What is 'good' treasury management?

What is ‘good’ treasury management?

How strategic cash visibility, smart investment, and FX risk management is imperative for modern businesses and smart finance teams

When the global media and technology company, Comcast, restructured their operations across more than 100 banking relationships and 3,800 bank accounts, they unlocked $750 million in additional working capital. Their CFO emphasised that the transformation evolved treasury ‘from management of a cash position into a strategic enabler that shapes the company's ability to seize opportunities, navigate volatility, and execute long-term strategy.’

For a global organisation, treasury management is a strategic enabler, but for small business, the stakes are higher: 82% of small businesses that fail cite poor cash flow management as the primary cause for the demise. In 2025, the RBA noted that the sharp increase in company insolvencies in Australia has been a result of ‘poor financial management or weak financial control.’

Good treasury management optimises organisations, but also is a determinant to whether business survives. This relies on three fundamental pillars:

1. Cash visibility

One of the most common frustrations for finance leaders is operating with local and global cash position blind spots because of archaic banking system structures. In a discussion with Carla Penn, Co Founder of ProfitPeak, she described the excessive cognitive load that results from relying on their accountant at month end to get an adequate view of their cash position.

Without complete and real-time visibility, CFOs face working capital inefficiencies with cash trapped in silos, delayed decision-making, heightened currency exposure and missed investment opportunities.

Modern treasury demands real-time access to cash data and are limited if reliant on month-end reports. Smart modern businesses are aware of this, tracking cash visibility percentage (the share of your organisation’s total cash that is accessible and reportable in real time across all accounts) as a KPI. This practice is a hallmark for effective treasury management.

2. Idle cash investment

Author and investment advisor Robert G. Allen famously asked: "How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts?" Idle cash represents a cost, not security. Money sitting in zero-interest accounts loses value daily to inflation, while manually researching and executing investment strategies consumes valuable time.

Good treasury management systems solve this problem by calculating the cash required for daily operations while automatically moving excess balances into higher-yielding vehicles. The most effective systems automatically create an investment strategy for idle cash and continuously ensure the highest possible yield is delivered.

This approach has enabled businesses like Nexl to extend their runway by 2-3 months on a Series B raise of A$23 million - both increasing financial capability and team bandwidth to focus on strategic growth.

3. FX risk management

Foreign exchange management directly influences profitability and cash flow predictability. Currency conversions involve hidden costs through spreads, intermediary fees, and suboptimal rates. Without visibility into payment routing and pricing, making cost-effective decisions becomes time-consuming.

Most Australian companies rely on international trade, exposing each to currency movements that can translate to the difference between a profitable year or a loss, making smart FX strategy high-impact. Adelaide Auto Parts faced volatile AUD movements against EUR and JPY on component imports, causing budget variances of +/-15%. After implementing a smart hedging strategy, they reduced this to +/-3% and improved gross margin predictability by 70%.

Good treasury management tools also reduce cognitive load with built-in hedging and transfer capabilities. As Carla Penn, Co-Founder of Profit Peak, notes: "The FX visibility removes cognitive load when making multiple weekly payments between our Australian and Malaysian entities."

With an FX strategy and real time FX visibility, CFOs can transparently assess rates, lock in favourable terms, protect margins, and enable proper cash flow planning.

Smart CFOs are prioritising good treasury management

Organisations that implement strategic treasury practices generate measurable improvements in working capital efficiency, liquidity management, and financial flexibility. CFOs that understand this are building organisations where cash visibility, FX risk and investments are automated, creating more time for strategic decision making, investment and effective capital deployment.

About Primary

Primary provides modern treasury management solutions for complete cash visibility, idle cash optimisation, and FX risk management - all in one platform.