Any way you cut the numbers, U.S.-based companies are conducting more and more business outside our borders. In fact, 60 percent of the business done by the companies of the S&P 500 now takes place in other countries, according to this article in Institutional Investor. What’s more, companies that do more of their business overseas tend to do better overall. Firms that generate more than half their revenue internationally grow more quickly than firms that generate more than half their revenue domestically, Reuters reports.

A number of iconic U.S. companies now are decidedly multinational. Procter & Gamble generates nearly 60 percent of its revenue outside the U.S., while Ford produces more than half its cars outside North America.

As many firms look to other countries and emerging markets for sales growth, treasurers and CFOs need to make sure that the money generated or spent can move about. That usually means opening up bank accounts in the countries in which their firms have production and/or sales operations. Mary Ann Dowling, a principal with Treasury Strategies, offers her recommendations for doing this safely and efficiently:

1) In most cases, corporate treasury should be notified of the need for a new bank account. That way, they can steer the local team to the company’s preferred bank(s). If the bank lacks an office in the country, the treasury team can analyze the options available. “I think it’s best practice to be centralized,” Dowling says. The treasury team usually is in the best position to assess the strength and credit risk of the banks available.

2) The treasury department also should sent a letter to the bank detailing all the services, such as balance reporting, it is requesting.

3) Among the documents typically required to open a new bank account are these: the corporate resolution, a list of the signatures of the signers on the account(s), copies of the signers’ passports, and documents showing that the company legally can do business in the country.

While opening a new bank account may seem like largely an administrative task, the recent financial crisis hammered home the importance of knowing with which financial institutions a company is working, Dowling says. Many Irish banks, for instance, were guaranteed by the government. Now, however, the Irish government is receiving a bailout through the EU and the IMF, with about 35 billion euro (U.S. $46.6 billion) of the funds dedicated to downsizing and reorganizing the country’s banking system, according to this article in the Guardian. ###