Financial Management

          Larger businesses typically divide their finance activities into treasury and control functions, whereas smaller firms often combine these functions. The treasurer is responsible for managing the firm's cash, acquiring and managing the firm's assets, and selling stocks and bonds to raise the financial capital necessary to conduct business. The controller is responsible for cost a accounting, financial accounting, and tax record-keeping activities. Entry-level career opportunities include:

• Cash management analyst: involves monitoring and managing the firm's day-to-day cash inflows and outflows.
• Capital expenditures analyst: involves estimating ash flows and evaluating assest investment opportunities.
• Credit analyst: involves evaluating credit applications and collecting amounts owed by credit customers.
• Financial analyst: involves evaluating financial performance and preparing financial plans.
• Cost analyst: involves comparing actual operations against budgeted operations.
• Tax analyst: involves preparing financial statements for tax purposes.

Career in Finance

Career opportunities in finance are available in areas of financial management, depository financial institutions, contractual savings and real property organizations, and securities markerts and investment firms. While you may aspire to own your own business or be a chief executive officer (CEO) or chief financial officer (CFO) in a major corporation, most of us must begin our careers in an entry-level position.

Transferring Financial Assets

Several types of financial institutions facilities or assist the processes of lending and selling securities. Brokerage firms market and facilitate the transferring of existing "seasoned" instruments and securities. Also, if share of stock are to be sold to the general public, it is desirable to have a ready market in which such stocks can be resold when the investor desires. Organized stock exchanges and the over-the-counter market provide active secondary markets for existing securities. The ability to buy and sell securities both quickly and at "fair market values" is important in an efficient financial system.

Marketing Financial Assets

New financial instruments and securities are created and sold in the primary security market. For example, a business may want to sell shares or ownership, called stock, to the general public. It can do so directly, but the process of finding individuals interested in investing funds in that business is likely to be difficult, costly, and time-consuming. A particular financial intermediary, an investment banking firm, can handle the sale of shares of ownership. The function of the investment banking firm is essentially one of merchandising. Brokerage firms market existing or "seasoned" instruments and securities.

Lending and Investing Savings

Another basic function of financial institutions is lending and investing. The money that has been put into these intermediaries may be loaned to businesses, farmers, consumers, institutions, and governmental units. It may be loaned for varying time periods and for different purposes, such as to buy equipment or to pay current periods and for different purposes, such as to buy equipment or to pay current bills. Some financial institutions make loans of almost all types. Others specialize in only one or two types of lending. Still other financial institutions invest all or part of their accumulated savings in the stock of a business or in debt obligations of businesses or other institutions.