Financial managers and CEO's play important roles in ensuring that organizations meet their specific goals. The skill levels for both positions are high and require a great deal of patience and experience. The purpose of this discussion is to determine whether being a financial manager is the best preparation for later becoming a CEO.
ole of the Financial Manager

According to the Bureau of Labor, financial managers must have a bachelor's degree in a field such as business administration, accounting, economics or finance. Although, as the business world becomes more competitive, organizations are requiring financial managers to have Master's degrees and a great deal of experience before they can become financial managers. The Bureau also explains that financial managers are vital to the success of any organization and their jobs involve supervising the preparation of financial reports, direct investment activities, and implement cash management strategies. As computers are increasingly used to record…...

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References

Campbell, M.W., Kowalski, R.B. Healthcare Financial Management Association Apr 2000

Financial Managers. 2004. Bureau of Labor and Statistics.  http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos010.htm

4)
How does the company you selected manage risk?

Merrill Lynch thus understands, and Fullerton agrees that to oversee portfolio management is to be given a great trust. The customer's desire for risk or lack thereof must be respected. Many of Merrill Lynch's institutional clients have explicit risk guidelines for their portfolios. Risk management professionals must first work the firm's portfolio managers to help ensure portfolios are constructed within these parameters in place, and then ensure they are honored. From the company's own liability perspective as well as for the sake of its reputation, individual investors must understand how risk affects their ability to achieve their investment goals and the value of selecting investment solutions. ("Special Report Increasing the Odds for Investment Success: Understanding Risk Management," 2005, p. 1)

At Merrill Lynch, risk is thought of in terms of how different a portfolio's holdings are from those of its benchmark or peer group.…...

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Works Cited

John W. Cumming." (2005) Management Team: Merrill Lynch. Retrieved 16 Sept. 2005 at  http://www.ml.com/index.asp?id=7695_8134_8302_7548 

Special Report Increasing the Odds for Investment Success: Understanding Risk Management." (2005) Investment Managers: Merrill Lynch. Retrieved 16 Sept. 2005 at  http://www.ml.com/media/14486.pdf 

What Investors Want -- Top Demands Noted in Press Report." (2003) Press Releases: Merrill Lynch. Retrived16 Sept. 2005 at  http://www.ml.com/?id=7695_7696_8149_8688_8576_5758

The demand pulls the manufacturing processes, rather than the supply.
JIT has required a new approach to accounting, as "traditional and standard costing systems track costs as products pass from raw materials, to work in progress, to finished goods, and finally to sales" (Johnson 2004). JIT has resulted in the creation of so-called "backflush accounting' which focuses on the output of an organization and then works "backwards" when allocating costs between cost of goods sold and the cost of available inventories (Johnson 2004).

Product vs. period classification

Product costs are the relatively stable material costs that are involved in making the product, such as input materials, labor, and overhead (Product cost vs. period cost. (2010). Accounting for Management). Period costs include the more variable and less predicable costs of manufacturing such as administrative costs and marketing and sales costs.

Value chain

Value chain analysis, first popularized by Michael Porter, strives to maximize the value…...

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References

Activity-Based Management: An overview. (2001, April). The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). Retrieved March 13, 2010 at  http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/ABM_techrpt_0401.pdf 

Conversion cost definition. (2010). Accounting for Management. Retrieved March 14, 2010 at  http://www.accountingformanagement.com/conversion_cost_definition.htm 

Direct and indirect costs. (2010). Sallie Mae. Retrieved March 14, 2010 at  http://www.collegeanswer.com/paying/content/pay_cost.jsp 

Gibson, Scott. (2001). LIFO vs. FIFO: a return to the basics. RMA Journal.

International financial manager at Apple Inc. is the Senior Financial Analyst who has been serving in this department since October 2005. This individual works in close partnership with the Operations, IS&T and Merchandising departments in launching support, prices and planning changes of the various products of Apple Inc. Currently, Greg Gingo is the Senior Financial Analyst at Apple Inc. And has created and executed system expected commissions through the use of POS systems testing and contract review ("Greg Gingo," n.d.).
Additionally, Greg partners with the store operations on a daily basis in order to identify and understand the transactional behavior resulting in counteractive training. The Senior Financial Analyst also partners with the store operations on a day-to-day basis for the purpose of lessening future outstanding receivables. During his time as the international financial manager at Apple Inc., Greg Gingo has been able to review the carrier level contracts and recognized areas…...

