Contributed by Daniel Smith, Director of Origination, Orbian
Treasury teams are under increasing pressure to deliver predictable cash outcomes in an increasingly unpredictable environment.
Rising financing costs, economic uncertainty, and growing expectations around liquidity mean treasury teams are expected to support the business while consistently delivering against cash targets. The question is no longer whether working capital matters; it is how treasury can achieve those outcomes consistently as business conditions continue to evolve.
This was one of the central themes of our discussion at Treasury360 Nordic, where I joined Nick Frost, Group Treasurer at Morgan Advanced Materials, to explore how treasury strategies are evolving.
One theme emerged repeatedly throughout the discussion: treasury doesn’t need one working capital solution. It needs more than one option.
For many organisations, supply chain finance (SCF) remains one of the most effective working capital tools. Where suppliers are willing to participate and payment terms can be aligned, it delivers value for both buyers and suppliers.
As Nick Frost observed during the discussion, not every supplier relationship can be optimised in the same way. Strategic suppliers, global technology providers, and businesses with non-negotiable payment terms often require different approaches.
The opportunity is not to replace SCF, but to recognise that no single working capital solution can address every supplier relationship. Treasury performs best when it has multiple levers available and the flexibility to apply the right one at the right time.
Treasury teams are now combining complementary working capital solutions rather than expecting a single programme to address every scenario. For some suppliers, SCF may be the right answer. For others, treasury may need a different form of payment flexibility – one that supports working capital objectives without relying heavily on supplier adoption, procurement-led negotiations, or changes to supplier behaviour.
This is becoming particularly important where treasury needs a faster, more predictable liquidity, or where suppliers are not natural candidates for traditional SCF because adoption, programme participation, or payment-term negotiations create limitations. In these cases, payment-with-terms solutions, such as Flex Pay, can complement SCF by giving treasury greater control over liquidity outcomes in a simple and scalable way, while helping maintain strong supplier relationships.
The question becomes less, “Which solution?” and more, “Which solution is right for this supplier?”
Treasury remains accountable for cash performance, even though many of the levers that influence working capital sit elsewhere in the organisation. Procurement negotiates payment terms. Operations manage supplier relationships. Finance oversees reporting. Treasury’s role is becoming more about connecting these functions and aligning commercial decisions with liquidity objectives.
Morgan Advanced Materials also demonstrated that execution matters just as much as strategy. Rather than treating implementation as a standalone project, the focus was on embedding new working capital capabilities into existing processes with minimal operational disruption.
Better data is changing how treasury makes decisions. Rather than asking whether one solution can optimise working capital, treasury teams are shifting the question towards which approach is best suited to each supplier relationship. Richer supplier data, supported by AI-driven insights, is making it easier to segment suppliers, understand where different payment strategies create the greatest value, and build a more flexible approach to liquidity management.
The discussion at Treasury360 Nordic reinforced a shift that many treasury teams are already beginning to make.
The organisations best positioned for the future will not necessarily be those with the largest working capital programmes. They will be those with the flexibility to apply the right strategy to the right supplier at the right time.
Ultimately, treasury’s objective isn’t simply to improve liquidity. It’s to build a working capital strategy capable of delivering predictable cash outcomes while maintaining strong supplier relationships.
In practice, that means moving beyond one solution to build a more resilient working capital toolkit.