Study Unit 2: The Operating Levels of the Finance Function 2024 PDF

The operating levels of the finance function BSCI121 – Study unit 2 Chapter 8  Learning Outcome On the completion of this study unit, you should be able to understand the following: What each level of finance does Finance Operations Specialist areas, including financial reporting and fin...

The operating levels of the finance function BSCI121 – Study unit 2 Chapter 8  Learning Outcome On the completion of this study unit, you should be able to understand the following: What each level of finance does Finance Operations Specialist areas, including financial reporting and financial planning and analysis Strategic Partnering for value Strategic leadership of the finance team  Introduction Previous chapter looked at the structure and role of finance functions and the specific roles they perform. This chapter looks at the finance components and how they generate information and preliminary insight for the organisation Then investigate how specialist areas of FP&A, Taxation, Project Management, and Project Appraisal to provide insight for decision- makers Finally, consider business and strategic leadership as requirements necessary to ensure appropriate decisions are made and their impact made Introduction Individual components of the finance function and the specific roles they play Examples of Job Description: Finance/Accounting Professional  Financial Reporting: Financial statements, Impact of changes in accounting standards, Financial ratios, etc Financial Operations and Management Accounting: Monthly management accounts, analysis of variances, Insights budgets and forecasts, monitoring KPIs, etc Treasury: Working capital reports, monitoring and predicting currency and interest rates, etc Internal audit: Analysis of control systems, monitoring compliance, monitoring risks, etc  Financial planning and analysis: Help organisations to set, monitor, and evaluate their progress in achieving goals and objective Taxation: Specialist tax experts who provide information and support to business functions Specialist finance areas on tax matters and their role in providing insights to decision- makers Project management: Teams which work to ensure projects are delivered on time, at the right quality and within budget Project appraisal: These analyse the financial and non-financial aspects of potential projects  Strategic and Business partnering and decision- making Business partnering: Involves the finance function embedding itself with working alongside all areas of the organisation rather than just being a separate business function that reports on organisational performance Strategic partnering for value: Extends the concept of business partnering to the most senior levels within an organisation Page 163  Strategic leadership of the finance function and teams Strategic leadership of the finance function consists of the chief financial officer (CFO) or financial director plus those senior finance managers who directly report into them as part of the senior finance team. Page 163 Attributes of a finance team Knowledge Technical expertise Ability to perform a Skills role or apply knowledge Overall familiarity Experience and mastery of a particular area Effective finance team = right mix of attributes Remember to refer to your textbook: Chapter 8