Some days, running a business can feel like an epic battle on the football field. Your team fights for every “yard” of profit, only for ferocious foes to take back any ground you’ve gained. While most companies focus on boosting sales or streamlining operations to get ahead, the finance department can also play a key role in creating a competitive edge.

“Treasury services, in particular, can help companies improve efficiency, cut costs and increase investment returns, while also guarding against threats like financial fraud,” said Kim Gwin, treasury sales manager at Bank of Texas.

Empowering your offense

Optimizing your financial strategies through treasury services may not create a direct source of revenue, but it can help you score points by lowering expenses and seizing growth opportunities. For example, focusing on treasury services supports:

• Cash concentration: If your company has multiple bank accounts, consider establishing a concentration account that automatically sweeps cash balances into a centralized repository on a daily basis. This strategy gives you more control to meet immediate business needs and earn returns on idle funds.
• Increased automation: The larger and more complex your business becomes, the more time is lost to manual financial processes and human error. However, automated workflow solutions can free your team from repetitive tasks and accelerate processes like payment processing, forecasting and account reconciliations.

“Efficiencies gained from automation translate to lower costs and higher productivity, creating a business advantage,” said Gwin.

• Corporate credit cards: For companies with a team of traveling field personnel, continuing old-school per diem and reimbursement procedures could be a costly mistake. Alternatively, issuing corporate cards to employees can improve control over spending and lead to significant cost savings through rebates or reward programs.

Fortifying your defense

While smart financial strategies can fuel your offense, any gains you’ve made could be erased by various forms of financial fraud. A treasury services partner can help your organization design a strong defense to keep the bad guys out of your end zone. Consider these strategies:

• Fewer paper checks: Companies lose millions to check fraud every year. Much of that risk may be reduced by moving away from paper checks and instead transferring funds electronically through ACH or other methods.
• Zero trust environment: Make it a priority to ensure your team receives an annual refresher on common scams like phishing and email compromise.

“All employees should at least know the basics, but people with the authority to make financial transactions must be able to recognize red flags and take appropriate actions,” said Gwin.

• Separation of duties: Fraud is often a crime of opportunity committed by in-house employees. You can remove those opportunities by insisting on the separation of duties, a system of checks of balances which ensures no financial process is completely controlled by one person.

Whether it’s defending against costly attacks, streamlining financial processes or maximizing returns on cash, treasury management is a total team effort. And with a trusted financial services provider like Bank of Texas to block and tackle, your company will be well on its way to a winning season.