CFOs, treasurers, and other finance professionals are under constant pressure to make the best possible decisions with their company's working capital “in the moment.” This pressure can be especially intense within a global company that has liquid assets residing around the world.

For example, an organization may have several foreign accounts in which it holds a significant portion of its assets, liabilities due (which may or may not include incentives to pay early), and stocks in foreign corporations. The company must optimize performance of all of these accounts, keeping in mind exchange rates, taxes (factoring in transfer pricing and related issues), and a number of other variables.

The more complicated a company's financial picture, the more difficult it is for finance managers to know when they should move liquid assets between countries, when to reinvest or sell stocks, and whether the organization should pay off liabilities or take on debt. That's why, for many complex global organizations, using technology to gain a consolidated, real-time view into the company's cash position is not the next “best practice,” it's just the next practice.