The European Association of Corporate Treasurers (EACT) has unveiled the results of its 2025 Treasury Survey, offering a compelling snapshot of the priorities, challenges, and technological aspirations of corporate treasurers across Europe.
Conducted annually, this survey captures the pulse of the treasury profession, drawing insights from approximately 250 group treasurers representing some of Europe’s largest multinational corporations.
In a world shaped by geopolitical uncertainties, economic recovery, and rapid technological advancements, the 2025 survey highlights how treasurers are steering their organisations through an evolving landscape with resilience and foresight.
A Shifting Landscape of Priorities
The 2025 EACT survey underscores a return to core financial imperatives, with treasurers recalibrating their focus in response to a post-crisis environment. The survey reveals that cash flow forecasting remains the cornerstone of treasury priorities, a position it has held consistently over the years. This emphasis reflects the critical need for reliable liquidity management in an era marked by economic volatility and supply chain disruptions. Treasurers are increasingly tasked with ensuring their organisations can navigate unpredictable cash flows with precision, a challenge amplified by recent global crises.
Following closely behind, working capital optimisation has surged as a key focus area. The survey highlights treasurers’ efforts to enhance liquidity and strengthen supply chain resilience, moving beyond traditional metrics like days payable outstanding (DSO) and days sales outstanding (DPO) to adopt a more holistic approach. This shift signals a strategic response to the economic uncertainties that continue to ripple across global markets.
Interestingly, the 2025 survey notes a nuanced evolution in priorities compared to previous years. While digital transformation and banking relationships have historically ranked high, they have been overtaken by more immediate financial concerns. The survey splits digital treasury transformation into two distinct categories—digitisation and treasury infrastructure review—indicating a maturing approach to technological integration. This recalibration suggests treasurers are not only embracing digital tools but also critically assessing their underlying IT architectures to ensure long-term efficiency and scalability.
Embracing Technological Innovation
Technology remains a linchpin for treasury transformation, with the 2025 survey spotlighting treasurers’ enthusiasm for innovative solutions. Data analytics continues to lead as the top technological priority, reflecting a growing appetite for leveraging financial data to enhance reporting and decision-making. Robotics Process Automation (RPA) and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) follow closely, underscoring the drive towards automation and seamless connectivity with banking partners. Artificial Intelligence (AI) also retains a prominent place, with treasurers exploring its potential to revolutionise forecasting and risk management.
The survey’s findings align with broader trends observed in previous years, particularly the 2021 EACT survey, which noted a post-COVID push for centralisation and automation to combat fraud, enhance internal controls, and address resource constraints. However, the 2025 results suggest a more strategic adoption of technology, with treasurers moving beyond reactive digitisation to proactive modernisation of treasury systems. This shift is driven by the increasing maturity of technological solutions, which offer tangible opportunities to improve cash management and operational efficiency.
Addressing Challenges in a Complex Environment
The survey paints a vivid picture of the challenges treasurers face in a dynamic global context. Geopolitical tensions, regulatory changes, and the rising threat of cyber fraud loom large, with the latter identified as a growing concern following a surge in cyber-attacks during recent crises. Treasurers are responding by strengthening internal controls and investing in fraud detection strategies, particularly as real-time payment systems gain traction across Europe.
Regulatory pressures also feature prominently, with the impending mandatory adoption of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in 2025 adding complexity to treasury operations. The survey highlights treasurers’ increasing involvement in sustainability reporting, reflecting their pivotal role in aligning financial strategies with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives. This trend builds on earlier findings from the 2020 survey, where 50% of treasurers reported efforts to reduce paper-based processes to support ESG goals.
Banking relationships, while no longer among the top three priorities, remain a critical area of focus. The survey notes that treasurers view these relationships as a risk to be managed strategically, particularly in light of economic uncertainties and evolving regulatory requirements. This perspective aligns with the broader theme of treasurers adopting a proactive, long-term view of their roles, balancing immediate operational demands with strategic contributions to organisational resilience.
A Forward-Looking Vision
The 2025 EACT Treasury Survey offers a nuanced portrait of a profession at a crossroads. Treasurers are navigating a complex interplay of financial, technological, and regulatory challenges, yet their responses demonstrate adaptability and vision. The emphasis on cash flow forecasting and working capital optimisation reflects a pragmatic focus on financial stability, while the embrace of data analytics, RPA, and AI signals a forward-looking commitment to innovation.
As the European Union embarks on a new chapter with a freshly elected Parliament and incoming Commission, the survey underscores the need for treasurers to advocate for policies that enhance economic competitiveness. The EACT’s engagement with policymakers, exemplified by its survey on the cost of EMIR compliance, further highlights the profession’s role in shaping a regulatory environment that supports corporate growth.
In conclusion, the 2025 EACT Treasury Survey captures a profession in transformation, balancing the demands of an uncertain present with the opportunities of a digital future. By prioritising financial resilience, embracing technological advancements, and addressing emerging risks, Europe’s corporate treasurers are charting a course towards greater efficiency and strategic impact. As they continue to adapt to a fast-changing world, their insights offer a roadmap for navigating the complexities of modern treasury management.
Source: European Association of Corporate Treasurers (EACT), 2025 Treasury Survey Results.
