Business

Financial Managers

Financial managers are responsible for overseeing the financial health of an organization. They analyze financial data, create financial reports, and make strategic decisions to maximize profitability and minimize risk. Financial managers also develop long-term financial goals and strategies, manage investments, and ensure compliance with financial regulations.

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8 Key excerpts on "Financial Managers"

  • Book cover image for: Introduction to Business
    • Lawrence J. Gitman, Carl McDaniel, Amit Shah, Monique Reece, Linda Koffel, Bethann Talsma, James C. Hyatt(Authors)
    • 2018(Publication Date)
    • Openstax
      (Publisher)
    The manager will also suggest the most appropriate way to finance the project, raise the funds, and then monitor the project’s implementation and operation. Financial management is closely related to accounting. In most firms, both areas are the responsibility of the vice president of finance or CFO. But the accountant’s main function is to collect and present financial data. Financial Managers use financial statements and other information prepared by accountants to make financial decisions. Financial Managers focus on cash flows, the inflows and outflows of cash. They plan and monitor the firm’s cash flows to ensure that cash is available when needed. The Financial Manager’s Responsibilities and Activities Financial Managers have a complex and challenging job. They analyze financial data prepared by accountants, monitor the firm’s financial status, and prepare and implement financial plans. One day they may be developing a better way to automate cash collections, and the next they may be analyzing a proposed acquisition. The key activities of the financial manager are: Chapter 16 Understanding Financial Management and Securities Markets 617 • Financial planning: Preparing the financial plan, which projects revenues, expenditures, and financing needs over a given period. • Investment (spending money): Investing the firm’s funds in projects and securities that provide high returns in relation to their risks. • Financing (raising money): Obtaining funding for the firm’s operations and investments and seeking the best balance between debt (borrowed funds) and equity (funds raised through the sale of ownership in the business). The Goal of the Financial Manager How can Financial Managers make wise planning, investment, and financing decisions? The main goal of the financial manager is to maximize the value of the firm to its owners. The value of a publicly owned corporation is measured by the share price of its stock.
  • Book cover image for: Contemporary Business
    • Louis E. Boone, David L. Kurtz, Michael H. Khan, Brahm Canzer, Rosalie Harms, Peter Moreira(Authors)
    • 2023(Publication Date)
    • Wiley
      (Publisher)
    Job Description Financial Manager Overview Financial Managers oversee the finances of govern- ment organizations, public companies, and private firms in a vari- ety of industries, including banks and insurance companies. They are responsible for directing investment activities and producing financial reports, cash flow statements, and profit forecasts. In addition, they develop short- and long-term plans and strategies with a focus on the company’s goals and overall financial health. Financial Managers act as advisers throughout an organization by providing context and helping others understand the complexi- ties of financial reports and the impact of decisions on financial results. CFOs, controllers, and treasurers are types of Financial Managers. Responsibilities Financial Managers prepare financial state- ments, business activity reports, and forecasts. They monitor details to meet compliance for legal requirements and supervise employees who typically perform budgeting and financial report- ing. They review financial data and reports and make recommen- dations about cost and expense reduction. Market and competitive trends are analyzed so that profits can be maximized and opportu- nities for growth can be explored and evaluated. Financial manag- ers perform advisory services and data analysis. Financial Managers monitor funds to be sure sufficient money is available for operations and capital investments. They monitor cash flow and evaluate borrowing needs, returns on investment, and cost of funds, including interest rates. They arrange for debt and equity financing, invest funds, and recom- mend dividend issuance, when applicable. Requirements A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, or business administration and, on aver- age, five or more years of experience are required. Preference is
  • Book cover image for: Contemporary Business
    • Louis E. Boone, David L. Kurtz, Brahm Canzer(Authors)
    • 2021(Publication Date)
    • Wiley
      (Publisher)
    Will a dis- count be offered to customers who pay in cash? Often, the overall credit policy is dictated by Job Description Financial Manager Overview Financial Managers oversee the finances of govern- ment organizations, public companies, and private firms in a vari- ety of industries, including banks and insurance companies. They are responsible for directing investment activities and producing financial reports, cash flow statements, and profit forecasts. In addi- tion, they develop short- and long-term plans and strategies with a focus on the company’s goals and overall financial health. Financial Managers act as advisors throughout an organization by providing context and helping others understand the complexities of financial reports and the impact of decisions on financial results. CFOs, con- trollers, and treasurers are types of finance managers. Responsibilities Financial Managers prepare financial state- ments, business activity reports, and forecasts. They monitor details to meet compliance for legal requirements and supervise employ- ees who typically perform budgeting and financial reporting. They review financial data and reports and make recommendations about cost and expense reduction. Market and competitive trends are analyzed so that profits can be maximized and opportunities for growth can be explored and evaluated. Financial Managers perform advisory services and data analysis. Financial Managers monitor funds to be sure sufficient money is available for operations and capital investments. They monitor cash flow and evaluate borrowing needs, returns on investment, and cost of funds, including interest rates. They arrange for debt and equity financ- ing, invest funds, and recommend dividend issuance, when applicable. Requirements A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics, or business administration and, on average, five or more years of experience are required.
