Corporate Treasury Overview: Corporate treasury manages a company’s cash flows in the most efficient and profitable fashion possible. It also involves forecasting future needs for funding and seeking the best alternatives for obtaining it.
Education: A bachelor’s degree can be sufficient for junior positions, but an MBA is increasingly demanded for more senior positions in corporate treasury.
Certification: The need for formal certifications can vary by employer and by position. In some cases either a CPA or a CFA can be highly desirable. Several other more specialized designations like CTP or CIA also may be in demand fro certain positions, by certain employers.
Duties and Responsibilities: Cash managers are the subcategory of corporate treasury personnel who focus on balancing incoming payments from customers with outgoing payments to suppliers and for taxes. Cash managers also seek appropriate investment opportunities for excess cash, normally in short-term debt or bank deposits, giving the field an aspect of money management.
Additionally, corporate treasury has many similarities to investment banking, since it also involves monitoring and forecasting the company’s needs for outside funding, both long-term and short-term, utilizing bank loans, commercial paper, bond issues and stock issues to meet these needs for cash. Corporate treasury personnel work in close concert with outside investment bankers.
Typical Schedule: There is a great deal of variation in the schedules of corporate treasury personnel, depending on the exact position, the company, how deeply it has staffed the function, etc. That said, work weeks of 50 to 60 hours are not unusual, in what often is a fast-paced work environment with frequent last-minute contingencies.
What’s to Like: Corporate treasury can be highly-paid, exciting and stimulating work. Its affinities with money management and investment banking add to its variety and intellectual interest, and can offer openings to these fields.
What’s Not to Like: In some cases, especially during periods of economic difficulty when the company is under financial difficulties, corporate treasury can be under enormous pressure.
Salary Range: Per the Association for Financial Professionals’ 2008 Compensation Report, average total compensation (base plus bonus, per 2007 results) can range from about $77,000 for a cash manager to $104,000 for a treasury manager to $207,000 for a corporate treasurer.