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References:

"Greg Gingo: Senior Financial Analyst at Apple Inc." (n.d.). Linkedin.com. Retrieved January

19, 2011, from http://www.linkedin.com/pub/greg-gingo/26/177/47

Lin, Y.B. (2005, December 8). Financial Analysis: Apple Computer Inc. Retrieved from Boston

University website: http://people.bu.edu/beelin/TermPaper-AppleCom.pdf

My dream job is to be a financial manager. I love the idea of managing the finances of individuals or organizations. Having a sharp interest in the micro- and macro-economic currents around the world, the various markets -- from bonds to equities to derivatives to currencies -- and the way in which events impact valuations, I enjoy the thought of being able to manage assets in a world where the risk-reward relationship is fraught with peril. It is a role the demands an executive level of commitment, foresight, caution, scope and care. My personality type, as indicated by 16 Personalities is ESTJ -- "The Executive" personality. According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator ESTJ stands for Extraversion, Sensing, Thinking and Judgment. In other words, my personality is such that I am an extravert (I am outgoing and expressive), I am able to sense what is going on around me, I am…...

Executive Summary
The financial manager's role is to understand the impact that different internal and external factors will impact the company's ability to achieve its financial and market objectives. The macroeconomic environment has both direct and indirect effects on the company. The major macroeconomic variables such as inflation, interest rates, unemployment, GDP, and exchange rates can all directly influence the financial performance of the company. But these variables also impact on things like government policy, so there are indirect impacts on financial performance as well, and the financial manager also needs to understand these.

The main tool that financial managers use are complex financial models. These models seek to illustrate the impact that different variables have on the company – both internal and external variable. Forecasts are created using different macroeconomic and market variables, and these forecasts can highlight a range of different financial conditions, along with the expected impacts of different…...

Financial analysts play a number of roles within an organization. They made assessments of the value of investments the firm has or may have in the future. They can specialize in determining the value of projects. In addition, financial analysts are engaged in risk assessment, and take steps to determining the best ways for the firm to mitigate the risks that have been identified. Overall, financial analysts use a multitude of different knowledge sets including taxes, finance, economics and risk management to assist the company in making the best financial decisions for the firm (BLS, 2010).
a )The net profit would be the gross profit less operating expenses, interest expenses and tax expenses. Thus, the net profit is: $1,000,000 - $345,000 - $125,000 = $530,000. From this the taxes are removed: $530,000 * (1-.3) = $371,000. The preferred stock dividends of $57,000 must then be removed in order to determine the…...

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Works Cited

BLS. (2010). Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-11 Edition. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved May 21, 2011 from  http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos301.htm 

Loth, R. (2011). Financial ratios tutorial. Investopedia. Retrieved May 21, 2011 from  http://www.investopedia.com/university/ratios/

Aside the attraction of customers, the money invested in marketing have created the desired outcome of a strong and reputable brand. Another pivotal element in the financial strategies has been that of maximizing the efficiency of managing inventories. This was necessary in order to continually strengthen the brand as well as achieve the profitability goals. Alongside with operating principles, supply-chain renovation and inventory management, financial management represents the pillar of the Nike business model (Filbeck, Krueger and Preece, 2007).
7. Discussion

It is extremely difficult to generalize the approaches of multinational organizations to financial management as each individual entity will employ those courses of action which best suit its needs as well as its characteristics. Whilst Ford continued to invest its resources in the manufacturing of large and luxurious vehicles in an attempt to drive the market, McDonald's has recognized the necessity in satisfying customer needs and has as such made…...

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References:

Adams, B., 2007, McDonald's Strange Menu Around the World, Trifter,   last accessed on July 13, 2009http://www.economywatch.com/finance/financial-management.html 

Filbeck, G., Krueger, T., Preece, D., 2007, CFO Magazine's "Working Capital Survey": Do Selected Firms Work for Shareholders? Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics, Vol. 46

Nizamuddin, A.M., 2007, Multinational Corporations and Economic Development: The Lessons of Singapore, International Social Science Review, Vol. 82

Schindehutte, M., Morris, M.H., Kocak, A., 2008, Understanding market-Driving Behavior: The Role of Entrepreneurship, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 46

Had the organization employed the techniques of activity-based costing, they would have realized the need to change their approach and had started manufacturing small size and fuel efficient engines, as most of the customers were requiring these items. "If Ford [...] had used activity-based costing, they would have realized early on the utter futility of their competitive blitzes of the past few years, which offered new-car buyers spectacular discounts and hefty rewards" (Drucker, 2003).
Unlike absorption costing, marginal costing uses the traditional division into direct, indirect, fixed and variable costs. The accounting method sees that the final marginal cost of a product will be calculated by summing up the direct costs of labor, the direct costs of materials, the direct expenses and the variable overheads (Brown). The applications of marginal costing revealed that Ford was able to support a price advantage relative to General Motors and Chrysler due to its…...

