Addressing key treasury team challenges in 2025

Treasury teams face high-stakes decisions daily, yet outdated tools and fragmented data often stand in the way. When sudden currency fluctuations disrupt markets or a CFO demands immediate answers, limited visibility and inefficient systems make it harder to respond effectively. Managing cash flow, mitigating risks, and keeping up with evolving technology have never been more challenging.

Without the right tools, these inefficiencies can lead to costly mistakes and increased vulnerabilities. As 2025 approaches, economic volatility, regulatory scrutiny, and rapid digital transformation will only heighten these pressures.

Keep reading to explore the top treasury challenges, and discover actionable strategies to overcome them.

1. Limited visibility into operations, cash, and financial risk

Challenge: Limited visibility remains a paramount concern for treasury teams. According to Deloitte’s 2024 Global Corporate Treasury Survey, 58% of respondents identify limited visibility as their top treasury concern.

Impact: This lack of transparency impedes informed decision-making, obscures potential risks, and leads to inefficiencies in cash flow management. Without a clear, real-time view of cash positions and exposures, organizations struggle to optimize liquidity and mitigate financial risks effectively.

According to experts, forecasting material cash inflows and outflows in the transaction currency at the business unit and consolidated levels becomes significantly more difficult when disparate ERP systems are in use.

Solution:

• Invest in real-time treasury management systems (TMS): Implementing advanced TMS platforms enables treasurers to access up-to-date information on cash positions, debt, investments, and exposures. These systems facilitate centralized data collection and reporting, enhancing decision-making capabilities.

• Consolidate data from multiple sources: Integrating data from various banking partners, subsidiaries, and financial instruments into a unified platform provides a holistic view of the organization’s financial standing. This consolidation aids in identifying discrepancies, forecasting cash needs, and managing risks more effectively.

2. Lagging digital capabilities

Challenge: Treasury functions often fall behind in adopting digital solutions, with 48% of organizations struggling with inadequate digital capabilities. Outdated tools like spreadsheets continue to dominate critical treasury tasks, limiting both efficiency and innovation.

Impact: Manual processes not only increase the risk of errors but also significantly hinder operational productivity. In today’s fast-paced financial environment, reliance on outdated, manual methods delays resolutions, creates bottlenecks, and diminishes treasury effectiveness.

One major barrier to digital transformation is the lack of skilled personnel capable of implementing and leveraging new technologies—an issue that organizations can no longer afford to overlook.

According to a survey conducted by U.S. Bank, the sentiment among finance executives regarding their progress on digital transformation highlights this critical need. Only 20% of respondents are satisfied, scoring 8–10 on a 10-point scale, while 53% fall in the middle, scoring 5–7, and 27% are unsatisfied, scoring just 1–4. This striking data underscores the importance of prioritizing digital innovation—not only to enhance efficiency but also to upskill teams and remain competitive.

Solution:

• Embrace automation and AI tools: Automation reduces errors, accelerates workflows, and provides real-time insights, enabling treasury teams to make more informed decisions. AI-driven tools improve forecasting accuracy and predict potential market movements. As finance leaders seek to leverage digital technologies to cut costs and enhance financial operations, adopting these tools has become essential for staying competitive in an evolving market.

• Implement centralized systems: Centralized systems standardize processes, automate routine tasks, and allow teams to focus on higher-value activities, improving efficiency and scalability. Consolidating FX management and treasury operations also enhances control over financial risks and optimizes resource allocation. According to The Global Treasurer, centralization reduces inefficiencies caused by fragmented systems and decentralized decision-making, enabling more cohesive and effective financial operations.

3. Addressing inadequate treasury infrastructure

Challenge: Outdated systems and fragmented technological foundations present significant barriers to treasury operations, with 46% of treasury leaders identifying legacy infrastructure as a major obstacle to efficiency. These systems often lack scalability and fail to integrate with modern technologies, limiting adaptability and performance.

Key issues include:

• Lack of interoperability between systems, resulting in data silos and disjointed workflows.
• Reliance on manual processes for consolidating data across multiple accounts or systems, increasing the risk of errors and inefficiencies.
• Difficulty upgrading or replacing systems without disrupting daily operations, hindering an organization’s ability to evolve.
• Poor user experience and outdated interfaces that slow processes and reduce overall productivity.

