Kick-Off Checklist For Treasury Projects 2026: How To Execute Transformation Initiatives

Treasury teams are being asked to do more with less. Payment rails are evolving towards real-time settlements. Fraud tactics keep evolving. Regulators expect stronger controls, cleaner data, and clearer audit trails. And boards want complete and daily cash visibility, not fragmented spreadsheets and guesswork. If you’re planning a change programme this year, the success factor isn’t the tool you pick first. It’s whether you kick off with a disciplined view of objectives, operating model, processes, data, and controls, then use technology to scale what already makes commercial sense. Below is a practical kick-off checklist treasury leaders can use to set direction, reduce delivery risk, and create momentum across finance, IT, and the wider business.

 

What Is Treasury Transformation In 2026 And Why It Matters

Treasury transformation is the shift from fragmented, manual, and locally optimised treasury activity to a connected capability that supports liquidity, risk, governance, and decision-making at a group level. In 2026, that shift is happening at a fast pace. There are three reasons most teams feel the pressure at the same time:

• Regulatory change: ISO 20022 has raised the bar for structured data and richer payment information. Many organisations are also tracking the spread of e-invoicing mandates across regions, which increases the need for consistent master data and end-to-end traceability.
• Fraud and error risk: Real-time payments reduce the window to detect anomalies. Controls must run earlier in the process, not after the fact.
• Operational resilience: Treasury can’t rely on heroics when portals are down, files fail, or approvals bottleneck. Resilience needs repeatable processes, clear ownership, and reliable connectivity.

That’s where treasury digital transformation comes in. It’s the practical use of automation, connectivity, and standardised data to enable the strategic outcomes above, not a rebrand for “new software”. A useful test: Tactical upgrades reduce friction in one area. A strategic treasury project improves how the organisation moves money end-to-end, from Source to Pay and Procure to Pay through to cash visibility, risk controls, and audit readiness.

 

1. Setting Clear Objectives Before Kicking Off A Treasury Project

The fastest way to overspend and under-deliver is to start with a tech shortlist. Start with outcomes.

 

Define The Business Case In Plain Terms

Anchor objectives to what the business values. Most programmes map to five drivers:

• Efficiency: Reduce manual handling across payments, statements, and reconciliations.
• Control: Strengthen approvals, segregation of duties, and evidence trails.
• Visibility: Improve intraday and end-of-day cash insight across banks and entities.
• Scalability: Support growth, acquisitions, new banks, new regions, and higher volumes without adding headcount.
• Compliance: Stay aligned with scheme rules, audit requirements, and internal policies.

 

Turn Ambition Into Measurable Success

A clear set of success measures keeps teams aligned and stops scope creep. Examples include:

• Time to produce a consolidated cash position
• Percentage of statements retrieved automatically
• Reduction in manual touchpoints in payment runs
• Exception rate (and time to resolution)
• Control coverage (who can do what, when, and why)

Tie these measures to a single owner and a cadence for reporting. This section is also where you define what “done” means. Many programmes go live but don’t change behaviours. Use this section to set direction for your treasury management process and confirm how it supports broader finance priorities such as working capital, shared services, and standardised procurement.

 

2. Reviewing The Current Treasury Operating Model

A treasury operating model is how treasury work gets done across the business: where decisions sit, who owns bank relationships, how policies are enforced, and how exceptions are handled. Review it early, because operating model gaps often show up later as delivery delays, rework, and audit risk.

 

Centralised, Decentralised, Or Hybrid

Most organisations land in one of three shapes:

• Decentralised: Local teams run payments and cash locally. This can work for smaller estates but often creates policy drift and inconsistent controls.
• Centralised: A group function owns banking, liquidity, and controls. This improves consistency and visibility.
• Hybrid: Shared rules and tooling, with local execution where needed.

Two models are becoming more common as teams scale:

• In-house treasury: Brings funding, risk, and cash decision-making closer to the centre. It strengthens governance and improves the quality of insight.
• Shared service centre: Standardises execution (payments, reconciliations, and reporting) while improving resilience and reducing cost-to-serve.

Where this links to delivery: if ownership is unclear today, your future-state treasury business process will inherit the same weaknesses. Fix governance and decision rights up front.

 

3. Mapping And Optimising Treasury Management Processes

Before you automate, document reality.

