Functional processes

An overview of some of the main functional processes involved in treasury management

Treasury management is complex and requires the use of a variety of different systems and processes for assets to be managed correctly and effectively. The differences in the approaches taken by each treasury will influence how effectively assets are managed and used to benefit the members of that community. The main high level processes involved in how a treasury operates includes the following:

• Income - To be sustainable over the long term most treasuries will receive one or multiple forms of income. Example income sources could include transaction fees, product or service offerings, financial yields, investment returns or from donations.

• Operation - Operating a treasury means dealing with the systems and processes involved in managing and disbursing treasury assets. Some areas of concern for operating a treasury include handling governance, asset management and storage, risk management, financial strategy, self improvement processes, diversification, management of different funding processes, payment processing, achieving the overall mission & strategies and enforcement of any community set constitutions and policies. Each of these areas will often need ongoing contribution and improvement from contributors involved in the treasuries operation.

• Disbursement - The disbursement of funds will help a treasury achieve its overall mission and current priorities. Systems and processes are needed to disburse funding towards impactful initiatives, to help with auditing any progress made and to help review the completion of initiatives to determine how much impact has been generated.