I love the 40 Under 40 issue–although it is a painful reminder that even if I worked in a finance department or treasury and was any good at all, I still wouldn't qualify. To see what many of these young executives have accomplished in such a short period of time is amazing, and it is thrilling that, in my short six years as editorial director of Treasury & Risk, I have seen so many of them go on to become treasurers, controllers and even CFOs at some of the nation's largest companies. No CEOs yet, but ask me in five or 10 years.

It is also an exciting time to be in finance in general–despite the fact that recruiters will tell you that fewer and fewer college graduates are attracted to the discipline. After years of guarantees about the potential for straight through processing, real-time numbers and continuous monitoring of functions, there are in fact technology vendors out there living up to those promises with applications that are priced so that many more companies can consider the investment. There are also new opportunities–with prospects for corporate membership to the SWIFT network and the advent of the Single European Payment Area–for consolidation of unwieldy banking infrastructures that in the past have made global cash visibility and STP challenging, if not impossible, for most companies. Admittedly, the pressures are not any less than they were, even with clarifications of Sarbanes-Oxley. There are, after all, ever proliferating convoluted accounting regulations with which to contend. But there are some advances being achieved by finance and treasuries that certainly make it an stimulating space to cover.