Payment Factories and Shared Service Centers
5 minutes
5 Questions
In Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) studies, Payment Factories and Shared Service Centers (SSCs) are key organizational structures used to centralize and optimize corporate liquidity and payment operations. A Payment Factory is a centralized hub that processes payments on behalf of multiple business units or subsidiaries within an organization. Instead of each entity maintaining its own bank relationships, payment systems, and controls, the payment factory consolidates outgoing payments (such as supplier, payroll, tax, and intercompany payments) through a single platform. It typically uses standardized formats like ISO 20022 XML and connects to banks via SWIFT or host-to-host links. Benefits include reduced banking fees through fewer accounts and bank relationships, improved visibility into cash outflows, stronger fraud controls and segregation of duties, enhanced straight-through processing, and better forecasting of liquidity needs. Payment factories often operate under models such as 'payments on behalf of' (POBO), where a central entity pays suppliers for subsidiaries and records intercompany balances, supporting in-house banking structures. A Shared Service Center (SSC) is a broader concept: a centralized unit that delivers common back-office functions—such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger accounting, payroll, and sometimes treasury operations—to multiple business units. The SSC operates as an internal service provider, often using service-level agreements (SLAs) and chargeback mechanisms. SSCs are frequently located in lower-cost regions and leverage standardized processes and ERP systems to achieve economies of scale, consistency, and compliance. From a liquidity perspective, both structures improve working capital management. Centralized receivables processing accelerates cash application, while centralized payables allow disciplined control over disbursement timing, discount capture, and float. Combined with cash pooling and netting, they give treasury a consolidated view of cash positions, enabling more accurate forecasting, reduced idle balances, lower borrowing costs, and stronger risk management. CTP candidates should understand both as enablers of treasury centralization, control, and efficiency.
Payment Factories and Shared Service Centers (AFP CTP – Corporate Liquidity Management)
Why This Topic Matters
Multinational corporations often operate dozens or hundreds of legal entities, each with its own bank accounts, payment processes, ERP instances, and local staff. This fragmentation creates high transaction costs, poor visibility into cash, inconsistent controls, duplicated effort, and elevated fraud risk. Payment Factories (PFs) and Shared Service Centers (SSCs) are the two principal organizational and technological models treasurers use to centralize and standardize these activities. The CTP exam tests this topic within the Corporate Liquidity Management domain because centralization directly affects liquidity visibility, working capital efficiency, bank relationship management, and internal control. Expect questions that ask you to identify the model, explain its benefits, distinguish it from related structures (in-house banks, netting centers, POBO/COBO), and recognize implementation challenges.
What Is a Shared Service Center (SSC)?
An SSC is a centralized operating unit that performs transactional, back-office processes on behalf of multiple business units or subsidiaries. Typical functions housed in an SSC include accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, general ledger accounting, fixed asset accounting, travel and expense processing, and sometimes treasury operations. The SSC is usually a separate legal entity or cost center that charges the subsidiaries a fee (often cost-plus) through a service level agreement (SLA). Key characteristics:
• Scope is broad – an SSC is about process consolidation across finance and administrative functions.
• Often located in a lower-cost jurisdiction or a regional hub (e.g., Poland, India, Costa Rica, Malaysia).
• Operates on a single or harmonized ERP platform and standardized procedures.
• Governance is through SLAs, key performance indicators (KPIs), and internal chargebacks.
What Is a Payment Factory?
A Payment Factory is a centralized payment processing hub that receives payment instructions from multiple subsidiaries, aggregates and validates them, applies controls, and releases them to banks through standardized channels. It is narrower in scope than an SSC: it is specifically about outbound payments (and increasingly collections). A payment factory may be housed inside an SSC, inside the group treasury, or run as a stand-alone unit. Core features:
• Single point of bank connectivity – one connection (often SWIFT for Corporates, a host-to-host link, or a bank-agnostic treasury management system) replaces many proprietary electronic banking tools.
• Standardized formats – use of ISO 20022 XML (pain.001 for credit transfers, pain.008 for direct debits, camt.05x for statements) so that one file format works across many banks and countries.
• Centralized controls – dual approval, sanctions screening, duplicate detection, beneficiary master-data validation, and a single audit trail.
