In the past five years, corporate treasury professionals have navigated an increasingly complex business and economic landscape marked by heightened risks and persistent challenges. In today’s rapidly shifting financial environment, the ability to adapt quickly and respond decisively can determine whether an organization thrives by seizing new opportunities—or struggles under the weight of liquidity constraints and working capital pressures.

To meet these demands, treasury executives—particularly over the past 12 months—have drawn upon a diverse and evolving skill set to provide leadership and support to their organizations. These capabilities enable them to stay informed, remain agile, and proactively manage risk, while ensuring their enterprises are well-positioned to capitalize on evolving opportunities.

Against this backdrop, six essential skills have proven especially vital. Treasury practitioners have relied on these competencies to drive value, guide their organizations through uncertainty, and lay the groundwork for sustainable success—even amid financial crossroads.

Bank relationship management

The mutually beneficial relationship and enduring interdependence between banks and corporate treasury underscore just how important effective bank relationship management is for treasury departments.

Supporting this assertion, the Association for Financial Professionals® (AFP) 2025 Treasury Benchmarking Survey Report states that “Bank relationship management is applied most extensively, with 93% of organizations applying this skill to either a significant or moderate extent. Managing relationships with banks and financial institutions is an important function of treasury. As the primary contact for bank relationships, treasury negotiates credit terms, manages accounts and oversees the services offered by banking partners such as risk mitigation, crisis support and support for global operations.”

Cash forecasting

Corporate treasurers, who are responsible for the ownership and control of an organization's cash, devote a significant portion of their time to cash forecasting. This emphasis helps explain why cash forecasting is considered the second most important skill in treasury.

According to the AFP survey report, more than 70% of treasury departments use cash forecasting to a significant extent, while an additional 17% make moderate use of it. This widespread adoption highlights its importance in helping firms anticipate and meet their future cash needs.

Critical thinking/Strategic thinking

Treasury’s ability to deliver meaningful insights, adopt a solution-oriented mindset, and support broader business strategy depends heavily on the use of critical and strategic thinking. Reflecting this, the AFP survey report notes that 57% of treasury practitioners apply these skills to a significant degree, while another 31% use them to a moderate level.

Communication skills

With treasury becoming an indispensable component of various organizational functions and being entrusted with greater strategic responsibilities, the importance of communication skills has intensified within the corporate treasury’s repertoire.

Treasury professionals must now be adept communicators—capable of clearly conveying complex financial concepts to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders—an ability that is also crucial for effective treasury leadership. Illustrating this trend, the AFP survey report indicates that 56% of treasury executives use these skills to a significant extent, while another 31% apply them to a moderate measure.

Analytical skills

The AFP survey report reveals that 55% of treasury executives employ analytical skills to a significant magnitude, while another 32% apply them to a moderate scale. This focus on analytical ability demonstrates the critical role it plays in treasury, where data is the backbone of all operations. As a result, treasurers must be proficient with numbers, making strong analytical skills a critical business competency for career success.

Collaboration skills

Astute treasury management views collaboration with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders as fundamental to strengthening relationships, achieving shared goals, and driving business success and growth.

When collaboration thrives, it fosters cross-functional teamwork, encourages open dialogue, enhances operational efficiency, and supports key areas such as cash flow management, compliance, and risk management. In alignment with this perspective, the AFP survey report shows that 54% of treasury professionals apply collaboration skills to a significant degree, while another 33% use them to a moderate extent.

Additional skills applied to a significant level by treasury at organizations are leadership skills (45%) and risk assessment (35%).

To summarize, these six core skills—bank relationship management, cash forecasting, critical and strategic thinking, communication, analytical abilities, and collaboration—form the cornerstone of treasury’s evolving role within organizations. As corporate treasurers increasingly act as strategic partners and expand their advisory influence to the board, they must accelerate digital transformation and automation efforts to enhance financial visibility during uncertain economic times.

This shift will also demand a focus on strong people management. As the AFP survey report reinforces, attaining this will require embracing change, adopting and implementing technological innovations, bringing strong teams together, and overcoming challenges through continual skill development. Only then can treasury fully realize its potential as a strategic force in driving organizational impact.