Maturity Spectrum

The treasury function helps organizations manage cash and liquidity, optimize working capital and manage financial risk, and supports strategic decision-making by advising the CFO and C-suite on investments, acquisitions and other major business initiatives. To help organizations assess the maturity of their treasury functions, AFP® and other treasury experts developed a treasury maturity model in 2016 that defines 5 stages of maturity (first cited in the 2017 AFP® Strategic Role of Treasury Survey Report).

Treasurers who understand their departments’ maturity level are better positioned to support organizational growth, identify areas of strength and address potential gaps in the treasury function.

Forty-four percent of survey respondents describe their treasury teams as established on the maturity spectrum, while 26% identify their teams as developing. The decline in the developing category, from 30% in 2024 to 26% in the current survey, appears to be offset by an increase in the percentage of established treasury teams, which rose from 36% in 2024 to 44%. Twelve percent of treasury departments are at the enhancing stage, down 6 percentage points from 2024. However, it is encouraging to see a slight increase in organizations at the strategic/optimized level, from 12% in 2024 to 14% in the current survey. Technology appears to be a key driver of these changes. As ERP installations and upgrades have accelerated in recent years, treasury teams have faced growing demand for comparable technology capabilities through a new treasury management system.