A TMS implementation is supposed to end the early mornings spent rebuilding the cash position from bank portals and spreadsheets. Too often, it ends with a new treasury management system (TMS) running next to the same spreadsheets it was bought to replace.
That’s the worry most CFOs and treasurers carry into the project. The licence is signed, the ERP team is stretched, the banks are slow to return connectivity documents, and a few months later nobody trusts the cash forecast any more than before.
It usually goes wrong for predictable reasons. The platform is chosen from a demo instead of a requirements list. The project is run as an IT exercise, with treasury pulled in late. Bank connectivity, payment controls and forecasting logic get rushed to protect a go-live date, and support disappears the week after launch.
At FINMETRIX, TMS implementation works differently. Our certified Kyriba experts start with how cash, payments, and financial risk actually move through your organization, then build the platform around that reality and connect it to your ERP and banks. Because we’re a financial risk firm first, we design your liquidity and treasury solutions so the same data also supports hedging decisions and hedge accounting.
This guide lays out the plan FINMETRIX follows, from the first requirements workshop to go-live and hypercare.
FINMETRIX has been helping companies manage currency, interest rate, commodity and liquidity risk since 2014, from our headquarters at 1059 rue de la Montagne in Montréal and our office in Toronto, as an independent derivatives portfolio manager regulated by the AMF.
Why Do Finance Teams Struggle With TMS Implementation Before They Call FINMETRIX?
Most treasury teams that struggle with a TMS implementation don’t lack skill. They struggle because the project asks them to redesign how cash moves through the business while they’re still running it every day.
The platform gets chosen before the requirements are written. Vendor demos are polished, and every system looks capable on a clean data set. Without a written list of what treasury needs (bank accounts, entities, currencies, payment types, forecast horizons and reports), selection becomes a beauty contest and the gaps show up during the build.
Treasury is treated as a passenger in an IT project. When the ERP integrator or the IT department owns the TMS implementation, the technical connections get built, but the treasury logic often doesn’t. Cash positioning rules, account hierarchies and forecast categories end up configured by people who have never run a daily cash call.
Bank connectivity takes longer than anyone planned. Every bank has its own onboarding process, file formats and testing windows. A company with eight banking relationships across Canada, the US and Europe can face eight separate connectivity projects inside one TMS implementation. If nobody manages them actively, go-live slides.
Payment controls get bolted on at the end. Approval limits, segregation of duties and fraud screening belong in the design phase. When they’re rushed, companies either go live with weaker controls than they had before or keep the old manual process running “just in case,” which defeats the purpose.
Forecasting gets automated without being fixed. A TMS can pull ERP and bank data into a forecast, but it can’t decide which inputs matter on its own. A weak spreadsheet forecast becomes a weak automated forecast. Without forecast-versus-actual reconciliation, nobody can tell whether accuracy is improving.
Support ends at go-live. The first weeks after launch are when bank files fail, users invent workarounds and small configuration errors surface. A TMS implementation without structured hypercare can lose user confidence quickly, and that confidence is hard to win back.
The stakes have risen, too. With persistent inflation, cautious central banks and renewed trade tensions shaping the backdrop, finance leaders need a daily view of cash and exposures. When new US tariffs put more pressure on the trade outlook, the companies with reliable cash visibility are the ones that can respond on their own timetable.
How Does FINMETRIX Plan a TMS Implementation From Selection to Go-Live?
Every TMS implementation FINMETRIX leads follows the same sequence. The detail changes with each company’s banks, ERP and entity structure, but the order stays the same, because skipped steps are where most projects lose months.
Step 1: Diagnose how treasury works today
Before anyone talks about software, we map your current treasury: bank accounts and relationships, entities, currencies, payment flows, forecasting methods, approval chains, reporting and the spreadsheets holding it all together. We interview the people who run the daily process as well as the people who sign off on it.
This diagnosis gives you a baseline. It shows where time is lost, where errors creep in, where payment fraud risk sits and which reports leadership actually reads. It also surfaces the currency and interest rate exposures your TMS should capture, which many treasury reviews skip.
Step 2: Define requirements and confirm platform fit
Next, we turn the diagnosis into a written requirements set, ranked into must-haves and nice-to-haves. That document becomes the yardstick for selection.