• Payment aggregation and optimization – bundling payments, choosing the cheapest payment rail (ACH/SEPA vs. wire), and timing releases to optimize cash positions.
• Payments-on-behalf-of (POBO) – in an advanced model, the factory (or in-house bank) pays third parties from a central account on behalf of a subsidiary, recording an intercompany loan/payable instead of moving cash from the subsidiary's own account. Collections-on-behalf-of (COBO) is the receivables analogue.
How They Work – The Operating Flow
1. Origination: A subsidiary's ERP or AP module generates approved payment requests (vendor invoices, payroll, taxes, intercompany).
2. Transmission to hub: Requests flow to the payment factory via an integration layer (middleware, TMS, or shared ERP) in a standardized format.
3. Validation and enrichment: The factory checks the payment against vendor master data, performs duplicate and fraud checks, screens against sanctions lists, and enriches with correct bank routing details.
4. Approval and release: Centralized approvers release payments under segregation-of-duties rules and signatory limits.
5. Bank execution: Payments are sent to the relevant bank(s) through a single gateway (e.g., SWIFTNet FileAct/FIN, EBICS in Europe, or bank host-to-host). The factory may also route via local in-country accounts when local clearing is needed.
6. Reconciliation and reporting: Bank statements (MT940/camt.053) return to the hub, are auto-reconciled, and posted back to each subsidiary's ledger. In a POBO model, intercompany positions are updated simultaneously.
7. Liquidity link: Because the factory knows all outgoing flows in advance, treasury gains accurate cash forecasting and can fund accounts just-in-time, reducing idle balances and borrowing.
Relationship to Other Centralization Structures
Candidates frequently confuse these, so learn the distinctions:
• SSC – process center for many finance functions; the broadest concept.
• Payment factory – centralized execution of payments; may sit inside an SSC.
• In-house bank (IHB) – an internal entity that provides banking services (intercompany loans, deposits, FX, netting) to subsidiaries; the IHB often owns the POBO/COBO accounts that the payment factory uses.
• Netting center – offsets intercompany payables and receivables so only net amounts move; reduces FX and transaction volume.
• Cash pooling (physical/notional) – concentrates balances across accounts; the payment factory optimizes flows, pooling optimizes balances.
• Treasury center / regional treasury center – strategic hub for funding, FX, and risk management, often located for tax and regulatory advantages.
A mature organization may combine all of these: SSC handles AP/AR processing, the payment factory executes payments, the IHB books intercompany positions, and cash pooling sweeps balances to the treasury center.
Benefits
• Cost reduction: fewer bank accounts, lower bank fees through volume consolidation, fewer FTEs, less duplicated software.
• Control and compliance: uniform policies, centralized sanctions/AML screening, strong segregation of duties, single audit trail, reduced payment fraud (e.g., business email compromise is easier to detect centrally).
• Visibility and liquidity: near real-time knowledge of cash positions and forecast outflows across the group; supports working capital optimization and reduced external borrowing.
• Standardization: ISO 20022 and single connectivity reduce IT maintenance and make it easier to add or replace banks (bank-agnostic connectivity).
• Bank rationalization: ability to consolidate to fewer core banks and negotiate better pricing.
• Scalability: acquisitions can be onboarded to an existing hub quickly.
Challenges and Risks
• Regulatory and legal constraints: some countries restrict POBO/COBO, require local accounts for tax or payroll, impose currency controls, or treat central payment entities as regulated payment institutions.
• Tax issues: transfer pricing on SSC fees; withholding tax and thin-capitalization issues on intercompany balances created by POBO; permanent establishment risk.
• Concentration risk: a single point of failure – outage, cyberattack, or key-person risk affects the entire group; requires robust business continuity and disaster recovery planning.
• Change management: subsidiaries may resist losing control; local relationships with banks and vendors can be disrupted.
• Implementation cost and complexity: ERP harmonization, data cleansing (vendor master), connectivity projects, and long payback periods.
• Local payment formats and cut-offs: despite ISO 20022, local nuances (e.g., tax references, local clearing requirements) still need handling.
• Service quality perception: SSCs can be seen as bureaucratic; SLAs and KPIs are essential.
Implementation Considerations
• Define scope (payment types, entities, countries) and phasing (pilot region first).
• Choose the model: centralized execution with local accounts, or full POBO through an in-house bank.
