Discover How Co-Sourcing Unites Treasury Teams & Advisors

Modern treasury teams are juggling more vendors, more accounts, more reporting requirements, and more pressure to be strategic, not just reactive. 

At the same time, many teams are operating with limited staff, outdated tools, and increasing scrutiny from boards and the public.

When your team is low on resources, offloading your entire processes to a third party and leveraging their expertise is a great way to free up time. However, while outsourcing has its benefits, keeping your processes in house lets you maintain control of your data. 

Enter co-sourcing, a model that combines your internal team's oversight with the support of expert partners, all within a shared software system.

Rather than outsourcing entire functions, co-sourcing keeps you in charge while making sure you have the backup and expertise to move faster and make smarter decisions.

Why Treasury Teams Need a New Support Model

Treasury organizations are often responsible for:

• Real-time cash visibility across multiple accounts
• Forecasting short- and long-term liquidity
• Supporting investment and debt strategies
• Providing data for CFOs and boards
• Staying compliant with complex financial regulations

These responsibilities require better tools and better collaboration.

While outsourcing can be beneficial when your staff is short on time, you hand over everything, such as your processes and data, to an external partner.

But when it’s time to change firms or run an internal report, you’re left scrambling to retrieve critical information which could possibly result in delays. Especially when partners change or contracts end. 

Co-sourcing offers an answer: a flexible support model that strengthens your team without handing over control.

What is Co-Sourcing in Treasury? 

Co-sourcing is a collaborative partnership where your treasury team retains ownership of the data and system, while external experts, financial consultants, or investment advisors, plug into that system to assist with specific tasks or provide strategic insight.

The key distinction is ownership. 

Co-sourcing means:

• Your team controls the platform and the workflows
• External partners access what they need
• You maintain institutional knowledge, even if vendors or staff change

This model creates a shared source of truth, fostering better communication, faster execution, and long-term resilience.

The Benefits of Co-Sourcing for Treasury

Co-sourcing is about building a more agile, intelligent treasury function. 

Here are some of the key advantages:

Real-Time Access to Key Data

Whether it’s cash balances, debt service schedules, or investment positions, your team and your partners work from the same up-to-date system so no more chasing spreadsheets or waiting on reports.

Simplified Reporting

When your financial data is centralized and accessible, reporting becomes less reactive. Partners can help with documentation while your team stays in control of the narrative.

Faster Decision-Making and Fewer Handoffs

No more emailing back and forth to confirm figures or chase down files. Everyone works in the same system, which means less friction and more clarity.

Smooth Transitions Between Partners

Changing financial advisors or onboarding a new consultant? Co-sourcing ensures your data and processes are intact so no starting from scratch, no gaps in knowledge.

Scalability Without Sacrificing Control

Co-sourcing makes it possible to scale support up or down without relinquishing oversight. Your team stays in the loop and learns by doing, not by handing everything off.

The Importance of Data Ownership

In many treasury departments, data lives in silos such as spreadsheets on shared drives, PDFs in someone’s inbox, or, only accessible by a third-party provider. 

When someone leaves or a partner transitions out, institutional knowledge vanishes with them.

With co-sourcing, your treasury platform becomes the system of record. 

When you use modern treasury management software like DebtBook, your organization gets:

• A centralized home for all your treasury data
• Automated workflows that capture not just numbers, but context
• Role-based access controls so external partners can collaborate securely

When your organization owns the system and the data, it ensures continuity, even through leadership changes, retirements, or advisor transitions.

Here are a few scenarios where co-sourcing transforms treasury operations:

Disclosure and Reporting

Need to prepare a report for council or bondholders? Your team and your advisor can work together to quickly pull the right data without needing to dig through outdated files.

Debt and Investment Strategy

When obligations are housed in DebtBook, your team and your advisors can model refinancing scenarios or investment opportunities with current, complete data.

Reconciliations and Oversight

Shared systems reduce errors and manual duplication. Reconciliations can be reviewed collaboratively and more efficiently, especially important when you’re short-staffed.

How DebtBook Enables Successful Co-Sourcing (for Treasury Teams and Their Advisors)

With built-in workflows and intuitive, role-based access controls, DebtBook empowers both your internal team and your external partners to work together efficiently.

