this role. You want to have options and to know what is possible with the resources you have. Ask questions on what is possible, know your cash burn rate, know what credit rates are available and know what investment opportunities are also available. Is your company liquid? Can you survive an economic downside and can your company take on a smart investment if one pops up suddenly? And to better know the risks surrounding your cash position and investments, your Treasury team can help you understand the risk when weighing strategy decisions. Overall, I want you to be a more well-rounded finance leader. I want you to make the Treasury Manager role yours. You can do this by learning all about banking and banking relationships, credit management, cash flow and cash management. Grow your network, grow your knowledge and expand your skills. It will help you get further along in your career.

Stephen McLain: 5:42

Let's also talk about certifications. I love it when finance and accounting professionals earn a certification. It's a sign and commitment of professionalism and excellence. I want to highlight a few Treasury certifications you can earn and a few resources. I will put the links in the show notes. The first one is the Certified Treasury Professional, the CTP, from the Association of Financial Professionals. Also, there are a few Treasury certificates from the Association of Corporate Treasurers that would be very beneficial to your professional credentials. So check those out. I'm going to put the links in the show notes. Always try to be expanding your professional credentials by earning a professional certification. To help you in your finance leadership development journey, I have a written guide for you called Become a Finance Leader. You can download it for free at the link in the show notes or go to financeleaderacademycom and download it there. This guide will help you with your mindset and your finance leadership related topics, so you can help leaders throughout the organization.

Stephen McLain: 6:46

I often talk about the organizational tools we have available to make our days more productive. I love lists and calendars and establishing priorities. I am leaning more and more into scheduling the tasks on my to-do list. Many people are already doing this. My daily routine was always to update my to-do list, prioritize that list and then go to work getting that list done. But we all know that our day often does not go as planned and things and issues emerge. This is why scheduling tasks on your calendar are more important than just having a to-do list. This is about guarding your time and effort. To maximize productivity, try scheduling your tasks and blocking that time on your calendar. Some people will gobble up your calendar if you don't block the time. Let me know how this works better for you. I am very curious.

Stephen McLain: 7:36

Opportunities for growth, development and advancement are everywhere If you look, if you apply yourself and if you take some risk to move out of your comfort zone. I advocate for being different and for pushing yourself to be better and to improve continuously. Stop sending information and start being a leader who actively partners with senior leaders to deliver the strategy. Believe that you can make a difference. Believe in your abilities and your leadership potential. Never stop growing and never slide into a comfort zone where you do the same tasks every day. Grow yourself and your mindset daily. Be looking for opportunities to show growth and to show your skills.

Stephen McLain: 8:19

Now let's talk about the treasury roll for just a few minutes. Number one key responsibilities and tasks of the Treasury function. The Treasury function has a critical role in the organization as the one overlooking and managing cash and banking relationships. Now I want to quickly mention just a few key responsibilities in this role. That's managing the key resource for the organization, which is cash. It's about banking relationships, credit options, overall liquidity and regulatory and organizational policies. This is knowledge and experience that you can take with you into many roles, especially as CFO and CEO.

Stephen McLain: 8:57

Now, number two what this role means for the organization. Is your company liquid? Can your company survive a negative change in the economic conditions? Leaders need to know the cash position of the business at all times. Cash, along with credit, provides opportunities for growth. It also means the business can pay its obligations on time and make investments for the future. A healthy cash flow gives leaders more flexibility to grow the business, to take advantage of discounts and special deals and to take on key projects. You have to know the finance options that are available for investments and to fund ongoing operations, to provide the best advice to senior leaders. Number three how this role can be an opportunity for you.

Stephen McLain: 9:45

I believe the Treasury management role offers many unique opportunities and for critical skills development. You will be involved in strategic finance problem solving, while often working with a company's most senior leaders. You will have exposure to advising the same leaders and building your network. Now I'll say this again the Treasury management role offers a unique opportunity to develop rare skills, knowledge and experience. This can be a way to bridge a gap to better understanding of strategic finance how to finance projects in the long term that will grow the company. Understanding cash liquidity, banking and financing options will strengthen your overall skillset and career marketability. Now, if you want a real challenge, work for an organization with a cash flow issue. This can grow your problem solving and influencing skills exponentially. Overall, this role can help you grow your analytical skills related to budgeting, spending available credit and achieving strategic objectives.

Stephen McLain: 10:45

You should never overlook an opportunity. The purpose of this episode was to show you something different that may be a great opportunity for you to excel. The Treasury manager role is one that can provide a chance to work closely on the strategic objectives and goals of the organization. You can have input on key banking relationships and strategic finance projects. Do not overlook what this role can be to your future skillset and career options. A CFO with a Treasury background is an asset to any company For action today, I have two things for you to consider after this episode.

Stephen McLain: 11:19

The first is to review the Treasury manager role as a potential career move for you. Add this to your plan and look for opportunities to apply. I believe this is a great opportunity to round out your skills a lot more and to see how business operates from a different perspective. The next issue is to review and update your individual development plan, especially with your CPE completion. This is the time to schedule and complete the last of your credits before we all get into the fourth quarter.

Stephen McLain: 11:48

Today I talked about the Treasury function and role and I highlighted the following points Number one, key responsibilities and tasks of the Treasury function. Number two, what this role means for the organization. And three, how this role can be an opportunity for you. The Treasury role can provide a robust opportunity for you because you can work on strategic finance problem solving and develop your experience and your network. If you have not considered this role previously, don't overlook it, because the role may bring you to working on key projects and advising at the highest levels.

Stephen McLain: 12:22

Now here is something else for you to consider. For me, I always perform better when I was assigned to a poor performing organization. Sometimes the Treasury management role can be extremely challenging if the organization is cash poor, has trouble collecting cash, managing cash or has problems with raising capital. So taking a role with this type of organization can be an opportunity and look like an expert leader solving tough problems. Yes, it can be more stressful as you tackle tough challenges, but this is where the reward comes in. You get to make a difference, to help turn around a problem organization, and your skills grow increasingly, which makes you even more marketable for a more senior role later. Now have a great rest of your day and a great rest of your week.

Stephen McLain: 13:08

I hope you enjoyed the Finance Leader podcast. I am dedicated to helping you grow your leadership skills, to change your mindset and to clarify your goals so you advance your career. You can find this episode wherever you listen to podcasts. If this episode helped you today, please share and leave a quick review so that others can find the podcast. Until next time, you can check out more resources at financeleeracademycom and sign up for my weekly updates so you don't miss an episode of the podcast. And now go leave your team and I'll see you next time. Thank you.