• Select technology: TMS, ERP payment hub module, or specialist payment hub; decide on SWIFT for Corporates (SCORE) vs. host-to-host.
• Rationalize banks and accounts; negotiate a global or regional banking RFP.
• Design governance: approval matrices, SLAs, KPIs (straight-through processing rate, cost per payment, error rate, on-time payment rate).
• Address legal/tax structure with advisors before go-live.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Payment Factories and Shared Service Centers
1. Identify the key word in the stem. If the question mentions centralizing multiple finance processes (AP, AR, payroll, GL) – the answer is SSC. If it mentions centralized execution of payments, single bank connectivity, or standardized payment files – it is a payment factory. If it mentions intercompany lending, internal accounts, or acting as the bank for subsidiaries – it is an in-house bank.
2. Know POBO/COBO precisely. Payments-on-behalf-of means a central entity pays third parties from its own account and records an intercompany payable/receivable with the subsidiary. The exam may ask what the accounting result is (an intercompany position) or what the primary obstacle is (local regulatory/tax restrictions).
3. Benefits questions usually have one 'best' answer. When asked for the primary benefit, favor answers about improved control/visibility and reduced bank fees/accounts over vague answers like 'increased revenue.' Payment factories do not generate revenue; they reduce cost and risk.
4. Watch for 'EXCEPT' or 'LEAST likely' questions. Common distractors: 'increases the number of bank accounts,' 'decentralizes approval authority,' 'eliminates the need for cash forecasting.' These are the opposite of what centralization achieves.
5. Connect to liquidity management. The CTP places this topic under Corporate Liquidity Management for a reason: be ready to explain that centralized payments improve cash forecasting accuracy, enable just-in-time funding, and reduce idle balances and borrowing costs.
6. Know the technology vocabulary. ISO 20022 (pain.001, camt.053), SWIFT for Corporates, host-to-host, straight-through processing (STP), bank-agnostic connectivity. A question might ask which standard enables a single format across banks – answer ISO 20022 XML.
7. Distinguish risk types. Concentration/operational risk (single point of failure) is the classic risk introduced by centralization. Fraud risk is generally reduced, not increased – don't pick an option claiming centralization increases fraud exposure.
8. Remember location drivers. SSCs are placed for labor cost, language skills, time zone coverage, and stable infrastructure; treasury centers are placed for tax treaties, regulatory freedom, and financial market access. Don't mix these up.
9. Scenario questions: If a scenario describes a company with many subsidiaries, inconsistent controls, many bank portals, and poor cash visibility, the recommended solution is a payment factory (possibly with an in-house bank). If the scenario emphasizes duplicated AP/AR staff and inconsistent accounting processes, recommend an SSC.
10. Eliminate by scope. Remember the hierarchy of breadth: SSC (broadest, many processes) > payment factory (payments) > netting center (intercompany only). An in-house bank is about financial services to subsidiaries, not process outsourcing.
Quick Recap
• SSC = centralized back-office processes under SLAs.
• Payment factory = centralized payment execution with single connectivity, standard formats, and central controls.
• POBO/COBO = central entity pays/collects for subsidiaries, creating intercompany positions; often run via an in-house bank.
• Benefits: lower cost, fewer accounts, better control, better visibility and liquidity.
• Risks: concentration, regulatory/tax, change management, implementation cost.
• Exam strategy: match the stem's key words to the correct structure, choose cost/control/visibility benefits, and reject distractors implying decentralization or revenue generation.
Multinational corporations often operate dozens or hundreds of legal entities, each with its own bank accounts, payment processes, ERP instances, and local staff. This fragmentation creates high transaction costs, poor visibility into cash, inconsistent controls, duplicated effort, and elevated fraud risk. Payment Factories (PFs) and Shared Service Centers (SSCs) are the two principal organizational and technological models treasurers use to centralize and standardize these activities. The CTP exam tests this topic within the Corporate Liquidity Management domain because centralization directly affects liquidity visibility, working capital efficiency, bank relationship management, and internal control. Expect questions that ask you to identify the model, explain its benefits, distinguish it from related structures (in-house banks, netting centers, POBO/COBO), and recognize implementation challenges.
What Is a Shared Service Center (SSC)?
