Build a quantified business case for a treasury management system based on manual-process cost and risk
Finance & Banking
Selecting Treasury Management Systems and Automating Bank Connectivity
Build a business case, score vendors and design bank connectivity so treasury teams replace spreadsheets with a system that automates cash visibility, payments and controls.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Many treasury functions still run on spreadsheets, manual bank portal logins and email approvals long after transaction volumes have outgrown that approach, and the result is delayed cash visibility, duplicated payment entry and control gaps that internal audit keeps flagging. This course walks through the full lifecycle of acquiring and connecting a treasury management system: building the business case with quantified pain points, writing a requirements specification that separates must-have from nice-to-have functionality, scoring vendors through structured demonstrations and reference calls, and negotiating a contract that protects the organisation on data ownership and exit terms. It then moves into the technical core of the subject, comparing SWIFT for Corporates, host-to-host connections and modern API banking for exchanging payment instructions and statement data (MT940/942 and camt.053/054), and shows how to design a payment factory and approval workflow that centralises execution while preserving segregation of duties. Delegates work through a realistic vendor shortlist, score it against a weighted requirements matrix, and draft a bank connectivity map and cutover plan, leaving with reusable templates for the next system selection or bank rationalisation exercise their organisation undertakes.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Draft a requirements specification distinguishing mandatory functionality from vendor differentiators
Score competing vendors using a weighted matrix covering functionality, cost, security and support
Compare SWIFT for Corporates, host-to-host and API connectivity models for bank communication
Design a payment factory workflow with approval hierarchies and segregation of duties controls
Plan a bank account rationalisation and connectivity cutover across multiple banking relationships
Define testing, data migration and go-live governance for a treasury system implementation
Who Should Attend
Treasury managers evaluating a first or replacement treasury management system
Finance directors sponsoring a treasury technology business case
IT and systems teams supporting bank connectivity and payment integration projects
Cash managers responsible for daily liquidity visibility across bank accounts
Internal auditors reviewing treasury system controls and segregation of duties
Shared service centre leads consolidating payment execution into a payment factory
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Building the Case and Defining Requirements
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Quantifying the Cost of Manual Treasury Processes
- Map the current-state process for cash positioning, payments and reconciliation to identify manual touchpoints and delays.
- Quantify the cost of spreadsheet errors, duplicate payment entry and late cash visibility using process metrics from finance.
- Identify control weaknesses in email-based payment approvals that a treasury system would remediate through workflow enforcement.
- Build a business case comparing implementation cost and licence fees against quantified efficiency and risk-reduction benefits.
Session 2Writing a Treasury System Requirements Specification
- Separate mandatory functional requirements, such as multi-bank cash positioning, from desirable features like AI-driven forecasting.
- Specify integration requirements with the ERP general ledger, bank statements and any existing risk management system.
- Define security and access control requirements including role-based permissions, dual authorisation and audit trail logging.
- Document reporting requirements covering liquidity dashboards, covenant monitoring and management pack automation.
02Shortlisting and Contracting a Treasury Vendor
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Structuring the Request for Proposal and Demonstrations
- Issue a request for proposal that requires vendors to respond against the weighted requirements matrix rather than generic marketing content.
- Script scenario-based demonstrations so vendors show the system handling the organisation's actual cash positioning and payment workflows.
- Check vendor financial stability, client references and product roadmap commitment before shortlisting for final evaluation.
- Assess deployment models, comparing cloud-hosted software as a service against on-premise installation for total cost of ownership.
Session 2Negotiating Contracts and Managing Implementation Risk
- Negotiate service level agreements covering system uptime, support response times and scheduled maintenance windows.
- Secure data ownership and export rights in the contract to avoid vendor lock-in at contract renewal or termination.
- Define an implementation project plan with milestones for configuration, testing, data migration and user training.
- Agree a fallback and rollback plan for go-live so payment processing can continue if the new system encounters issues.
03Designing Bank Connectivity
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Comparing Connectivity Channels
- Compare SWIFT for Corporates membership models, including service bureaus and alliance lite, for multi-bank message exchange.
- Evaluate host-to-host connections for banks where a direct dedicated link suits transaction volume and existing infrastructure.
- Assess modern API banking connectivity for real-time balance enquiries, payment initiation and faster payment confirmation.
- Map message formats including MT940 and MT942 statements alongside ISO 20022 camt.053 and camt.054 equivalents.
Session 2Building the Connectivity and Cutover Plan
- Draft a bank connectivity map showing which channel serves each banking relationship and the migration sequence.
- Plan bank account rationalisation alongside connectivity changes to reduce the number of active accounts requiring maintenance.
- Schedule parallel running between old and new connectivity channels to validate statement and payment message accuracy.
- Define fallback manual procedures for the cutover window when a bank channel is temporarily unavailable.
04Automating the Payment Factory and Controls
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Designing the Payment Factory Workflow
- Design a centralised payment factory that consolidates execution from multiple business units through one control point.
- Configure approval hierarchies and payment limits enforcing segregation of duties between initiation, approval and release.
- Build exception handling workflows for rejected payments, sanctions screening holds and duplicate payment detection.
- Automate straight-through processing rules that route low-risk repetitive payments without manual intervention.
Session 2Testing, Governance and Continuous Improvement
- Plan user acceptance testing scripts covering payment initiation, bank statement import and reconciliation scenarios.
- Define data migration validation steps confirming account balances and standing payment instructions transfer accurately.
- Establish post-implementation governance reviewing system usage, control effectiveness and outstanding configuration issues.
- Set a roadmap for extending automation into cash forecasting and integration with a treasury risk management module.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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