One risk the participating banks won't be able to learn about is credit risk. While Wills agrees that is certainly the risk of the moment, it is "outside the scope of what we do," he says.

Sharing loss data for the greater good of an industry seems to be an idea worth sharing. The British Bankers' Association has for some time offered pooled data on some risks members have experienced, though this is limited to robberies and ATM and cash-in-transit attacks. U.K.-based Algorithmics Ltd. also has a database, called Algo FIRST, which provides case studies of 7,000 actual operational risk events.

Other industries are starting to show some interest in doing the same kind of thing, Wills says. "We've had inquiries from utilities about this, and really the idea could make sense for any group of peers."

Cash Management: Industry Survey Expanded

The Association for Financial Professionals, together with IBM and Deutsche Bank, is conducting an expanded benchmarking survey to identify best treasury practices at North American and European companies.

"We're finding, for example, that the typical treasury operation costs 97 cents for every $1,000 handled," says AFP managing director Jeff Glenzer, "but that a few companies get that cost down to 35 cents per $1,000. For a $1-billion company, this should make it easy to justify the expense of automating or of establishing a shared service center."

Last year's survey involved 360 companies and showed a "surprising number" of treasuries still used manual systems, he says.

"We expect the total number of respondents this year to be much higher," Glenzer says. AFP will release some survey results over the summer and release the full report at its annual conference on Oct. 4-7.

Credit: Invoices Paid Late, Study Says

Just as suspected, companies are having a tougher time getting paid, according to new data showing that more invoices are paid late and disputes are increasing.

Two years ago, invoices were paid on average 7.2 days after the due date. That figure has almost doubled, according to credit and collections vendor Cortera's database of 18 million U.S. companies. Industries with the slowest-paying customers are retail (19.6 days late on average), public administration (17.18) and manufacturing (16.02). The proportion of invoices sent to collection agencies grew 8.45% in February.

Some areas are worse than others. On Cortera's map of the U.S., most of the West coast is an alarming shade of red. In California, 16.4% of payments were late in February. In Nevada, more than a fifth of payments are late.

A surprising finding is that some companies are making life tougher for themselves by wielding the cost-savings axe on in-house credit teams. "It seems odd that the lowest-hanging fruit–collecting on invoices due–is not being fully leveraged by companies at a time when they most desperately need it," says Jim Swift, Cortera's Boca Raton, Fla.-based CEO.

Benefits: Notification Deadlines Loom On New COBRA Subsidy

The federal government is taking some of the bite out of COBRA costs for laid-off workers, but benefits professionals and HR administrators need to pull the right strings to make it work.

Under the economic recovery act passed in February, the government will subsidize 65% of COBRA premiums for up to nine months for many workers who have lost their jobs at companies subject to federal COBRA requirements–generally those with 20 or more employees–as well as many former employees of smaller companies subject to state "mini" COBRA laws. The federal law requires most employers to allow workers who are laid off or leave their jobs to continue their group health plan participation–at the full cost of coverage (plus 2% in some cases)–for up to 18 months.

Employers will pay the 65% subsidy upfront and the federal government will reimburse them via payroll tax credits. "In counseling our clients on this, initially some were puzzled as to whether employers were footing the bill," observes Mark Terman, partner in charge of the employment law practice group at Los Angeles law firm Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen, which works with many large employers.

Most experts approve the government's move to help laid-off workers pay their COBRA bill, since the cost discourages many from continuing their coverage. "Costs for COBRA could be $1,000 a month or more for an individual, depending on the coverage provided," says Kaye Pestaina, a vice president with Segal Advisors in Washington, D.C.

But companies must hurry to get notices out to eligible individuals in time to make the stimulus plan deadline: By April 18, employers must notify all those who were involuntarily terminated between Sept. 1, 2008, and Feb. 16, but failed to elect COBRA (or elected it and later dropped it) of their right to the premium credits and include enrollment forms, Pestaina explains.

Employers must also communicate that the subsidy will be reduced for higher income workers. And they should be sure to coordinate the activities of third-party COBRA and payroll administrators, Pestaina says, to make certain that payroll taxes are properly offset to reimburse employers for the COBRA subsidies they provide employees for coverage periods after Feb. 17.