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References

Bernstein, L.A., Wild, J.J., 1999, Analysis of Financial Statements, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill Publishers, ISBN 0070945047

Berry, a., 1999, Financial Accounting: An Introduction, 2nd Edition, Cengage Learning EMEA, ISBN 186152479X

Brown, G., Introduction to Costs Accounting: Methods and Techniques,   on March 9, 2009http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/Costinglastaccessed 

Drucker, P.F., 2003, Peter Drucker on the Profession of Management, Harvard Business Press, ISBN 1591393221

Financial & Management Accounting
Selling price of the AOK Play

Contribution per unit = Selling price per unit -- variable cost per unit

total variable cost (= total cost -- total fixed costs) / sales

(3,600,000 -- 2,100,000) / 80,000

(1,500,000 / 80,000)

Selling price = $50 per unit

Fixed cost per unit

Fixed cost per unit = total fixed costs / sales

= 2,100,000 / 80,000

= $26.25per unit

Total cost per unit

Total cost = total variable cost + total fixed costs

= 18.75 x 80,000 + 2,100,000

= 1,500,000 + 2,100,000

= 3,600,000

Cost per unit = total cost / sales

= 3,600,000 / 80,000

= $45per unit

Contribution margin

Contribution margin per unit = total contribution / sales

= 2,500,000 / 80,000

= $31.25per unit

Question 2

Expected Profits and Breakeven

Preliminary Projections

Breakeven = total fixed costs / contribution per unit

= 2,100,000 /

= 67,200

For this projection, the company should sell 67,200 product units before breaking even. This means that for the company to realize any profit, the stipulated number of products…...

Financial Officer
For most parts of history, government financial executives have been taken as scorekeepers, and made responsible for collecting, processing and reporting the financial information that used by elected officials and senior managers who use them in making their decisions. The question is whether their role has now changed with the present importance of information technology. (From Scorekeeper to Business Partner: The Evolving ole of Government Financial Executives)

Now there is increasing evidence of the importance that information technology is getting in public administration and this is resulting in more and more insistence from the public that government financial executives have a greater say in all decision making activities of the government. The finance executives are now the individuals to lead the charge for getting an entrepreneurial type of government and have it judged based on its performance. For most of the finance executives now, the changes are leading to redesigning…...

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REFERENCES

Allison, Gregory. S. "Making the most of the New Blue Book" Retrieved from   / Accessed 26 August, 2005http://www.gfoa.org/services/gfr/archives/2005/04 

Ehrenhalt, Alan. (January, 2002) "The Problem with promises" Governing Magazine.

Retrieved from  http://www.governing.com/archive/2002/jan/assess.txt 

Accessed 26 August, 2005

The ratios that derive from the financial accounting statements are used frequently in finance to determine the health of a company (Russo, n.d). hen a lender wants to know what interest rate to charge a borrower, it looks at the liquidity and solvency ratios of the company to determine the likelihood of default, and assigns the interest rate based on that analysis. This is just another example of how the information that accountants compile and audit is used in financial management.

The same can be said for the investments side of finance. For example, when one wants to invest in a company, or in derivatives relating to that company, accounting information is critical. Usually this is financial accounting information, but if managerial accounting data can be found then that is also sometimes used. Formulas such as Black-Scholes are used to value derivate holdings of companies for the production of financial accounting…...

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Works Cited:

Russo, S. (no date). The importance of financial information. Valencia College. Retrieved February 5, 2013 from  http://faculty.valenciacollege.edu/srusso/ch18bus.htm 

Simpson, S. (2011). The difference between finance and economics. Investopedia. Retrieved February 5, 2013 from  http://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/11/difference-between-finance-and-economics.asp#axzz2K45yGnjc

Financial Environment
A non-for-profit entity has a financial structure based on assets and liabilities solely. Such an entity does not have equity. The main source of financing for a non-profit entity is donations. A non-profit entity is, other than a few fixed assets, a flow-through entity. This means that donations come into the organization, and are then rendered out in the form of services. There is a high emphasis on expenses. Most charities will have some current assets, but usually these are things likely to be converted to cash. Otherwise, the assets tend to be equipment or buildings, likely depreciable. The balance sheet is known as the statement of financial position, outlining the assets and liabilities. These are not necessarily balanced, which is why the term balance sheet is not used (Foley, 2015). Spending in a non-profit is almost entirely discretionary in nature, technically, though there may be ongoing programs.

