Three-quarters of financial executives say analysts are more concerned about cash-flow data than about GAAP figures. So the reliance of investors and bankers on GAAP data, therefore, is a worry for these executives. So concludes a recent Sungard survey on cash management.
And three-quarters of corporates also believe that improved liquidity knowledge would improve their company's credit rating, while the survey reveals that executives view quarterly figures and cash-flow management with equal importance when evaluating the health of a company.
Ken Dummitt, president of Sungard treasury systems, comments: "Financial executives need real-time visibility into free cash flow because that one metric is the best indicator of the health of your company." And cash-flow forecasting, according to Dummitt, is readily available. "CFOs, treasurers and corporate executives can have real-time access to the information necessary to make proactive decisions in managing to quarterly free cash-flow projections."
The poll received almost 300 responses, more than half of which came from corporates with revenues in excess of $1 billion.