Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Cash Flow Analyst

🎯 Role Definition

As a Cash Flow Analyst you will own the development, maintenance, and continuous improvement of short-, medium- and long-term cash forecasting models and reporting used by Treasury and Finance leadership to manage liquidity, optimize working capital, and inform strategic investment and debt decisions. You will collaborate closely with Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, FP&A, Procurement and business unit stakeholders to collect high-quality inputs, analyze cash drivers, reconcile bank and ledger positions, and translate complex cash dynamics into actionable insights. The ideal candidate combines advanced spreadsheet and modeling skills, experience with ERP/treasury systems (for example SAP, Oracle, Kyriba), and proven ability to communicate forecast drivers and risks to senior stakeholders.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Junior Treasury Analyst
Financial Analyst (FP&A) or Accounting Analyst
Accounts Receivable / Accounts Payable Analyst with treasury exposure

Advancement To:

Senior Cash Flow Analyst
Treasury Manager / Head of Treasury
FP&A Manager or Director of Finance

Lateral Moves:

Treasury Operations Specialist
Working Capital Manager
Corporate Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop, maintain, and own daily, weekly, and monthly cash forecasting models (short-, medium-, and long-term) that aggregate inputs from AR, AP, payroll, tax, and capital expenditures to provide accurate, auditable cash positions for senior management and treasury operations.
Produce rolling 13-week cash forecasts and scenario-driven cash projections to support treasury funding decisions, short-term financing, and investment of excess cash while identifying liquidity risks and opportunities.
Reconcile daily bank balances and cash positions across multiple bank accounts and legal entities, investigate variances to the general ledger, and ensure intraday and EOD cash reporting accuracy.
Coordinate with Accounts Receivable and Collections teams to validate receivable timing, cash receipts patterns, and high-risk accounts to refine forecast assumptions and accelerate collections.
Partner with Accounts Payable and Procurement to model disbursement schedules, supplier payment terms, and prioritize payments based on cash availability and strategic supplier relationships.
Analyze working capital drivers and trends (DSO, DPO, DIO) and prepare actionable recommendations to reduce cash conversion cycle and free up operating cash.
Maintain and optimize cash pooling, intercompany funding, and netting arrangements to minimize external borrowing and reduce bank fees while ensuring compliance with internal policies and global cash concentration strategies.
Build and maintain robust Excel models (including macros/VBA), and when applicable develop automated ETL / data connections to ERP/treasury systems (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Kyriba) to improve forecast accuracy and reduce manual effort.
Perform foreign exchange (FX) cash flow analysis to quantify exposure by currency, assess hedging needs, and work with Treasury to implement FX mitigation strategies that preserve liquidity.
Lead month-end and quarter-end treasury close activities: prepare cash reconciliations, journal entries, and variance explanations; support external and internal audits with complete backup documentation.
Create and deliver clear, concise cash and liquidity reports, dashboards and presentations (Power BI, Tableau, or Excel) to treasury, CFO, and business stakeholders that summarize forecast drivers, deviations from plan, and recommended actions.
Design, document and implement forecasting policies, cash reporting standards, and contingency liquidity plans to ensure consistent processes across regions and business units.
Conduct sensitivity and scenario analysis (best/worst/case) to assess the impact of business changes, seasonality, or macro events on cash flow and recommend mitigation steps or financing strategies.
Drive continuous improvement by identifying process inefficiencies, developing automation solutions, and implementing best practices in cash forecasting and treasury operations.
Support short-term funding decisions including intercompany loans, bank borrowings, and investment of surplus cash, liaising with banking partners and legal where required.
Monitor covenant compliance, debt maturities, and upcoming contractual cash obligations to proactively plan funding and avoid refinancing risks.
Manage data quality, perform periodic root-cause analysis of forecast errors, and implement corrective actions to improve forecast accuracy over time.
Coordinate cross-functional initiatives (product launches, M&A integrations, capital projects) to model incremental cash impacts and ensure treasury is positioned to support strategic business events.
Support treasury systems implementations or upgrades: gather business requirements, perform user acceptance testing, and assist with change-management and training for cash forecasting modules.
Validate and post cash-related intercompany transactions and reconciliations to ensure accurate capture in the general ledger and proper elimination in consolidated reporting.
Maintain relationships with banking partners, payment providers, and internal stakeholders to streamline payment flows, negotiate fees, and secure favorable banking services to support organizational liquidity needs.
Prepare ad-hoc cash analysis and strategic recommendations for the CFO or Treasury Director during periods of uncertainty, market volatility, or rapid business change.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist with treasury policy reviews, process documentation and internal controls related to cash management and disbursements.
Support training and onboarding of junior cash analysts and temporary resources during peak periods.
Help ensure compliance with local banking regulations, tax withholding requirements, and internal audit recommendations related to cash handling.
Participate in cross-functional meetings to relay cash constraints and to influence payment terms, billing cadence, or capital spend timing.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced cash forecasting and liquidity planning skills with demonstrated ability to build and maintain rolling cash models and scenario analyses.
Expert Excel skills, including pivot tables, advanced formulas, Power Query, VBA/macros and model auditing techniques.
Experience with ERP and treasury management systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Kyriba, GTreasury) and ability to extract, transform and validate data from those systems.
Strong financial modeling and analytical skills to quantify working capital drivers, forecast variances and recommend mitigating actions.
Familiarity with bank operations, cash concentration/pooling, intercompany netting, and short-term funding instruments.
Knowledge of foreign exchange (FX) flows and hedging principles as they relate to cash forecasting and exposure management.
Ability to build visual dashboards and reports using Power BI, Tableau, or advanced Excel charting to communicate cash metrics and trends.
Basic SQL or data query skills to pull transactional data from finance databases or data warehouses for analysis.
Experience performing cash reconciliations, month-end treasury close activities, and supporting audit documentation and controls.
Understanding of treasury-related compliance, banking covenants, and regulatory requirements that affect liquidity and payments.

Soft Skills

Strong communication and stakeholder management skills; able to translate complex cash drivers into clear business recommendations for non-technical audiences.
High attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy and auditability.
Proactive problem-solver with the ability to prioritize under tight deadlines and rapidly changing cash conditions.
Collaborative team player who partners effectively across AR, AP, FP&A, tax, procurement and IT.
Business acumen with curiosity to understand underlying commercial drivers and seasonality that impact cash flow.
Adaptability and resilience when handling volatile scenarios, unexpected cash swings or crisis liquidity planning.
Project management capabilities to lead forecasting improvement initiatives and system implementations.
Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple reconciliations, reporting cycles and ad-hoc requests simultaneously.
Presentation skills to synthesize analysis into executive-ready decks and succinct talking points.
Ethical judgment and integrity when handling sensitive financial and banking information.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration or a related quantitative field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Finance, MBA, or professional certification such as Certified Treasury Professional (CTP), CPA or CFA (advantageous).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance
Accounting
Economics
Financial Engineering
Business Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–7 years of progressive experience in treasury, corporate finance, FP&A, or accounting roles with direct exposure to cash forecasting and liquidity management.

Preferred:

3+ years specifically in treasury or cash forecasting roles for mid-to-large enterprises or multi-entity corporations.
Demonstrated experience with ERP/treasury systems (SAP, Oracle, Kyriba, NetSuite) and reporting tools (Power BI, Tableau).
Proven track record improving forecast accuracy, automating forecasting flows, or implementing treasury systems.
Experience working in a fast-paced, multi-currency environment and coordinating with global finance teams.
Prior exposure to bank relationship management, short-term funding, and debt covenant monitoring.