A recent survey of corporate executives conducted by SAP and CFOResearch provides some interesting insights into global businesses'priorities for their treasury function. The survey included 661executives, all at companies with more than $500 million in annualrevenues. Eighteen percent of respondents said they are CFOs; 18percent are directors of finance; 15 percent are treasurers; and 11percent are CEOs or other business managers.

When the survey asked these participants to select their threemost important priorities for improving treasury performance, theirtop two choices are not surprising: optimizing treasury processes(44 percent) and upgrading treasury information systems ortechnology (38 percent). Nearly a third also prioritize improvingthe treasury function's ability to work closely withline-of-business managers. However, fewer than a quarter ofrespondents are focused on improving treasury performance byexpanding or adding treasury services, or by adjusting treasurystaffing levels. (See Figure 1.)