The treasury function has a well-deserved reputation for running lean. There are certainly notable exceptions, but among most companies—even multi-billion–dollar enterprises—treasury usually has few dedicated team members. Five, three, one, or perhaps even zero individuals have a full-time focus on the complexities of managing cash flows, working capital and payments, financial risk, and all the other myriad areas of financial management that require a treasury professional's input.

"Do more with less" is the mantra across most treasury teams—and that challenge is magnified in small to midsize businesses. Even though an organization might not have the staff resources of a major multinational, it certainly has the same need for effective treasury operations.

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For Lithko Contracting, a midsize concrete contractor based in West Chester, Ohio, the key to optimizing the effectiveness of a lean treasury organization is to push decision-making to the people on the company's front lines. "Treasury and finance managers should trust the people who are closest to the action and give them the tools that they need to be successful," says Ben Cutting, Lithko's CFO.

Both winners of our 2022 Small Company Excellence Awards found creative ways to increase the sophistication of their treasury teams:

  • Small Company Excellence in Working Capital & Payments:  When Lithko's suppliers experienced a potentially fatal cash crunch at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cutting and his team explored options for providing cash to suppliers earlier, without sabotaging their own working capital position. Ultimately, they decided to launch a virtual payment card solution.
  • Small Company Excellence in Treasury Transformation:  Irish aircraft-leasing company Goshawk was performing hundreds of manual intercompany funds transfers each month. Although it's a modest-sized organization, Goshawk developed a cash pooling infrastructure that is now saving substantial staff time, increasing the company's earnings on excess cash, and improving visibility into corporate cash flows.

These innovative initiatives reflect how large ambitions can serve small-company treasury teams well. "Our A/P specialists were on the front lines, hearing about the issues our vendors were experiencing," Cutting explains. "They were able to move much faster than they could have if we'd consolidated the decision-making at the top of the organization."

Congratulations to Goshawk and Lithko Contracting on these innovative projects! And thank you to the judges of our 2022 awards program: Jean-Francois Heitz, former deputy CFO and treasurer of Microsoft; Erik Smolders, former treasurer of Ingram Micro and a vice president in Deloitte's Global Treasury Advisory Services practice; Craig Jeffery, managing partner of Strategic Treasurer; and Marie Hollein, former president and CEO of Financial Executives International.

Finally, thank you very much to ION Treasury, ICD, Kyriba, C2FO, and TIS for sponsoring the 2022 Alexander Hamilton Awards program.

You can learn more about the Small Company Excellence award-winning projects by watching the on-demand webcast during which we presented the awards.

Information on our other 2022 Alexander Hamilton Awards is available, as well:

Finally, if you or someone you know has completed an outstanding initiative in the realm of treasury, finance, or risk management, consider entering our 2023 Alexander Hamilton Awards program. The entry deadline is August 26, 2022.

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Alexander Hamilton Awards