Why maritime CFOs can't answer "How much cash do we have?" in real-time

Written by Alex | Feb 25, 2026

The Problem: 30-Minute Cash Check

Your lender calls: "What's your cash position?" You spend 30 minutes logging into 8 bank portals, converting EUR/SGD/GBP to USD, and building Excel calculations. This daily maritime CFO reality costs time, money, and creates covenant anxiety.

Why Traditional Cash Management Fails

Multi-Bank Maze: 8-12 accounts across 3-5 currencies require manual login and conversion to see total cash.

Working Capital Gap: Pay bunkers/ports immediately, collect freight 30-90 days later. Requires $1.5M-$3M per vessel just bridging timing.

FX Blindness: Can't quickly answer "What's our EUR exposure?" Suboptimal timing costs $50K-$150K annually.

Covenant Panic: Discover liquidity breaches at month-end—too late for prevention. Emergency fixes cost $25K-$50K in fees.

The Solution: Real-Time Visibility

Unified Dashboard: All accounts, live balances, auto-converted to USD via banking APIs. Cash check: 30 minutes → 30 seconds.

Automated Forecasting: 30/60/90-day projections from voyage schedules and contracts. 85-95% accuracy versus 60-70% manual Excel. Example: Forecast shows covenant breach in 45 days. Accelerate receivables ($18.5K cost) versus $150K+ amendment fees—saves $131.5K.

FX Optimization: Real-time currency positions show exact needs. Automated timing and better platforms (0.1-0.3% versus 0.8-1.2% spread) save $80K-$120K annually.

Covenant Integration: Cash forecasts with covenant monitoring provide 30-90 day breach warnings—preventing violations before occurrence.

ROI: $447K-$545K Annual Benefit

Working capital: Reduce buffer 25% → 12%, free $5.2M ($312K opportunity cost saved)
Time savings: Daily checks 30min → 30sec, monthly forecasting 8hr → 1hr ($25K value)
FX savings: $60K-$108K from better timing/fees
Breach prevention: Avoid 2 near-breaches, save $50K-$100K fees

Investment: $65K-$95K Year 1 | Payback: 2-3 months | 5-Year ROI: 25-35x

Implementation: 8 Weeks

Banking API setup → Historical data → Forecasting config → Training/go-live

Requires: Banking integration within maritime ERP—not standalone tools—to auto-pull voyage data for accurate forecasting.

Conclusion

Modern maritime CFOs need instant multi-account visibility, 90-day forecasts, multi-currency optimization, and covenant monitoring—not 30-minute manual calculations.

Technology exists. ROI proven. Implementation: 8 weeks. When do you start?

Marlo ( www.marlo.co ): Integrated maritime ERP with real-time banking for dry bulk/tanker operators.Features: Multi-bank APIs, unified dashboard, automated forecasting, FX optimization, covenant monitoring.Book demo

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