  • Book cover image for: CFIN
    eBook - PDF
    • Scott Besley, Eugene Brigham, Scott Besley(Authors)
    • 2021(Publication Date)
    1. Management—When we think of “management,” we often think of personnel decisions and employee relations, strategic planning, and the gen- eral operations of the firm. Strategic planning, which is one of the most important activities of manage- ment, cannot be accomplished without considering how such plans impact the overall financial well- being of the firm. Such personnel decisions as setting salaries, hiring new staff, and paying bonuses must be coordinated with financial decisions to ensure that needed funds are available. For these reasons, senior managers must have at least a general understanding of financial management concepts to make informed decisions in their areas. 2. Marketing—If you have taken a basic marketing course, you learned that the four Ps of marketing— product, price, place, and promotion—determine the success of products manufactured and sold by companies. Clearly, the price that should be charged for a product and the amount of advertising a firm can afford for the product must be determined in conjunction with Financial Managers because the firm will lose money if the price of the product is too low or too much is spent on advertising. Coordination of the finance function and the marketing function is critical to the success of a company, especially a small, newly formed firm because it is necessary to ensure that sufficient cash is generated to survive. For these reasons, people in marketing must understand how marketing decisions affect and are affected by such is- sues as funds availability, inventory levels, and excess plant capacity. Rawpixel/Shutterstock.com 4 PART ONE: Introduction to Managerial Finance Copyright 2022 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
  • Book cover image for: The Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Performance
    eBook - ePub
    • Anna Wawryszuk-Misztal, Tomasz Sosnowski, Elżbieta Bukalska(Authors)
    • 2024(Publication Date)
    • Routledge
      (Publisher)
    Financial management is connected with financial resources and processes. Financial resources refer to cash but also each resource that its value might be presented in money. Financial management needs professional knowledge as the company's finance are connected to the real goods market and financial market. There are different financial institutions and financial instruments. There are also some basic issues, e.g.: financial statements, relations between risk and rate of return, relations between managers and owners, and cost of capital.
    The scope of financial management includes capital collecting and capital allocating decisions. However, these decisions should be aligned with the general aim and strategy of the company. The decomposition of the financial manager functions leads to the identification of several activities such as financial planning, capital budgeting, raising funds, cash management, financial controlling, and financial statement preparation.
    When financial management, the director is supposed to cooperate with internal and external stakeholders. For a long time, the financial director was supported by other directors, but recently its role and power have increased.
