Frontier International is a major live exporter of cattle based in northern Australia that operates internationally in US Dollars. It is part of a larger group of companies under the Nutrien Ag Solutions brand and formed its own entity as an Australian registered company in 2013.

CHALLENGE

Frontier International was running its FX hedging off a spreadsheet.  The ‘massive’ document made real time engagement across all its stakeholders difficult and there were challenges staying on top of expiring deals and hedges with partial payment.

SOLUTION

Implementing Hedgebook and uploading the existing hedges from the spreadsheet to enable a seamless transition.

OUTCOME

The Frontier International team now completes all its FX hedging including settling ‘parked’ hedges and reporting.

Moving FX hedging off a spreadsheet

Frontier International was introduced to Hedgebook in 2020 as it moved away from its parent company. Up until that time it had been managing FX hedging off a spreadsheet. The consultant setting up its operating systems recommended Hedgebook. Rebecca Parsons, the Accounts and Admin Manager, and Will McEwin, Managing Director, jumped on an introductory call with a Hedgebook customer service manager to see what it could do.

The online demo took them through Hedgebook’s functionality and then areas where customisation was possible, including reporting.  According to Rebecca it was a very easy decision to proceed.

“The massive spreadsheet we were using literally had years of data in it. We had been sharing it back and forth with the treasury management team within our parent company making real time engagement difficult. I was finding it really challenging to keep on top of expiring deals and hedges where we had done partial payment. Hedgebook addressed all of this – and more.”

The next step was to handover the spreadsheet so the existing hedges could be uploaded by Hedgebook into the software. Having established the database, Rebecca then jumped on a Zoom call with Hedgebook customer service.

“We did one-on-one training to set up the specific fields we needed. We then walked through the basics of how to enter a new hedge, settle a hedge, edit hedges and settle ‘parked’ hedges. There were a number of other things we covered in the training but those were the core things to get me started.”

Making it easy

Having only experienced FX hedging off a spreadsheet to this point (and knowing it wasn’t a particular area of expertise) Rebecca admitted to being a little bit daunted in going solo. She quickly realised her fears were unfounded.

“Hedgebook has a very clean interface and is so easy to use. The entering of information is really intuitive as you just start at the top and tab down. Thanks to the ability to customise there are no unnecessary fields and the additional fields we’ve added in are super relevant to our needs.”

To be specific Rebecca describes how she can report on shipments at a consignment or customer level with a single click – with a consignment containing orders for several customers at a time. Knowing what she does now, Rebecca would not hesitate to get onboard with Hedgebook and is full of praise for the service provided around its treasury management software.

“I have to say the support and ongoing customer service we’ve received has been outstanding. As I was learning our Hedgebook account manager ensured all my questions were quickly answered and if I needed a visual reference, we just jumped on a call.

“Since then, I have used the general support helpline a couple of times and that has also been outstanding – to the point where they called back the next day to make sure my issue had been resolved. I haven’t had to use support for quite some time but it’s reassuring to know such great customer service is there.”

Don’t wait

If she had any advice for others currently FX hedging from a spreadsheet it would be – don’t wait.

“Just import it. It is so much easier to manage hedging using Hedgebook than it ever was on a spreadsheet. The reporting is a real benefit and something you just can’t get on a spreadsheet.  And did I mention how easy it is to use and how user-friendly the interface is?”

Want to see how Hedgebook works for yourself? Check out the overview video on the Home page or let us give you a 20 minute demo online.