FINMETRIX is upfront about one thing: our implementation practice is built on Kyriba, and our team includes certified Kyriba experts. So we test your requirements against what Kyriba’s cloud platform does in practice, in front of your team, and flag any gaps before a contract is signed. We don’t sell software, so our interest is in a fit you can defend to your CFO and your board.
Step 3: Build the TMS implementation blueprint
With the platform confirmed, we design the target state: bank account structure, cash positioning rules, payment workflows, user roles, forecast categories, reporting packs and the integration map to your ERP and banks. The TMS implementation blueprint also sets the project plan, the owner of each workstream, the testing approach and the go-live criteria.
This is where the hard decisions get made. Making them on paper costs far less than making them halfway through configuration.
Step 4: Connect your banks and ERP
Then we build the connections that make the platform worth having. On the bank side, that means coordinating connectivity with each banking partner, through SWIFT, host-to-host links or bank APIs, and managing the formats and testing windows each one requires. On the ERP side, it means integrating payables, receivables, general ledger and forecast data, using open APIs where they fit.
FINMETRIX runs bank onboarding as its own workstream, with a tracker for every bank, so one slow institution doesn’t hold up the whole TMS implementation.
Step 5: Rebuild payments and controls
Payments get extra attention, because that’s where errors and fraud cost real money. We design ERP-linked payment flows, approval limits and segregation of duties, and where it makes sense, we set up a centralized payment hub, modern payment rails and virtual accounts.
The aim is fewer manual touches, fewer people with access to bank portals and a clear audit trail for every payment that leaves the company.
Step 6: Configure cash forecasting and reporting
We configure forecasting around the inputs that drive your cash: ERP data, bank data, payroll, debt service, tax, capital spending and the business-unit forecasts your team already collects. Forecast-versus-actual reconciliation and variance analysis go into the routine from the first cycle, so accuracy is measured instead of assumed.
Reporting is built around the decisions leadership makes: daily cash position, liquidity headroom, debt and investment positions, and foreign-currency exposure by currency and horizon.
Step 7: Test, train and run in parallel
Before go-live, we run structured testing: individual integrations, end-to-end scenarios and user acceptance testing with your treasury team. Training focuses on the workflows your people will run every day.
For critical processes, we run the old and new methods side by side for an agreed period, so your team can compare results and sign off with evidence.
Step 8: Go live with hypercare
Go-live is a planned event, with a cutover checklist, a fallback plan and named owners. After launch, FINMETRIX provides hypercare support. We stay close to your team as the first real cycles run, fix issues as they surface and adjust configuration while users settle into the new routine.
Once the platform is stable, we move into post-implementation optimization: adding modules, automating more steps and sharpening the forecast as your data improves.
What Makes TMS Implementation With FINMETRIX Different?
Plenty of firms can configure a treasury platform. FINMETRIX approaches the work differently because of who we are and what we do for clients every day.
Certified Kyriba experts run the project. Our Liquidity & Treasury Solutions team is certified on Kyriba. The people designing your configuration know the platform’s options and limits, and they make design choices with your second and third year of use in mind.
We’re a risk firm, so your TMS sees your exposures. Many TMS implementation projects stop at cash and payments. FINMETRIX is an independent derivatives portfolio manager, so we build the platform to capture the currency and interest rate exposures sitting in your cash flows, debt and investments. Your finance team gets the data for hedging decisions from the same system it uses to manage cash.
Valuation and hedge accounting fit into the same framework. Kyriba can integrate derivative valuation and hedge accounting into your risk management framework. Our valuation and hedge accounting specialists work alongside our treasury team, so your hedges, valuations and documentation line up with what the TMS reports.
We’re independent. FINMETRIX isn’t a bank, a broker or a payment provider, and our representatives don’t receive commissions based on client transactions. When we design your payment flows or bank structure, there’s no product we’re trying to route through them. Our recommendations follow your requirements.
We work as an extension of your finance team. Your treasury team still has a business to run during the project. We take on the coordination, the bank follow-ups, the configuration and much of the testing load, and we keep your people involved where their knowledge counts: process rules, approvals and sign-off.
