Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activity provides an important strategic element for many companies that can help boost growth, open new markets and enable economies of scale for driving profitability.  Over recent decades, there has been a steady upswing in the usage of M&A exemplified by increases in the number and size of deals, along with an expanding range of different types of deals.

One of the major trends facing many businesses today is the move away from discrete product sales transactions and toward providing subscriptions for experience-based and outcome-focused services.

SAP S/4HANA represents one of the most significant and transformational changes in the history of the SAP ecosystem as well as within the wider scope of ERP technologies in general.  By bringing together comprehensive ERP functionality with a high-performance data transaction and analytics engine, S/4HANA is a true game changer that provides exciting opportunities for improving productivity and transforming enterprise-wide business operations.

Payment processing is a fundamental requirement within every company. 

Many CFOs and other company leaders are currently grappling with the challenges of planning and executing their movement to S/4HANA. Everyone in the SAP ecosystem knows that adoption of S/4 will be mandatory by 2025 but a large percentage of companies are struggling to figure out where and how to get started - often resulting in "analysis paralysis".

In previous blogs, I’ve addressed several key topics that are critical for the Office of the CFO, including Working Capital Management, a Global Approach to Cash, and leveraging In-House Cash Management.

All companies need to carefully manage their cash in order to ensure that sufficient funds are always available to support business operations, however, in today’s global enterprises, it can be difficult to maintain clear visibility and management of diverse cash repositories. This can be especially challenging when subsidiaries and other operating units maintain separate external banking relationships within their regional or local environments.

I’ve previously touched on related issues in blog posts on Working Capital Management and the need for a Global Approach to Cash Management. In this post, we are going to take a closer look at another key tool which is called In-House Cash Management.

Working capital is the lifeblood of most organizations and, as such, it needs to be watched closely and managed in a comprehensive, real-time, and proactive manner.

All finance departments must manage working capital to keep their business operations running, while maintaining the agility to support the strategic goals and growth objectives of their business. Working capital management and optimization are key to assuring a business can maintain production, cover the cost of wages and supplies – and also have enough liquidity on hand to service their short-term credit obligations.

Any gaps are likely to be filled by external capital – usually at a higher cost than internally available funding. Being able to accurately measure and manage working capital, and avoid expensive external financing, can provide companies with an important competitive advantage.

Most CFOs use working capital as a key indicator of the operating health of the business. They focus on questions such as: Are we collecting our bills in a timely manner? Are we taking all the discounts that we are entitled to? Are we carrying too much inventory in our warehouses?

These basic metrics all have a direct impact on liquidity. However, the answers to these key working capital questions are inherently dynamic and constantly changing.

As we move into Fall, there are a number of important events coming up for CFOs and other finance leaders, where you'll get a chance to network with colleagues and talk with experts in creating and implementing solutions for treasury, compliance, disclosure reporting and other related finance management issues.  Bramasol is proud to be a participant and in some cases an enabling sponsor for the following key conferences.  Please plan to join us.