While it is often only recognized in times of crisis or great turmoil, the need for good information at the right time of great value. Good information too late is...actually rather useless.
If you have financial accounts, you have a reason for them (if not, it is time to shut them down). Each account represents a point of exposure. Exposure to inefficiency is not good. Exposure to fraud or exposure to substantial loss ranges from bad to very bad. Since your remaining accounts are needed, you need to have access to current and useful information as a matter of strategy not as a matter of convenience. Having access to current information is a need (this will vary based on the type of account it is and the type of transactions you are executing in these accounts).
If you are performing a cost-benefit analysis on the information cost on an account by account basis, that could signal that something is wrong. If you need the account, you need to have good information on that account for various reasons. For accounting. For efficiency of various processes. For visibility purposes. Once you start limiting your view you lose visibility...and efficiency. This is a problem on several fronts.
Fighting to justify the cost of securing data from each individual account is a no-win process. The justification needs to be done on the mass of accounts. And, while some accounts are far more critical than others, the interconnectedness of your 'cash' will normally necessitate seeing entire picture. Thinking that you are seeing the majority of the picture is often a mirage or myth. You think you are seeing 95% of your portfolio or cash. In reality you are going to miss the piece that will come back to bite you. And, bites can hurt. In theory and during 'normal' times a limited view seems safe. Reality is not artificially bound to act like theory.
If you need visibility and that supports your strategy and helps you fulfill your group's mission, the burden of proof for even suggesting a cost benefit analysis falls on the one who wants to exclude this account or that from your view.
I want to see the cost-benefit analysis of doing a cost-benefit analysis on a strategic activity!
(There are certainly some reasons for not accessing daily information on some accounts. However, this is rare. Typically, if an account doesn't need to be viewed regularly, it can either be tightly restricted or eliminated.).
See us in Chicago or at www.swiftcorporateworkshop.com on November 6th, 2008.
-c
