Over the summer and fall months, a survey of the leading US-headquartered Fortune 500 multinational corporate treasuries was jointly conducted by Wall Street Systems and leading consultancy, Treasury Strategies. We released the survey findings of 46 of these organisations in a white paper entitled "U.S. Treasury Technology: The Time Is Now" at this year’s AFP Annual Conference in San Francisco, October 4-7.

The top concerns were Counterparty Risk, 87% of respondents, and Cash Flow Forecasting with 28%. Startlingly, nearly 90% of corporate treasuries reported they still use manual processes such as spreadsheets to manage counterparty risk and cash flow forecasting. This means they are without the real-time view and information needed in uncertain environments. In the wake of the recent market collapse, manual processes are no longer acceptable for corporate treasury functions, according to survey respondents.

To further exacerbate the problem, Treasurers have traditionally relied on the credit rating agencies to provide their only measure of credit risk. Without question they can no longer rely on ratings as the only determinate of risk, and as a consequence they have cut their more risky exposures and moved to specific counterparties the government would view as 'too big to fail'.

Treasurers are now in need of other tools to help them view and manage their counterparty exposure and ensure the group's liquidity across the organisation, such as an integrated treasury management system - providing a real time view of exposure and liquidity on demand. Mark Lewis, Director, Corporate Treasury, Wall Street Systems said: "Today the cost of making an investment in real time treasury technology, does not compare with the size of a possible loss caused by a failed counterparty. The opportunity to unwind the exposure prior to the failure could save the company millions, and is an essential point for proving the business case to the board."

The survey reveals that the once-accepted practice of spreadsheet management and other manual methods is no longer sufficient in today's marketplace. Where treasury technology was once the provenance of mere cost savings, it is now required to provide an early warning system in the event of a market event and address shareholder demand and protect against large-scale failure.

The full white paper details the findings and the top emerging technology needs amongst U.S. corporate treasurers and includes:

• Automated decision and intelligence tools
• Multiple user workflow routing and management
• Broader process and data integration with existing platforms or software
• Vendor support with more subject matter expertise
• Cost management
• Enhanced reporting capabilities
• Hosted or ASP solutions

Download the white paper detailing the results and a guide for Treasurers "U.S. Treasury Technology: The Time Is Now"