We stay after go-live. Hypercare and post-implementation optimization are built into our TMS implementation plan from the first workshop, so your team isn’t left alone with a new system in its most fragile weeks.
We work in English and French, across borders. Our team brings 8 nationalities and more than 7 languages, and FINMETRIX supports clients on 5 continents. For a company with entities and banks in several countries, that helps when you’re onboarding a European bank or training a team in Québec.
What Does Working With FINMETRIX on a TMS Implementation Look Like?
Once the project is underway, our clients see a steady rhythm. Here’s what that involves.
One plan and one point of contact. A FINMETRIX lead owns the plan, the issue log and the bank tracker. Your team always knows what’s done, what’s next and what’s waiting on whom.
Regular status reviews with the people who decide. We review progress, risks and open decisions with your treasury lead and CFO, and we escalate early when a bank, a vendor or an internal team is holding things up.
Working sessions instead of long questionnaires. We gather requirements and validate design choices in workshops with your team, so decisions get made in the room by the people who will live with them.
Your team learns as we go. We explain configuration choices as we make them. By go-live, your treasury staff understand why the system works the way it does, which makes them far more confident running it.
Clear reporting to leadership. Your CFO sees where the TMS implementation stands against the blueprint: integrations live, banks connected, test cycles passed and issues still open.
When Does TMS Implementation With FINMETRIX Make More Sense Than Doing It In-House?
Some companies have the treasury and IT capacity to run a TMS implementation on their own. Many don’t, and the signs are usually easy to spot.
Your treasury team is two or three people. A lean team can run daily cash or run a major system project. Doing both at once usually means one of them suffers.
You’ve never implemented a TMS before. The decisions that matter most (account structures, connectivity routes, forecast design) are made early and are hard to reverse. Working with certified Kyriba experts shortens the learning curve.
You bank with several institutions or operate in several countries. Each bank and each jurisdiction adds connectivity work, file formats and approval steps. That coordination is where in-house projects tend to stall.
A previous implementation didn’t deliver. If you already own Kyriba and your team works around it, a FINMETRIX optimization project can recover the investment instead of starting over.
You want treasury data connected to risk management. If a hedging policy or hedge accounting is on your roadmap, it makes sense to shape the TMS implementation around those needs from the start.
Which Industries Does FINMETRIX Support With TMS Implementation?
FINMETRIX supports TMS implementation projects for mid-sized and large companies in the sectors we know well from our risk management work.
Energy. Energy companies face large, price-driven swings in cash flow. A TMS gives treasury a daily view of liquidity alongside the price exposures behind it.
Distribution. Importers and distributors often pay suppliers in foreign currency and collect in Canadian dollars. Centralized payments and cash visibility by currency help protect margins between purchase and sale.
Metals. Producers and processors make high-value purchases tied to metal prices. Better forecasting helps them plan financing around those cycles.
Agriculture and agribusiness. Seasonal cash cycles make forecast accuracy a priority. A well-configured TMS shows peaks and troughs early enough to plan for them.
Manufacturing. Manufacturers juggle raw material costs, foreign-currency sales and capital spending. A TMS brings those flows into one forecast. Recent months have brought higher energy costs and still-elevated volatility in certain commodities, and that shows up quickly in a manufacturer’s cash needs.
Land and maritime transport. Carriers deal with fuel, freight and container costs, often in USD, across several entities and banks. Treasury needs a single view of those outflows.
Services. Firms delivering foreign-currency contracts need to see receivables by currency and forecast collections accurately from the bidding stage onward.
What Else Does FINMETRIX Offer Beyond TMS Implementation?
A TMS implementation is often the first step. Once your treasury data is reliable, the next questions are usually about risk.
Financial Risk Management. Through our financial risk management service, FINMETRIX helps companies identify, quantify and manage exposure to currencies, interest rates and commodities. That work follows our 4-step methodology (Diagnosis, Policy & Strategy, Execution & Trading, and Monitoring & Performance), and the exposure data your TMS captures feeds straight into it.
Valuation & Hedge Accounting. Our valuation and hedge accounting team provides independent derivative valuations, hedge documentation and effectiveness testing, so your financial statements reflect your risk management intent and your auditors get the files they need. We work to the accounting standards your company already uses, including IFRS, ASPE and US GAAP.
