“There have been a few decision points in my career when I could have moved away from a treasury career,” reflects Jonna Goh, Transaction Banking Specialist at HBX Group. “But I’m keen to continue in the treasury world – I know that this is the road I want to be on right now.”

Before gaining a Bachelor’s in banking and finance from the Singapore Institute of Management – University of London (UOL), Goh began her career with an internship in the hospitality industry. As an intern, she was rotated around several departments within the organisation, including the finance department. She subsequently held a series of short-term auditing roles for different companies during her studies – and in 2014, she joined B2B travel technology provider, when it was operating as Hotelbeds, prior its evolution into HBX Group.

Route into treasury

Initially employed as a general ledger executive on a contract basis, Goh’s remit at the group was to support team members in optimising intercompany financial reporting during a key period of corporate financial review. “I wanted to look at a finance role, and then maybe step into the audit world,” she recalls. “But I was given an opportunity by the company when a position available in treasury. The Treasury Manager gave me an insight into how treasury works, and it captured my interest.”

At the time, the company had recently established treasury operations for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region and was in the process of building up its systems and processes. Goh’s role initially focused on processing payments and consolidating payments forecasting for different departments. Then, after her manager left, she supported her new manager in implementing a payments programme and developing the treasury system for the APAC region.

“At that time, there was some transformation work going on – I was working on some projects with my manager, and flying to Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand to implement the payment programme at the country level,” says Goh.

“My role then developed into a cash role, whereby I manage banking matters and board resolutions, as well as managing cash and liquidity for the APAC region. And a couple of months ago I moved into a corporate role and now report directly to the headquarters.”

Evolving role

Looking back at the last 11 years, Goh is struck by how much her role has evolved. “Likewise, treasury has undergone quite a transformation in the last five years,” she says. “Last year, we successfully implemented a major ERP transformation, enabling us to transfer and integrate our treasury system within a unified financial ecosystem. So, there has been a lot to learn in terms of new processes.”

Reflecting on what appeals to her most about treasury, Goh points out that the work is challenging, with projects and transformation exercises that keep things fresh. “A role in accounting is more about doing the same things, but in treasury every day is different,” she notes. “This keeps me going, because it constantly feels new.”

Where personal highlights are concerned, Goh cites her efforts to drive digitisation, both within the company’s treasury and beyond. When she first joined her current department, she identified an opportunity to modernise the workflows from legacy manual processes to digital environment that will improve efficiencies – so she took the initiative and raised the issue with her manager.

“I spoke to my manager and said that I thought this was something we could improve on, and he agreed, so we started working on new processes to move everything online,” she says.

Similarly, Goh coordinated with other departments digitalising the workflow processes. “To reduce that, I worked on standardising emails and documentation, as well as implementing STP (straight-through-processing) to reduce manual intervention.”

As part of this exercise, Goh formatted the design of the reports used to communicate with stakeholders. “I also developed a standardised cash projection report from the previous treasury system, because information needed to be consolidated,” she says. “I implemented this across EMEA and Americas region as well. This is something that we will need to revisit as part of the new ERP implementation.”

Choosing the right opportunities

Speaking about her role more generally, Goh is enthusiastic about the opportunities she has to collaborate effectively with other team members: “They have been a great support over the years, and my manager always gives me empowerment and confidence in during my professional career.” Likewise, she enjoys being able to build strong relationships with other departments, as well as with banking partners.

And while harnessing new opportunities is key to building a successful career, Goh notes that it is important to be selective. As such, not every opportunity that comes along will necessarily be the right move.

“There have been moments in my career when I have been offered other opportunities outside treasury career but have chosen to stay in this path,” she explains. “For example, I was given opportunity of another role within the finance function, but I don’t see myself moving into that position, and my manager feels that does not give me value-added for my professional growth, which I agreed.”

Likewise, when Goh had the opportunity to take on a project manager role, she felt this wasn’t the right move at that point in her career. “I think there are certainly some things you can learn as a project manager, although it depends on the project,” she reflects. “But again, I knew that I wanted to continue in treasury.”

In time, says Goh, this could bring other opportunities to move into other areas within the treasury function, such as working capital or FX. “Perhaps in a few years I could consider moving out of treasury and returning to it at a later date – but right now, I’m happy to be on this road,” she concludes.