Treasury departments never stop focusing on cash forecasting, but sometimes it ranks higher on their list of priorities. This is one of those times, as factors ranging from volatility in the foreign exchange market and the prospect of higher interest rates to the effects of Basel III regulations renew companies' interest in having an accurate outlook on their cash flows.

Paul LaRock, a principal at consulting firm Treasury Strategies, noted that cash forecasting was a bigger concern for corporates before interest rates fell when the financial crisis struck in 2008. "When interest rates fell, the priority of cash forecasting dropped dramatically," he said. "There wasn't any point in doing it because you couldn't affect interest earnings by doing cash forecasting."

But the topic started to get more attention in the middle of last year when the foreign exchange markets saw a pick-up in volatility, LaRock said.