Do you know what your finance director does?

In most large corporations someone is responsible for ordering company stationery, but no-one argues that this person should be treated as a profit centre in their own right. So why might anyone suggest the corporate treasury should be a profit centre? Like the stationery department, it should service the requirements of those involved in the core activities of the firm. Bruno Thiry looks at the muddled thinking and self-delusion that have led people to overstate the role of the treasurer and led some firms to embarrassing scandals.