 

Map The End-To-End Flow

The process of treasury management usually spans:

• Payment creation, validation, and approvals
• Bank connectivity and file routing
• Cash visibility (intraday and end-of-day)
• Reconciliation and exception management
• Fraud and error checks
• Reporting for audit, finance leadership, and risk

Most teams find hidden workarounds here: a portal log-in “just in case”, a manual file tweak, a separate spreadsheet for approvals, or an email-based sign-off chain. These steps are often invisible until something fails.

 

Redesign For Control And Speed

When you map the current state, look for:

• Duplicated work across teams and regions
• Manual intervention points that create error risk
• Bottlenecks in approvals and bank authentication
• Handoffs between finance, AP/AR, payroll, and treasury
• Missing data fields that break reconciliation later

Then define the future-state process. If the goal is straight-through processing, design for it. If the goal is stronger controls, design them into the workflow, not into a policy document.

 

4. Technology Readiness And System Modernisation

Technology is only helpful once you know what it needs to enable.

 

Assess The Current Landscape

Start with a practical inventory:

• ERPs, TMS, payroll, and AP tools that generate payment and cash data
• Bank portals and connectivity methods (host-to-host, SFTP, API, SWIFT)
• Statement formats and frequency
• Authentication methods and approval tooling
• Data quality issues (master data, bank account data, vendor data)

Common legacy constraints include limited integration, delayed statement delivery, and reliance on manual upload/download cycles.

 

Decide: Upgrade, Integrate, Or Replace

Use clear criteria:

• Can you connect reliably to your banking estate and scale to new banks?
• Can you support richer data requirements and consistent formatting?
• Can you centralise access controls and evidence for audit?
• Can you reduce manual intervention without creating new risk?

If the answer is “not without workarounds”, you may need to modernise treasury operating models  rather than bolt on another software layer. This is where treasury technology should be evaluated on outcomes: connectivity, automation, control, resilience, and the ability to support growth without complex integration projects every time.

 

5. Treasury Technology Trends Shaping Transformation In 2026

The biggest treasury technology trends are not flashy. They’re practical shifts that reduce risk and improve insight:

• Automation that removes routine handling from payment runs and reconciliation
• Real-time or near-real-time cash visibility through direct bank connectivity
• Tighter ERP integration to reduce rekeying and improve data consistency
• Embedded controls that run before submission (not after release)
• Better exception management to shorten resolution cycles

A useful principle: technology should support business outcomes, not dictate them. Adopting new capabilities without governance and process alignment typically creates two problems:

• You accelerate the wrong workflow (faster inefficiency)
• You introduce new control gaps (because responsibility didn’t change, only the tools did)

Use your kick-off phase to confirm how your operating model and process design will absorb these changes.

 

6. Governance, Risk, And Control Considerations At Kick-Off

Controls aren’t a workstream you add in month six. They are the foundation. At kick-off, define:

• Approval rules and segregation of duties (including contingency)
• Authentication requirements and evidence trails
• Fraud and error prevention checkpoints (for example, account validation and anomaly detection)
• Policy alignment across entities and regions
• Escalation paths for exceptions, missing statements, and failed submissions

This is also the point to pull compliance into scope explicitly. If it matters, write it down. That includes scheme requirements, internal audit expectations, operational resilience, and regulatory change watchlists. Done well, governance makes delivery faster. It removes ambiguity and stops late-stage redesign when stakeholders see risk for the first time.

 

7. Creating A Phased Roadmap For Treasury Transformation

Most programmes fail because they try to change everything at once. A phased approach reduces risk, improves adoption, and helps teams prove value early. A practical sequencing model looks like:

1. Foundation: Connectivity, data standardisation, and control design.
2. Automation: Straight-through processing for priority payment flows and statement retrieval.
3. Visibility: Consolidated cash dashboards and reliable reporting cadence.
4. Optimisation: Exceptions, forecasting improvements, and working capital impact.

Set milestones that reflect outcomes, not activities. Measure whether the business actually stopped using the workaround spreadsheet. This is the difference between shipping a tool and delivering treasury transformation initiatives that stick.

 

Conclusion – Executing Treasury Transformation With Confidence In 2026

A strong kick-off is a risky decision. It’s also a value decision. When you align strategy, operating model, process design, and technology from the start, you reduce delivery friction and build a treasury capability the business can rely on. That matters more in 2026 than it did even two years ago. If you’re planning a programme and want to reduce manual handling, strengthen controls, and improve cash visibility through direct connectivity, AccessPay can help. Explore the AccessPay platform, our cash management and payments automation solutions, and the wider treasury management capabilities. For practical guidance and insights, visit the Knowledge Hub and browse the wider Solutions page.