Ongoing treasury optimization. After go-live, FINMETRIX keeps refining payment processes, forecasting models and integrations as your business adds entities, banks or currencies.
With all three under one roof, the cash data in your TMS, the hedges protecting your margins and the accounting that reports them are handled by people who work together every day.
Frequently Asked Questions About TMS Implementation With FINMETRIX
What is a TMS implementation?
A TMS implementation is the project of selecting, configuring and connecting a treasury management system to your banks and ERP so treasury can manage cash, payments, forecasting and risk in one place. At FINMETRIX, it also includes a treasury diagnosis before the build and hypercare after go-live, so the platform replaces the spreadsheets instead of sitting beside them.
Which treasury management system does FINMETRIX implement?
FINMETRIX implements and optimizes Kyriba, the cloud treasury platform. Our team includes certified Kyriba experts who handle deployment, ERP and bank integration, payment processes, forecasting and post-implementation optimization.
Can FINMETRIX help if we already have Kyriba but it isn’t working well?
Yes. Post-implementation optimization is part of our Liquidity & Treasury Solutions service. We review your configuration, integrations and workflows, find where your team is working around the system and adjust the setup so the platform does what you bought it to do.
How long does a TMS implementation with FINMETRIX take?
It depends on the number of banks, entities, ERP systems and modules in scope. We set a realistic timeline during the blueprint stage, once we know exactly what has to be connected, and we can give you an early view in a free consultation.
Does FINMETRIX integrate the TMS with our ERP?
Yes. ERP integration is a core part of every Kyriba deployment we lead, covering payables, receivables, general ledger and forecast data, with open APIs used where they fit.
How does FINMETRIX handle bank connectivity during a TMS implementation?
We manage bank onboarding as a dedicated workstream. FINMETRIX coordinates with each of your banks on connectivity method, file formats and testing, and tracks every bank separately so one delay doesn’t hold up the whole project.
Does FINMETRIX help reduce payment fraud risk through the TMS?
Yes. We design payment workflows with approval limits, segregation of duties and centralized control through payment hubs, which cuts manual handling and narrows the points where fraud can enter. No system removes fraud risk entirely, but a well-controlled payment process makes it much harder.
Is FINMETRIX independent from banks and software vendors?
Yes. FINMETRIX is an independent derivatives portfolio manager regulated by the AMF. We aren’t a bank, broker or payment provider, and our representatives don’t receive commissions based on client transactions. We implement Kyriba as an expert partner and don’t sell the software ourselves.
Can FINMETRIX connect our TMS to hedging and hedge accounting?
Yes, and it’s one of the main reasons companies work with us. Our Financial Risk Management and Valuation & Hedge Accounting teams use the exposure and cash data your TMS captures, so hedging decisions, derivative valuations and reporting line up.
What size of company does FINMETRIX work with on TMS implementation?
We work with SMEs and large companies, most often mid-sized and large businesses with several bank accounts, entities or currencies. The strongest fit is a company whose treasury has outgrown spreadsheets but doesn’t have a large in-house treasury technology team.
Does FINMETRIX work with companies outside Québec and Ontario?
Yes. FINMETRIX has offices in Montréal and Toronto, works in English and French, and supports clients on 5 continents.
How do we get started on a TMS implementation with FINMETRIX?
Book a free consultation through our contact page. We’ll get back to you within one business day to discuss your banks, systems and goals, and outline what a TMS implementation would involve for your company.
TMS Implementation With FINMETRIX
A TMS implementation should give your finance team a cash position it trusts every morning, payments it controls and a forecast that improves every month. Run as a rushed IT project, it rarely does.
FINMETRIX runs it differently. A treasury diagnosis before selection. Certified Kyriba experts on the build. Banks and ERP connected and tested. Hypercare after go-live. Treasury data that supports your hedging and hedge accounting from the start.
We’ve been helping companies manage financial risk since 2014, from Montréal and Toronto, as an independent, AMF-regulated derivatives portfolio manager.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial, accounting or investment advice. Every company’s exposures are different. Contact FINMETRIX to discuss your situation.