TMS: managing treasury with reliable data and effective controls

Bank balances spread across portals, forecasts that are difficult to consolidate and approvals handled in separate tools can make treasury decisions harder. A Treasury Management System (TMS) can organise these information flows in a common environment. Its value depends on the scope selected, data quality and the controls put in place.

1. What does a TMS do?

A TMS helps finance teams monitor liquidity, prepare forecasts and manage treasury operations. Depending on the modules selected, it can bring together bank positions, payments, debt, investments, foreign exchange and intercompany transactions. Available capabilities vary between solutions and configurations.

Start by defining the decisions the system should support: producing a daily cash position, anticipating a funding need, monitoring loan maturities or allocating liquidity across entities. These use cases help prioritise capabilities and establish specific acceptance criteria.

2. How should it work with the ERP and the banks?

The ERP generally supports the company’s business processes and accounting. A specialist TMS uses that information for treasury purposes and combines it with banking data. Its precise scope also depends on the treasury modules already available in the ERP.

Map the exchanges before selecting the system: invoices and due dates received from the ERP, statements received from banks, payments submitted, statuses returned and accounting entries produced. Assign an owner, a frequency and an exception process to each flow. Any claimed interface should be demonstrated with the actual system versions and banks in use.

3. Bank connectivity and ISO 20022: check the entire chain

Exchanges may use secure files, Swift connectivity or APIs, depending on the banks’ services and the arrangements selected. The frequency of available information depends on that coverage: an updated dashboard requires data that is actually supplied and received.

Within ISO 20022, the pain.001 family carries credit transfer instructions from the customer to its bank. The TMS must support the format and version accepted by each bank and process the responses provided by the service. Track technical submission, instruction acceptance and payment execution separately. Retain references that allow a transaction to be traced from end to end.

4. Make controls part of the selection criteria

The access rights matrix should reflect the company’s responsibilities. Establish separate roles for preparation, approval, administration and review. Define limits and delegated authority, then verify their application during testing. The audit trail should identify who performed important actions, when they occurred and what changed.

Also assess multifactor authentication, access reviews, protection of data exchanges and business continuity procedures. For a change to bank account details, arrange independent verification through a known channel. The system should support that process with evidence of the check and an appropriate approval.

5. Implement the TMS in five stages

Define the project. Identify the entities, banks, accounts, currencies, volumes and processes in scope. Agree priorities, responsibilities and the decisions expected from the project committee.
Improve data quality. Check account and counterparty master data, calendars, identifiers and cash flow classification rules. Document who may change them.
Build a pilot. Select a representative scope and test interfaces with the banks and operational teams. Prepare both normal and exception scenarios.
Run acceptance tests. Check duplicates, rejections, insufficient permissions, communication failures and recovery. Reconcile positions and results against an approved reference.
Organise go-live. Train users, approve procedures and support arrangements, then expand in stages. Prepare a controlled return to the previous arrangements if required.

6. Questions to ask before selecting a solution

Which banks, format versions and interfaces are supported, and what limitations apply?
How are access rights, signing authority, delegated approvals and audit logs administered?
Which costs cover licences, connections, data migration, changes and support?
How can data and documents be retrieved at the end of the contract?
What commitments cover availability, incidents and updates?

Request a demonstration based on your own use cases: a consolidated forecast, a rejected payment or a debt maturity. Assess both the outcome and the work that teams must still perform.

7. An example of a phased start

Fictional example: a group wants to consolidate balances and anticipate cash outflows. It starts with its main accounts and a forecast fed by ERP due dates. It measures account coverage, information freshness and differences between forecast and actual cash flows. Payments and financing operations are added after the data and controls have been validated.

To prepare your project, first create a short roadmap covering priority needs, information flows, responsibilities, controls and success criteria. Précis Consulting can help you define this scope and structure your treasury project.