Job Description

Youngjun Lee

WRT 340

Financial Manager

Do you want to make money? Then, you should know how to manage money first. However, managing money is not easy as we think. It basically needs a lot of time to research the data and to have ability to read them. What I want to do is to plan and manage money to make profits as a financial manager.

A financial manager is a person who is responsible for providing financial advises to clients with analyzed data that could make them to invest their assets with feasibility. The financial advises include stock, fund, and investment market trends. For example, a financial manager in an investment bank can research the data related to thousands of stocks, purchase large number of issued shares, and resell them to investors. Also, a financial manager in any company analyzes feasibility of projects and supports the management team to make better operating decisions.

There are three descriptions that help to better understanding of a job as a financial manager.

•         Management
•         Financial Analysis

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Management

As a financial manager, management of funding and overseeing operations of the company is important. I would say three things of following are the key points to work as a financial manager.

•        Maintain and understand the company’s accounting system
•     Forecast cash flow positions
•        Invest funds

To analyze and understand the company’s current financial position, I should fully understand what kind of accounting standard the company uses. Normally companies in the U.S use GAAP accounting standard rather than IFRS. When I see our company’s financial statement, I could find out which part we need to improve and another part we should invest to improve our financial position by making profits. From the cash flows statement, I figure out the weaknesses and strengths of currently operating projects. For projects that we will start to invest, my first priority is to maximize return on investment while minimizing risk.

Financial Analysis

For financial analysis, the financial manager acts as a strategist on the behalf of the company. We accomplish precise and worthwhile financial analysis by following three things.

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•      Review the competitor’s financial performance and statement and compare with our company
•        Support management with organizing strategic direction with the budgeting including financing
•        Interpret the company’s financial position

As a financial manger, I have responsibility of reviewing other major companies’ financial performance. By comparing them with our company, I can recommend improvement activities to the management. The improvement activities include proper budgeting, investing, and getting rid or the project that has a significant loss in business. Before recommending, I should interpret our financial performance. 

Accountability

Accountability is one quality that a financial manager should have. Although all people that have any jobs should have this quality, I think that the financial manger especially has to have accountability. The reason is that a person who does not have proper accountability has significant impact on a loss in business because a financial manager behaves on the behalf on the company and deals with the company's money that can heavily be used on the financial manger's recommendation. Accountability also gives duties to the financial manager as follow. 

•      Smooth communication skill 
•      Act on the company's financial matter to make it better 

Communication skill is crucial to do a job as a financial manager. To make the better decision the management makes, I should communicate with them properly and detailedly. I recommend realistic strategic behavior with reliable data, and I am accountable for the behavior, so I as a financial manager act on the company's financial performance with accountability.