For a corporation to succeed in its chosen markets it must deliver results at least equal to and, preferably, greater than its competitors.

Profit is often considered one of the major drivers of a company’s success; however, it is not the only driver. Afterall, if you are out of cash (i.e., liquidity) and your liabilities exceed your assets, then you are out of business. How important will earnings be at that point in time?

What follows is the first of 8 lessons on “Managing the Modern Treasury” and why there needs to be corporate resources devoted to:

• Managing liquidity
• Understanding the risk of not having “enough”

For those interested in learning more about the treasury function these lessons should be considered introductory in that they cannot replicate in detail all of the knowledge needed to manage today’s complex multinational company that is continually buffeted by ever changing business conditions, many of which are outside of its direct control.

Just like any series, each lesson builds on the one before it. The lessons culminate in the last lesson which includes action steps which will improve a company’s performance by giving it a multi-dimensional view of performance that goes beyond earnings.