(a) What is Corporate Finance?
Corporate finance is also another challenging branch of finance. It involves managing the operations of an organization from a financial aspect such as searching for funds to run its business and achieve the objectives, make corporate acquisitions, manage cash in hand and prepare the company’s plan for the future in financial terms. Individuals involved in corporate finance are key players in an organization and it must be noted that they shoulder a heavy responsibility as they deal with business problems that have a major impact.
(b) What are the Aspects of Corporate Finance?
i. Treasurer - Your key responsibility is to ensure the effective use and management of your organization’s funds. You will head the Treasury department, which is involved in financial planning, raising funds for specific purposes as well as acquisition and disposal of assets. In general, decisions pertaining to the allocation of funds for the operation of your organization will be referred to you.ii. Cash Manager - Your specific duty is to monitor and control the flow of cash receipts and disbursements to meet your organization’s business and investment needs. You will manage short term credit needs and determine if a loan is needed to ensure that there is sufficient cash on hand to meet daily requirements. Hence, your task involves preparing cash flow projections as well as liaising with financial institutions.
iii. Credit Manager - You will be in charge of your organization’s credit department and accounts receivable department. Basically, your task is to manage the debtors who purchase goods or services on credit from your organization. Hence, you will analyze their financial statements as well as budgeted cash flow projections to determine the most appropriate credit terms for the transaction. If a debtor fails to make payment, you will initiate suitable legal measures. Lastly, as the credit manager, you will ensure that your organization complies with corporate credit policy.
iv. Controller - Your role in the organization is equally as important as the Treasurer. Your key responsibility will be financial planning i.e. setting budgets and forecasting models to project revenues and costs. Apart from that, you will be involved in financial reporting i.e. presenting your organization’s financial statements to the relevant parties. Lastly, as a controller, you will be responsible for setting up appropriate internal controls to prevent fraud.
As you can see, there is a wide range of careers for you to choose with a financial background. Therefore, carefully study them and determine the one which interests you the most and research more on its job description.
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