An SSC is a centralized operating unit that performs transactional, back-office processes on behalf of multiple business units or subsidiaries. Typical functions housed in an SSC include accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, general ledger accounting, fixed asset accounting, travel and expense processing, and sometimes treasury operations. The SSC is usually a separate legal entity or cost center that charges the subsidiaries a fee (often cost-plus) through a service level agreement (SLA). Key characteristics:
• Scope is broad – an SSC is about process consolidation across finance and administrative functions.
• Often located in a lower-cost jurisdiction or a regional hub (e.g., Poland, India, Costa Rica, Malaysia).
• Operates on a single or harmonized ERP platform and standardized procedures.
• Governance is through SLAs, key performance indicators (KPIs), and internal chargebacks.
What Is a Payment Factory?
A Payment Factory is a centralized payment processing hub that receives payment instructions from multiple subsidiaries, aggregates and validates them, applies controls, and releases them to banks through standardized channels. It is narrower in scope than an SSC: it is specifically about outbound payments (and increasingly collections). A payment factory may be housed inside an SSC, inside the group treasury, or run as a stand-alone unit. Core features:
• Single point of bank connectivity – one connection (often SWIFT for Corporates, a host-to-host link, or a bank-agnostic treasury management system) replaces many proprietary electronic banking tools.
• Standardized formats – use of ISO 20022 XML (pain.001 for credit transfers, pain.008 for direct debits, camt.05x for statements) so that one file format works across many banks and countries.
• Centralized controls – dual approval, sanctions screening, duplicate detection, beneficiary master-data validation, and a single audit trail.
• Payment aggregation and optimization – bundling payments, choosing the cheapest payment rail (ACH/SEPA vs. wire), and timing releases to optimize cash positions.
• Payments-on-behalf-of (POBO) – in an advanced model, the factory (or in-house bank) pays third parties from a central account on behalf of a subsidiary, recording an intercompany loan/payable instead of moving cash from the subsidiary's own account. Collections-on-behalf-of (COBO) is the receivables analogue.
How They Work – The Operating Flow
1. Origination: A subsidiary's ERP or AP module generates approved payment requests (vendor invoices, payroll, taxes, intercompany).
2. Transmission to hub: Requests flow to the payment factory via an integration layer (middleware, TMS, or shared ERP) in a standardized format.
3. Validation and enrichment: The factory checks the payment against vendor master data, performs duplicate and fraud checks, screens against sanctions lists, and enriches with correct bank routing details.
4. Approval and release: Centralized approvers release payments under segregation-of-duties rules and signatory limits.
5. Bank execution: Payments are sent to the relevant bank(s) through a single gateway (e.g., SWIFTNet FileAct/FIN, EBICS in Europe, or bank host-to-host). The factory may also route via local in-country accounts when local clearing is needed.
6. Reconciliation and reporting: Bank statements (MT940/camt.053) return to the hub, are auto-reconciled, and posted back to each subsidiary's ledger. In a POBO model, intercompany positions are updated simultaneously.
7. Liquidity link: Because the factory knows all outgoing flows in advance, treasury gains accurate cash forecasting and can fund accounts just-in-time, reducing idle balances and borrowing.
Relationship to Other Centralization Structures
Candidates frequently confuse these, so learn the distinctions:
• SSC – process center for many finance functions; the broadest concept.
• Payment factory – centralized execution of payments; may sit inside an SSC.
• In-house bank (IHB) – an internal entity that provides banking services (intercompany loans, deposits, FX, netting) to subsidiaries; the IHB often owns the POBO/COBO accounts that the payment factory uses.
• Netting center – offsets intercompany payables and receivables so only net amounts move; reduces FX and transaction volume.
• Cash pooling (physical/notional) – concentrates balances across accounts; the payment factory optimizes flows, pooling optimizes balances.
• Treasury center / regional treasury center – strategic hub for funding, FX, and risk management, often located for tax and regulatory advantages.
A mature organization may combine all of these: SSC handles AP/AR processing, the payment factory executes payments, the IHB books intercompany positions, and cash pooling sweeps balances to the treasury center.
Benefits
• Cost reduction: fewer bank accounts, lower bank fees through volume consolidation, fewer FTEs, less duplicated software.
• Control and compliance: uniform policies, centralized sanctions/AML screening, strong segregation of duties, single audit trail, reduced payment fraud (e.g., business email compromise is easier to detect centrally).
