Treasury workstations can be extremely useful tools, with the capability to provide cash position analysis, cash forecasting, consolidation of bank information, payment initiation of various kinds, automated journal entries for cash transactions, bank fee analysis, real-time market updates, positive pay notifications, and foreign exchange tracking, as well as the management of debts and investments. A treasury workstation essentially gives one complete knowledge of all corporate positions related to cash, investments, and debt.
However, treasury workstations are not for everyone, for a variety of reasons:
- A best of breed solution may contain so many features that a company finds itself using only a small fraction of its capabilities.
- Installation time can be considerable, especially if the workstation must be interfaced with the accounting database (which is useful for cash forecasting and payables initiation purposes).
- And then there is cost. Treasury workstations are not common in companies with sales of less than $1 billion, because most solutions fall into the price range of $150,000 to $400,000 (though low-end solutions begin at $50,000).
Cost is the main driver of the decision to acquire a workstation. Though it is certainly useful, the purchase and installation cost makes it an extremely difficult purchase to justify. Consequently, only companies managing large investment portfolios, consolidating massive numbers of bank accounts, or handling large foreign exchange positions are the ones most likely to squeeze out a sufficient profit improvement from a workstation to justify its cost.
A number of suppliers support treasury workstations, including Sungard Treasury Systems, Citibank, Wall Street Systems, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. Also, the major ERP systems all have treasury management modules.