  • Book cover image for: Financial Management and Real Options
    • Jack Broyles(Author)
    • 2003(Publication Date)
    • Wiley
      (Publisher)
    If your net worth has increased during the year, you have made a profit, and your company will have to pay a tax on the taxable income. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT All this detail requires much help from your accountant. As your business grows, you will be able to hire a full-time accountant, who will keep your accounts, prepare your tax returns and supervise your bookkeepers. A good Chief Accountant can also undertake financial analysis of potential investment decisions and help with financial planning and other treasury functions, including raising funds. Perhaps then your full-time accountant deserves the title of Chief Financial Officer (CFO), because he or she will be performing or supervising all the main functions of finance: 1. Planning and forecasting needs for outside financing. 2. Raising capital. 3. Appraising investment in new assets. 4. Financial reporting and control, and paying taxes. Financial management mainly concerns planning, raising funds, analysis of project profitability, and control of cash, as well as the accounting functions relating to reporting profits and taxes. A financial manager is an executive who manages one or more of these functions. As we have seen, financial management plays a role in many facets of any business. That is why Financial Managers participate in virtually all the major decisions and occupy key positions at the center of all business organizations. DEFINITIONS Chief Financial Officer (CFO) A company’s most senior financial manager. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 5 Debt Sum of money or other assets owed by one party to another. Usually, a legally enforceable obligation to pay agreed interest and to repay the principal of a loan to the lender promptly on schedule. Equity Net worth or shareholder’s capital represented by common stock (ordinary shares) and preferred stock. Treasurer Senior financial manager reporting directly to the Chief Financial Officer. Primarily responsible for funding and cash management.
  • Book cover image for: Fundamentals of Corporate Finance
    • Robert Parrino, David S. Kidwell, Thomas Bates, Stuart L. Gillan(Authors)
    • 2021(Publication Date)
    • Wiley
      (Publisher)
    1.3 Managing the Financial Function LEARNING OBJECTIVE 3. Describe the typical organization of the financial function in a large corporation. As we discussed earlier, Financial Managers are concerned with a firm’s investment, financ- ing, and working capital management decisions. The senior financial manager holds one of the top executive positions in the firm. In a large corporation, the senior financial man- ager usually has the rank of vice president or senior vice president and goes by the title of chief financial officer or CFO. In smaller firms, the job tends to focus more on the accounting function, and the top financial officer may be called the controller or chief accountant. In this section we focus on the financial function in a large corporation. chief financial officer or CFO the most senior financial manager in a company 1.3 Managing the Financial Function 1-11 Organizational Structure Exhibit 1.4 shows a typical organizational structure for a large corporation, with special attention to the financial function. As shown, the top management position in the firm is the chief executive officer (CEO), who has the final decision-making authority among all the firm’s executives. The CEO’s most important responsibilities are to set the strategic direction of the firm and see that the management team executes the strategic plan. The CEO reports directly to the board of directors, which is accountable to the company’s stockholders. The board’s responsibility is to see that the top management makes decisions that are in the best interest of the stockholders. The CFO reports directly to the CEO and focuses on managing all aspects of the firm’s finances, as well as working closely with the CEO on strategic issues.
  • Book cover image for: Introduction to Financial Management
    Nearly all managerial choices that we consider to be financially fit into one of these categories. Investment choices determine which assets need to be bought. Making decisions about financing affects the sources of the money (liabilities) required to buy these assets. Setting goals for future investments and financing decisions, assessing how different choices will affect the progress made toward those goals, and making decisions about which investment or financing options to pursue based on these assessments are all parts of financial planning. Countless issues are being covered under the term “financial planning.” Ranging from extremely specific guidelines for working capital choices over time frames, as little as a day or a week, to very broad plans for a company’s long-term business strategies, these issues are addressed by “financial planning.” For instance, a commercial bank must determine how to meet the Federal Reserve Bank’s weekly reserve requirements. The bank has a variety of options regarding which days of the week will show reserve surpluses and which days will show deficits, how it can invest any extra money and how it can get money to make up any shortfalls. Daily, if not hourly, borrowing and lending are involved in all of these decisions. The Introduction to Financial Management 48 financial plan in this instance has a very short time horizon and may require an extremely thorough analysis of a few specialized asset and liability accounts (Guillen et al., 2007; Archuleta and Grable, 2011). The designing of a long-term plan for an organization’s strategic investment and expenditure is an example on another extreme. A comprehensive strategic study may analyze the business lines in which the company should be involved. Because this type of analysis has a very long planning horizon, it does not develop granular specifics in terms of individual assets and liabilities.
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