• Visibility and liquidity: near real-time knowledge of cash positions and forecast outflows across the group; supports working capital optimization and reduced external borrowing.
• Standardization: ISO 20022 and single connectivity reduce IT maintenance and make it easier to add or replace banks (bank-agnostic connectivity).
• Bank rationalization: ability to consolidate to fewer core banks and negotiate better pricing.
• Scalability: acquisitions can be onboarded to an existing hub quickly.
Challenges and Risks
• Regulatory and legal constraints: some countries restrict POBO/COBO, require local accounts for tax or payroll, impose currency controls, or treat central payment entities as regulated payment institutions.
• Tax issues: transfer pricing on SSC fees; withholding tax and thin-capitalization issues on intercompany balances created by POBO; permanent establishment risk.
• Concentration risk: a single point of failure – outage, cyberattack, or key-person risk affects the entire group; requires robust business continuity and disaster recovery planning.
• Change management: subsidiaries may resist losing control; local relationships with banks and vendors can be disrupted.
• Implementation cost and complexity: ERP harmonization, data cleansing (vendor master), connectivity projects, and long payback periods.
• Local payment formats and cut-offs: despite ISO 20022, local nuances (e.g., tax references, local clearing requirements) still need handling.
• Service quality perception: SSCs can be seen as bureaucratic; SLAs and KPIs are essential.
Implementation Considerations
• Define scope (payment types, entities, countries) and phasing (pilot region first).
• Choose the model: centralized execution with local accounts, or full POBO through an in-house bank.
• Select technology: TMS, ERP payment hub module, or specialist payment hub; decide on SWIFT for Corporates (SCORE) vs. host-to-host.
• Rationalize banks and accounts; negotiate a global or regional banking RFP.
• Design governance: approval matrices, SLAs, KPIs (straight-through processing rate, cost per payment, error rate, on-time payment rate).
• Address legal/tax structure with advisors before go-live.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Payment Factories and Shared Service Centers
1. Identify the key word in the stem. If the question mentions centralizing multiple finance processes (AP, AR, payroll, GL) – the answer is SSC. If it mentions centralized execution of payments, single bank connectivity, or standardized payment files – it is a payment factory. If it mentions intercompany lending, internal accounts, or acting as the bank for subsidiaries – it is an in-house bank.
2. Know POBO/COBO precisely. Payments-on-behalf-of means a central entity pays third parties from its own account and records an intercompany payable/receivable with the subsidiary. The exam may ask what the accounting result is (an intercompany position) or what the primary obstacle is (local regulatory/tax restrictions).
3. Benefits questions usually have one 'best' answer. When asked for the primary benefit, favor answers about improved control/visibility and reduced bank fees/accounts over vague answers like 'increased revenue.' Payment factories do not generate revenue; they reduce cost and risk.
4. Watch for 'EXCEPT' or 'LEAST likely' questions. Common distractors: 'increases the number of bank accounts,' 'decentralizes approval authority,' 'eliminates the need for cash forecasting.' These are the opposite of what centralization achieves.
5. Connect to liquidity management. The CTP places this topic under Corporate Liquidity Management for a reason: be ready to explain that centralized payments improve cash forecasting accuracy, enable just-in-time funding, and reduce idle balances and borrowing costs.
6. Know the technology vocabulary. ISO 20022 (pain.001, camt.053), SWIFT for Corporates, host-to-host, straight-through processing (STP), bank-agnostic connectivity. A question might ask which standard enables a single format across banks – answer ISO 20022 XML.
7. Distinguish risk types. Concentration/operational risk (single point of failure) is the classic risk introduced by centralization. Fraud risk is generally reduced, not increased – don't pick an option claiming centralization increases fraud exposure.
8. Remember location drivers. SSCs are placed for labor cost, language skills, time zone coverage, and stable infrastructure; treasury centers are placed for tax treaties, regulatory freedom, and financial market access. Don't mix these up.
9. Scenario questions: If a scenario describes a company with many subsidiaries, inconsistent controls, many bank portals, and poor cash visibility, the recommended solution is a payment factory (possibly with an in-house bank). If the scenario emphasizes duplicated AP/AR staff and inconsistent accounting processes, recommend an SSC.
