Treasurers have long been accused of operating from an ivory tower, but when the financial crisis hit, all that changed. Today treasurers are more visible to the rest of the business than ever before, and they are expected to have a more strategic focus. But if the treasurer still has that ivory tower mentality—and if other departments still have no idea what the treasury actually does—this can be difficult to accomplish. Meanwhile, areas like working capital management, which treasurers are increasingly focusing on, cannot be tackled holistically without a good deal of interaction between treasury and the business.

While no one will argue with the fact that the financial crisis presented corporate treasurers with unprecedented challenges, it also came as something of an opportunity. With CFOs paying more attention to treasurers' role and activities than ever before, many treasurers found that they had a chance to drive forward initiatives and policies that otherwise might never have gotten off the ground. However, as memories of the crisis begin to fade, this opportunity could start to slip away.

"People who have already suffered an accident are usually very receptive to implementing conservative policies," says Damian Glendinning, treasurer at Chinese computer company Lenovo. "In this respect, the recent financial crisis presents a huge opportunity to treasurers: This is the time to make sure you get all your policies realigned, to incorporate the lessons of the crisis.