Despite improved technological capability of cloud-based systems, installed treasury management systems (TMS) remain the offering of choice, according to new research.

The 2015 AFP/gtnews Treasury Management Systems Survey, underwritten by Bloomberg, found that while 54 percent of organizations are using installed TMS systems, 33 percent of survey respondents say their organization’s TMS is delivered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) system and 13 percent are modules within an ERP. AFP/gtnews based its findings on responses from 403 treasury and financial professionals around the globe. Among the findings in the survey:

• Treasury management systems offer many benefits to treasury and financial professionals. The two benefits cited most are “process control and compliance” and “improving cash visibility.”
• The two features treasury and financial professionals would like added are eBAM (electronic bank account management) enablement and improved cash forecasting.
• Nearly half of North American organizations have their TMS delivered as SaaS/ASP while only one out of four companies in Europe and Asia Pacific do so.

“While treasury management systems contribute to efficiencies in a variety of processes, treasury and financial professionals note that there are areas for improvement, including improved analytics and business intelligence,” said Jim Kaitz, president and CEO of AFP.

Terry Beadle, Global Head of Corporate Treasury, Bloomberg L.P. added: “TMS benefits like cash visibility and adding strategic value are lost to medium-sized firms, which have neither the budget nor resources to implement a traditional TMS. Mid-sized firms have a tremendous opportunity to automate, improve cash and risk viability, and add value to the business if they use the right technology.”

Get the full results here: http://www.afponline.org/TMSsurvey/.