Cash Visibility - Fundamentals¶
What It Is (General)¶
Cash visibility is the ability to see current cash positions across all bank accounts, entities, and currencies in real-time or near-real-time. It provides the foundation for treasury operations by answering "how much cash do we have, and where is it?"
What It Means for Our ICP¶
How Treasury Teams Think About It¶
Cash visibility is about operational confidence: - "My assumption is everything works" - Trust the balances unless flagged otherwise - Exception-based monitoring - Only investigate when something looks off - Entity focus - Certain entities matter more (AG for multi-currency, holding, EMEA entities for funding)
Typical Processes & Timing¶
ON's Approach (Source: 2025-11-11) 1. Morning check: Are funded accounts at expected balances? 2. If balance is unexpected: Investigate why (payment failure? timing?) 3. Focus on AG (multi-currency), holding, and EMEA entities 4. Use 20% variance threshold as starting point for concern
Sonder's Approach (Source: 2024-10-03) 1. Check where they finished prior day (bank can process after hours) 2. Categorize transactions (90% automatic, 10% need adjustment) 3. Complete positioning in <30 minutes 4. Call teams to understand what's happening today 5. Make movements during day if needed to cover needs
Tools They Use Today¶
- Bank statements - Daily imports showing actual balances
- Cash positions page - Palm view of account balances
- Manual verification - Checking specific accounts that were funded
How They Talk About It¶
- "Cash position" - Current balance view across accounts
- "At risk of overdraft" - Balance lower than expected
- "Funded accounts" - Accounts that treasury has transferred money to
- "Yesterday is closed, let's look at today" - Moving forward once verified
- "Active piece" / "Passive piece" - Positioning (active) vs reporting (passive) (Sonder)
- "Positioning the cash" - Daily morning activity (Sonder)
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