Dependability

Trust at an operational level has a number of dependencies. These include:

• Human capital;
• Systems;
• Processes and procedures;
• Perceptions

Organisations are dependent on proper cash management. If the people, systems and processes are not trusted, cash management and decision making will be in doubt no matter the end result.

We affect the systems and process elements of your business.

The human capital aspect is influenced through recommendations and suggestions.

We aim to work with clients and shoulder part of the responsibility of implementations.

Best practice is our chosen option.

However, it doesn't always suite every client's needs.

We use best practice as the baseline relative to existing practice.

And only once established is a strategy implemented that the client desires.

Access and ease of use refers to the system on offer.

The treasury system is written in Progress which is used by Administrative Financial Service Providers.

Access to the system can be gained by signing on the desk top or remotely.

We can provide technical specifications on request.

The navigation once logged in as a User is system prompted.

The basis of the controls comply with the regulations applicable to banks.

Statements drawn from the system mirror those of the investment at a financial institution in both capital and interest and can be drawn intra month on a daily basis. The system is a fully fledged Treasury banking system adapted to corporate needs.

Working capital account balances are visible to users as well as the transactions that would pass through that account once loaded.

This enables users to know what the anticipated Opening Balance should be the following day by current account.

Management has sight of how much lazy money there is within the group at individual companies.

In respect of management and staff with regards to cash and liquidity management, 4D Treasury Services offer clients two services:

• We can consult or train staff at the work station on how to perform cash management. We can transfer skills as well as coach staff members in terms of market practice, terminology as well as market fundamentals.
• The organisation could outsource the cash management function. Depending on the level of control the organisation wants to maintain will determine the extent of the service.

We believe that if data is consolidated at a central point proper risk management and informed decision making can occur quickly, efficiently and in a control environment.

In order to achieve this efficiency however, data must:

• Be system generated;
• Minimum human intervention;
• Be obtainable on demand;
• Visible to parties that need to have sight;
• In a format that everyone understands the same data in the same way;

Our approach is to ensure that cash flows are traceable, accurate, back-tested and that there is independent sign off by management and internal audit.

The tester is whether the flows occurring on the working capital accounts match those that have been provided for from within the company.

Managing divisions or separate companies who perform their own banking, cash management, settlements as well as their own forecasting within their entity makes life difficult for the person drawing the data together for analytical purposes.

In order to manage cash flow properly from a central point, our solution states that there must be:

• At least visibility / sight of the working capital accounts;
• Minimum of quarterly future dated cash flows;
• As a bare minimum a one year rolling cash flow forecast;

We believe that cash flows controlled from a central point will prevent the business from defaulting leading to loss on discounts, liquidity squeezes without good reason or even credit downgrades without being able to plan for these events.

The above events lead to reputational risk, higher cost of funding as well as the consumption of unnecessary management time.

The actual control is achieved by back-testing forecast versus actual cash flows

Our approach also limits unplanned outflows on individual working capital accounts without an escalation and approval process.

A history of actual flows is built up for future analytical purposes which take seasonal flows into account which are an accurate indicator and can be linked to economic indicators.

The system provides controls in respect of

• Users;
• financial instrument;
• interest rate tolerance limits;
• credit risk management which includes the exposure on the working capital accounts;
• dealer transaction volume;

The system is based on the requirements that banks need to comply with and is controlled in the initial set-up of users, financial instruments and the various risk factors.