10. Eliminate by scope. Remember the hierarchy of breadth: SSC (broadest, many processes) > payment factory (payments) > netting center (intercompany only). An in-house bank is about financial services to subsidiaries, not process outsourcing.
Quick Recap
• SSC = centralized back-office processes under SLAs.
• Payment factory = centralized payment execution with single connectivity, standard formats, and central controls.
• POBO/COBO = central entity pays/collects for subsidiaries, creating intercompany positions; often run via an in-house bank.
• Benefits: lower cost, fewer accounts, better control, better visibility and liquidity.
• Risks: concentration, regulatory/tax, change management, implementation cost.
• Exam strategy: match the stem's key words to the correct structure, choose cost/control/visibility benefits, and reject distractors implying decentralization or revenue generation.
Test mode:
CTP - Payment Factories and Shared Service Centers Example Questions
Test your knowledge of Payment Factories and Shared Service Centers
Question 1
A company sends 4,000 cross-border wires a year at $25 each. A payment factory would route 75% through local low-value clearing at $2 each, with the rest still sent by wire, at an operating cost of $30,000 a year. What is the net annual savings?
Question 2
Which feature distinguishes a payment-on-behalf-of (POBO) payment factory from a payment factory that only routes each subsidiary's payment files to its banks?
Question 3
A U.S. company's shared service center already processes accounts payable invoices for its European subsidiaries. However, each subsidiary still releases its third-party supplier payments from its own local bank accounts. The treasurer wants to close most of these local accounts and send all supplier payments from centrally held accounts, booking an intercompany position against each subsidiary for every payment made. Which structure BEST meets this objective?
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More Payment Factories and Shared Service Centers questions
21 questions (total)
Other Corporate Liquidity concepts
Account Analysis Statement ReviewAccount Funding and Intraday LiquidityAccount Structure RationalizationBank Balance Reporting and ReconciliationBank Deposit Products and Earnings CreditCash Flow Timeline and Cash Conversion CycleCash Forecasting Horizons and PurposesCollection Float: Mail, Processing and AvailabilityControlled Disbursement and Disbursement FloatCross-Border Pooling ConstraintsDaily Cash Position and Target BalancesDisbursement Method Selection and CostsDistribution Method and Historical PatternsEffective Cost of Short-Term BorrowingElectronic Collection Methods: ACH, Wires, Cards, Real-TimeForecast Variance Analysis and AccuracyFX Exposure Types: Transaction, Translation, EconomicFX Options and Hedge Instrument SelectionFX Spot, Forward and Swap MechanicsIn-House Bank Structure and FunctionsIn-House versus Outsourced Investment ManagementIntercompany Loans and Transfer PricingInvestment Policy Limits: Credit Quality, Maturity, ConcentrationLedger Balances, Collected Balances and FloatLetters of Credit: Types and PartiesLeverage and Coverage RatiosLiquidity Ratios: Current, Quick and CashLockbox Systems: Wholesale, Retail and HybridMoney Market Funds: Government, Prime and Tax-ExemptMoney Market Instruments: T-Bills, Commercial Paper, CDsMultilateral Netting CentersNatural Hedging, Netting and Leading and LaggingOutsourcing Treasury FunctionsPayment Timing and Trade Discount DecisionsPayroll and Tax Payment FundingPhysical Pooling versus Notional PoolingPro Forma Statement-Based ForecastingReceipts and Disbursements Forecasting MethodReconciliation Exceptions and Returned ItemsRe-Invoicing and Regional Treasury CentersRemote Deposit Capture and Check ConversionRepatriation Methods and ConstraintsRepurchase Agreements and Reverse ReposSettlement, Safekeeping and Rollover RiskShort-Term Borrowing OptionsShort-Term Investment Objectives: Safety, Liquidity, YieldShort-Term Yield Conventions and CalculationsStatistical Forecasting TechniquesSweep Accounts and Automated LiquidityTrade Finance Instruments and Supply Chain FinanceTrade Payment Terms and Documentary CollectionsTreasury Organization: Centralized versus DecentralizedTreasury Roles and Segregation of DutiesWithholding Tax and Thin CapitalizationWorking Capital Ratios: DSO, DIO and DPOYield Curve Positioning and Maturity MatchingZero-Balance Accounts and Concentration Structures