Jörg Pässler tells young treasurers to understand their company's operations, not just finance. Deep knowledge in accounting and tax, plus critical thinking, is how you add real value and gain influence in the business.
The future of treasury in terms of young professionals. I think one of the most important things is just to be a critical thinker. You've got to think critically in business and treasury is a disciplinary profession. You can't do treasury without knowing some tax. You can't do treasury without knowing accounting. You can't do treasury without knowing finance. So you have to go deep on your experience. It's very important. If you're strong on finance but thin on accounting and tax, spend time on accounting and tax, do a tax diploma, speak to the tax partner at your auditing firm. Go deep. Invest time in your career by going deep in these various disciplines and very importantly, understand your company. One of the best advice I can give the thing about treasury is you can almost live on an island, because what do you do? You manage cash at the end of the day, right? And whether you work for Shell or Harley Davidson or Sappi or a pharmaceutical company, at the end of the day, however the cash is generated. That's one thing. What we do with a Treasury, that's what we do. We manage that cash. However, the more you understand your business, the more you understand how it ticks on the operational side. The more I, as a treasurer, can influence myself in the company. And I would say any treasurer out there should really try and increase his or her profile in the company, because the more you increase your profile, the more you can understand the business and the more you can actually start adding value. In terms of all these different things, there are so many different areas and operations that you can influence that you can be a sort of an advisor or a consultant, an internal consultant.