For treasury teams:

• You retain control of your system and your data so nothing walks out the door when a partner changes.
• Unlimited users mean you don’t have to choose between who gets access- finance, accounting, consultants, and advisors can all be looped in as needed.
• Role-based permissions ensure the right people have the right access.
• Centralized data and workflows reduce bottlenecks and eliminate the chaos of spreadsheets, shared drives, and email threads.
• Reduced risk and faster audits because everything is already organized and accessible in one place.

Why Investment Management Needs a Refresh

For years, investment advisors have relied on whatever information their clients’ treasury teams were able to provide- spreadsheets, static reports, or periodic updates pulled from siloed systems. 

While these documents captured a moment in time, they rarely reflected the full financial story.

This traditional model creates several pain points:

• Limited insight into real-time cash availability: By the time reports reach advisors, balances may have shifted, leaving opportunities to invest idle funds on the table.
• Manual back-and-forth communication: Advisors spend time clarifying fund availability, payment timing, or upcoming obligations, slowing down the decision-making process.
• Inefficient workflows: Instead of focusing on strategy, both treasury teams and advisors get bogged down in chasing down answers and reconciling conflicting data.

The result? 

Advisors are often forced to work reactively, rather than proactively, and clients miss out on the full value of their expertise.

To deliver maximum value, advisors need to move beyond delayed updates and fragmented systems to a more modern, collaborative model.

The Co-Sourcing Advantage for Investment Advisors

Co-sourcing flips the traditional investment management model on its head. 

Instead of sitting on the outside waiting for updates or chasing down reports, advisors gain secure, shared access to client-owned treasury software like DebtBook. 

This shifts them from being occasional recipients of information to active partners within the treasury ecosystem.

With co-sourcing, investment advisors benefit from:

• Real-time visibility into cash positions: Advisors can see exactly when liquidity is available and act immediately, no more missed opportunities to put idle funds to work.
• Transparency into upcoming obligations: From debt service payments to payroll and capital expenses, advisors understand the timing of major outflows and can structure investments around actual client needs.
• Direct access to liquidity trends: Instead of waiting for a quarterly meeting to discuss cash strategy, advisors can proactively start conversations about where, when, and how to deploy funds.

This level of shared access not only reduces delays but also ensures that every decision is informed by the most current data. 

The result is smarter planning, better-aligned strategies, and significantly more value delivered to clients.

Be the Advisor Who Brings the Better System

Today’s clients expect more than periodic reports and investment recommendations. They want transparency, agility, and partners who help them stay one step ahead. 

Advisors who champion co-sourcing through treasury software meet those expectations, and exceed them.

With the right co-sourcing system, advisors can:

• Unlock and deploy more cash: Real-time visibility ensures no opportunity is missed to put idle funds to work.
• Strengthen trust and transparency: Shared access creates clarity around investment decisions, cash flows, and obligations.
• Eliminate friction and inefficiencies: Advisors and treasury teams spend less time on manual coordination and more time on strategy.
• Position themselves as indispensable partners: Advisors who embed into the treasury function become critical to both day-to-day operations and long-term planning.

Today’s environment is competitive, so being the advisor who introduces a smarter, more collaborative model sets you apart. You’re not just delivering returns, you’re delivering the system that makes stronger returns, better decisions, and deeper client trust possible.

Co-Sourcing Software is Treasury-Ready

Co-sourcing is a modern operating model for treasury teams and advisors that want to work smarter, not harder.

With co-sourcing, you don’t have to choose between control and capacity…you get both. You can build long-term resilience while addressing today’s resource challenges. And you can build stronger partnerships with your consultants and investment advisors because everyone is working from the same page.

Related Treasury Management Reading

• Why Public Finance Managers Need a Modern Treasury Management System
• Breaking Down the Math Behind Municipal Bonds
• Debt Service Calculator for Tax-Exempt Bonds

Disclaimer: DebtBook does not provide professional services or advice. DebtBook has prepared these materials for general informational and educational purposes, which means we have not tailored the information to your specific circumstances. Please consult your professional advisors before taking action based on any information in these materials. Any use of this information is solely at your own risk.