Treasury Survey: Unrealised potential – Growth vs. treasury maturity
Our latest benchmark on treasury in the mid‑sized segment shows that many companies are managed without a clear focus on establishing a treasury operating model. Even without a dedicated treasury function, companies may still face several treasury‑related exposures. Some of these are known and handled within the finance organisation, while others remain unaddressed and could have a significant financial impact. Periods of uncertainty increase the criticality of addressing such exposures.
The average benchmark score is 2.47, representing a maturity level where many processes are carried out by individuals without clearly defined ways of working. This indicates a high degree of manual work and critical knowledge residing in individuals rather than in standardised processes.
As mid‑sized companies navigate a fast‑moving business environment, periods of accelerated growth can challenge their ability to scale its internal functions. The survey indicates a negative relationship between revenue growth and treasury maturity. Companies with strong revenue expansion often appear to have less mature treasury functions, suggesting that growth potentially outpaces the development of internal financial processes. In practice, rapid growth can stretch internal capabilities, meaning the treasury setup may not evolve quickly enough to support the increasing complexity of the business.
The top quartile of our respondents has an average liquidity-to-revenue ratio of 10.5%, which is considered high, while more than 90% do not benchmark their banks. Combined with the increased focus on liquidity optimisation, this points to clear unrealised potential and a risk of missing out on low-hanging fruits for optimisation.
New ways of working to improve efficiency in times of uncertainty
Over the past year, major geopolitical events have created uncertainty and financial instability caused by war, inflationary pressure, spikes in energy prices etc. This has contributed to the depreciation of some of the major currencies over the past 12 months, a shift in national bank sentiment from interest cuts to interest hikes, and increased volatility in energy markets.
Resource time allocated to manual performance of automatable tasks per process
Companies are increasingly using automation in finance, shifting resource focus to more strategic activities. The share of finance resource time allocated to manual execution of automatable tasks per process is approx. 50% higher in median companies than in top-quartile companies.
In top-quartile companies, 19% of finance resource time is spent on manual tasks that could be automated. For median companies, this figure is 28%*
*Selected finance processes from the benchmarks from PwC database across multiple industries and revenue levels
What Drives Treasury Maturity?
To better understand what shapes treasury maturity and liquidity across mid‑sized companies, we examine how key financial metrics relate to treasury practices. This correlation analysis allows us to identify whether factors such as liquidity levels or leverage are associated with a more advanced treasury setup.
Growth vs. treasury maturity
Our analysis shows a moderate negative relationship between revenue growth and treasury maturity. In other words, companies experiencing higher growth tend to have less mature treasury processes. This suggests that rapid growth can put pressure on internal processes, causing the treasury function to lag behind the needs of a larger, and more complex organisation.
Cash-rich company vs. treasury maturity
Interestingly, companies with high liquidity, functioning as a proxy for being cash-rich are not more likely to score highly on treasury maturity. The weak negative correlation suggests that cash-rich organisations may prioritise operational needs over the systematic development of treasury processes, relying more on liquidity buffers than on structured financial management. This result did not change when examining only companies with high liquidity percentage, indicating that liquidity strength alone is not a reliable driver of treasury maturity.
Business cases
Pharma
We helped a Danish pharmaceutical company strengthen its treasury operations through improved cash visibility, liquidity optimisation, and simplification of the banking setup. At the same time, the company gained a stronger basis for decision-making and a more scalable treasury setup. The work identified measurable value of approximately DKK 4.4 million from avoiding annual interest losses, DKK 0.5 million from yearly savings and more than DKK 1 million from optimising cash transfers.
Retail
We supported a Danish retail company establish a global cash position and improve their cash visibility by consolidating cash across 23 banks and 200 bank accounts. We also supported a significant simplification of the banking setup, reducing the number of banks from 23 to 3 and lowering bank fees by 50%.
The work identified measurable value of approximately DKK 5.6 million from liquidity initiatives and DKK 3.4 million from covenant management, alongside further upside from financial risk management.
Contact us
Thomas Leth Jensen
