As companies focus on surviving the downturn, their CFOs and treasurers are taking a few concrete steps to help them do just that. Jim Graves, senior vice president with Key Bank, has noticed several themes that have consistently emerged in conversations with clients over the past several months:

a) A heightened emphasis on credit quality: More financial execs are taking a harder line with new customers. For instance, rather than shipping and invoicing, they’ll hold goods until payment is received.

b) Greater interest in card programs: While no CFO likes the interchange fees associated with credit card purchases, a greater number are “showing a willingness to accept 95 cents on the dollar today, versus wondering, ‘Will I get paid 30 to 40 days from now?’” Graves says.

c) A renewed commitment to supplier relationships: Even as companies try to squeeze money from operations, managers also recognize that an overly aggressive approach with suppliers can backfire, if it threatens a vendor’s viability. Instead, some may, for instance, pay as soon as goods are received. Both sides also are quicker to talk to each other as soon as potential problems, such as shipment delays or payment difficulties, arise, rather than letting misunderstandings fester. “It’s not that it’s not cutthroat, but it’s not abusive,” Graves notes.

d) Greater attention to discounts: CFOs and treasurers are doing all they can to consistently capture early-payment discounts. In the freewheeling days of the past, it was easier to justify letting these slide.

e) Offering payment guarantees: Say a treasurer knows the company’s cash flow won’t allow it to meet, for instance, a 30-day payment window. He or she is more likely to ask for an extension to 45 days, while also guaranteeing the payment then.

f) Renewed interest in cash management services. While products like controlled disbursement, in which an account is funded only when checks drawn on it are presented for payment, have been around for several decades, they’re capturing new attention, Graves says. Financial execs who are trying to squeeze cash from every nook and cranny of their operations can no longer afford to overlook them. ###