Part 2: About the History of the Association of German Treasurer’s Association VDT e.V.
If you have ever wondered what the "i dot" on the far left stripe of the VDT logo means: Nothing!
The reason was a transcription error and the logo was taken as it appeared on the fax printout. For all younger readers: Fax ist the abbreviation of Telefax, a telecopier machine that nowadays can only be found in some German ministries)
In the first part of this series, we got an insight into the development of the Treasury and the challenges that accountants, bankers, managers and "amateur computer scientists" have had to face over the last 25 years.
Since "Treasurer" is still not a recognised teaching profession, the aforementioned people have mostly had to gather all their knowledge themselves from different scarce sources. The little information they had to master the tasks came from academia, banks, software providers, friendly colleagues from other companies or had to be acquired expensively from specialised consultants.
Scientific findings were often only theoretical in nature and difficult to apply in practice. The quality of advice from other (non-scientific) sources was of different quality and not always neutral or transferable to one's own finance department. So it was time to establish an advocacy group that provided education and training for treasurers and that formed a sufficiently strong lobby vis-à-vis banks, standard-defining bodies and software solution providers.
Today, the Verband Deutscher Treasurer e.V. (VDT e.V.), founded 25 years ago, is the leading professional association for corporate treasury in German-speaking countries. More than 1,500 members from almost 700 companies form a strong community that is recognised in Germany, but also beyond its borders, by the banking sector, software and service providers, standard-setting bodies and organisations as well as neighbouring associations as an active representation of interests and an institution for education and training.
In the "Cash & Liquidity", "Equity & Debt", "Risk Management" and "Asset Management" sections, current and future topics are discussed and "best practice" approaches, statements, professional journals and newsletters are published. The "Professional Profile & Qualification" department deals with the tasks and functions of treasurers and offers its members the insights gained in the form of basic and advanced courses up to the course "Certified Corporate Treasurer" several times a year.
"Continuing education today is the basis for success in treasury tomorrow."
says Prof. Dr. Heinrich Degenhart, the board member responsible for this department, and is pleased about the great demand for VDT e.V. qualification courses, which are already fully booked until the beginning of 2024.
In order to bring the topics and competencies of the association to the community, the Verband Deutscher Treasurer e.V. also organises specialist conferences, online events, regional meetings, workshops and webinars for its members. These are also very well received by the association's members, which include the treasury and finance departments of large corporations and medium-sized companies.
Even though the motto is "from treasurers for treasurers", representatives of universities, software manufacturers, consultancies, auditing firms, banks and other companies also work in the departments as supporting members, provided this is considered useful by the respective department.
In many cases, cross-departmental cooperation makes it easier and quicker for all sides to understand the interrelationships, and solutions can be designed more sensibly together. One example is the retention of the group privilege in connection with PSD II. Without the timely intervention of the VDT e.V., the implementation of this EU directive would have made the further operation of group-internal payment factories extremely difficult or even prevented it.
With an efficiently working office in Limburg and many actively involved forces in the various departments, the German Treasurer’s Association has achieved a lot for its members and, as one of the committed supporting members, Trinity would like to see the competences and assertiveness increase further with the realignment of the association's leadership. We are happy to support!
Trinity Management Systems GmbH, as one of the leading German TMS developers, has been a sponsoring member since 8 December 1998 and has thus accompanied the VDT for over 23 years. Trinity actively supports the specialist areas of "Vocational Training & Qualification" and "Cash & Liquidity".
Trinity passes on its knowledge to the VDT members and in return receives valuable insights into wishes and requirements for future solutions, which flow into the software development and subsequently benefit the treasurers who have chosen Trinity TMS as their treasury management system. A win-win situation from which several thousand Trinity TMS users worldwide benefit every day.
Trinity TMS has been developed with a lot of know-how in Germany since 1997 and is successfully distributed worldwide. Enquiries from customers are answered by Trinity itself, creating a personal relationship between our staff and users. The German team is supported by a project office in the Netherlands for the support of international customers. In order to comply with EU data protection directives and the DSGVO and to make the introduction of Trinity TMS as easy as possible for customers, Trinity has been offering customised "private cloud" installations in German data centres for years. As an owner-managed and self-financed company, Trinity has shown continuity for 25 years and will continue this tradition. Customised, experienced, faster and personal.
YOUR TREASURY - YOUR WAY - OUR SOFTWARE