Impact: To understand the potential consequences for your organization, consider this case study:

The Times UK reported that in 2022, Birmingham City Council implemented a £38 million Oracle accounting system to modernize its financial management. However, the system’s lack of integration and modern capabilities led to data silos and inefficient workflows within its first six months. This misalignment contributed to a budget shortfall of more than £1 million, which later escalated to nearly £3 billion in debt. The financial strain forced the council to declare financial distress in 2023.

The inability to generate live insights or streamline financial processes underscores the risks of relying on fragmented, outdated infrastructure and highlights the critical need for scalable, integrated treasury systems to maintain efficiency and financial stability.

Solution:

• Transition to modern, cloud-based TMS platforms: Upgrading to advanced treasury management systems that integrate seamlessly with ERP systems and other technologies eliminates data silos, reduces manual interventions, and supports scalability for growth.

• Partner with technology providers: Collaborating with experienced providers ensures a smooth implementation and ongoing support. These partnerships allow organizations to customize solutions, optimize system functionality, and fully leverage modern tools to drive efficiency and performance.

4. Mitigating FX volatility

Challenge: FX volatility remains a critical disruptor for 39% of organizations, particularly in today’s unpredictable global economy. Multi-currency operations face heightened vulnerability as fluctuating currency movements erode profitability and complicate financial planning.

Key concerns include:

• Inconsistent exchange rates impacting revenue, margins, and cash flow.
• Difficulty maintaining accurate financial forecasts due to currency fluctuations.
• Limited visibility into FX exposures across global operations, increasing financial risk.

Impact: In recent years, multinational corporations have faced significant financial setbacks due to currency fluctuations. For instance, Philip Morris once experienced a $115 million reduction in net revenue in one quarter alone, with a total foreign-exchange impact of $931 million since the start of the year. These fluctuations not only slashed profitability but also disrupted financial forecasting, emphasizing the critical need for effective FX risk management strategies.

Solution:

• Adopt advanced FX risk management strategies: Employing hedging techniques and predictive modeling enables organizations to proactively mitigate currency risks.

• Utilize advanced analytics for real-time adjustments: Analytics tools provide dynamic visibility into exposures, allowing for informed policy updates and better decision-making to safeguard profitability.

The role of technology and innovation in FX forecasting

The solutions to these problems are within reach. By embracing advanced technologies, real-time treasury management systems, and forward-thinking strategies, treasury teams can turn obstacles into opportunities.

As the global financial landscape continues to evolve, emerging technologies such as generative AI, real-time payment systems, and ISO 20022 standards are reshaping FX risk management. These innovations drive greater efficiency and accuracy, empowering treasury teams to better predict currency fluctuations and swiftly adapt to market shifts. Looking ahead, AI and real-time data integration will make FX risk management even more critical to organizational success.

Why AtlasFX is different

AtlasFX stands at the forefront of FX risk management, offering advanced solutions that directly address the challenges treasury teams face today.

 Stay updated with seamless integration

We automate the data load from ERP systems and provide a real-time dashboard to track which ERPs are integrated and when they were last updated. This ensures comprehensive, up-to-date visibility across global operations and financial exposures, offering treasury teams a clear view of cash positions and risks in various currencies and regions.

 Leverage AI for superior forecasting

AtlasFX leverages AI to improve forecasting accuracy. By feeding historical data into our AI models, we handle complex forecasting scenarios—such as hundreds of currency pairs and entity combinations—far beyond the capabilities of manual processes.

 Optimize liquidity with actionable insights

Our platform’s reporting capabilities help treasury teams efficiently manage liquidity across multiple currencies and entities. This optimizes cash positions and enhances financial flexibility, ensuring you have the right resources at the right time.

Streamline workflows with full integration

AtlasFX provides a fully integrated solution that consolidates data from various systems, including ERPs and execution platforms. This eliminates the need for disparate third-party tools, streamlining workflows, increasing efficiency, and improving accuracy in FX operations.

Mitigate risks with advanced analytics

With features like forecast deviation analysis, constant currency comparisons, and scenario analysis, AtlasFX helps treasury teams assess multiple variables to predict market outcomes and make informed decisions, mitigating the risks associated with FX volatility.

As treasury teams look to the future, it’s essential to evaluate their current capabilities and prioritize addressing key challenges. AtlasFX is here to partner with organizations in overcoming these hurdles, enabling them to thrive in 2025 and beyond.