A for…...

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References

CharityWatch.org (2015). Overhead ratios are essential for informed giving. CharityWatch.org. Retrieved April 13, 2015 from  https://www.charitywatch.org/charitywatch-articles/overhead-ratios-are-essential-for-informed-giving/133 

Foley, E. (2015). Reporting and operations. Non-Profit Accounting Basics. Retrieved April 13, 2015 from  http://www.nonprofitaccountingbasics.org/reporting-operations/statement-financial-position 

Friedman, M. (1970). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved April 13, 2015 from  http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html

financial management methods, concepts and techniques are explained, their uses are analyzed and explained in detail. This paper also highlights the importance of these methods in the financial management and financial manager's decision making process. The case of Suarez Manufacturing is used to further explain the use of these methods.
Financial management is all about managing the finance of the company by making various investing, financing (debt financing or equity financing) or distributing (Dividend) decisions. The finance managers of a company are constantly involved in making various financial calculations so as to come up to those fundamental financial management decisions. (Correia et al., 2007)

Financing the projects of the company can be done by debt financing, equity financing or a combination of both types of finances. Debt and Equity finance can be obtained in many ways and the valuation of both debt and equity market values of the company can be…...

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References

Chandra, P. (2011). Financial Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.

Correia, C., Flynn, D., Iliana, E. & Wormland, M. (2007). Financial Management. South Africa: Juta and Company Limited

Ehrhardt, M.C. & Brigham, E.F. (2011). Financial Management. Singapore: South Western Cengage Learning

Khan, M.Y., & Jain, P.K. (2007). Financial Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill.

ACCOUNTANTS AND FINANCIAL MANAGESAccountants and Financial Managers1. How do accountants and financial managers differ in their use of financial information? Why is cash flow more significant to a financial manager than it is to an accountant?To a large extent, accountants make use of financial information to report financial transactions that have happened in the past. On the other hand, financial managers use financial information to make plans about future undertakings of relevance to the organization. Cash flow happens to be more relevant to a financial manager owing to the fact that as Moyer, McGuigan and ao (2012) indicate, a cash flow statement could come in handy in budgeting efforts as it is instrumental in the prediction of future cash flow. As the authors further indicate, a cash flow statement is avaluable measureof strength, profitability, and the long-term future outlook of a company (Moyer, McGuigan and ao, 2012, p. 216).2. Explain…...

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ReferencesBrigham, E.F. & Houston, J.F. (2012). Fundamentals of Financial Management (7th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Moyer, R.C., McGuigan, J.R. & Rao, R.P. (2012). Contemporary Financial Management (12th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Financial managers can adapt their strategies to navigate the uncertainties of a rapidly changing economic landscape by:

1. Conducting frequent financial analysis and monitoring key performance indicators to stay informed about market trends and economic conditions.

2. Developing contingency plans and stress-testing potential scenarios to prepare for unexpected events and mitigate risks.

3. Diversifying investments and portfolios to spread risk and limit exposure to any single economic sector or asset class.

4. Maintaining a flexible and agile approach to decision-making, including being willing to adjust strategies and tactics as needed in response to changing economic conditions.

5. Building strong relationships with key stakeholders, such as....

Adapting Financial Strategies to Navigate Economic Uncertainties

In an era marked by heightened volatility and constant disruptions, the ability of financial managers to adapt their strategies is paramount to navigating the uncertainties of a rapidly changing economic landscape. By adopting forward-thinking approaches and implementing agile measures, financial managers can mitigate risks, capitalize on opportunities, and drive business growth even amidst market turbulence. Here are key strategies to consider:

1. Enhance Risk Management:

Develop comprehensive risk management frameworks that identify, assess, and mitigate potential risks.
Utilize stress testing and scenario planning to evaluate the impact of various economic conditions.
Diversify investments across asset....

Local Government Fiscal Management in the News: Essay Subject Ideas

1. The Impact of Economic Downturns on Local Government Revenues

Amidst the recent economic recession, many local governments have faced unprecedented revenue shortfalls. Explore the specific challenges and consequences they have encountered, analyzing the impact on essential services and long-term financial sustainability.

2. Balancing Citizen Demands with Limited Resources

Local governments must navigate the delicate task of meeting citizen needs while operating within constrained budgets. Examine the trade-offs involved in allocating funds to different priorities, such as infrastructure maintenance, public safety, and education. Discuss the complexities of balancing taxpayer expectations with fiscal responsibility.

3. Innovative....