Roles and responsibilities

Roles Responsbilites

Financial accountant

A financial accountant is responsible for the control of the financial management of a business, as well as advising and being involved in the strategic direction and administration of that business. Accountants extract and interpret information from the financial records for a wide range of interested parties throughout that organisation — shareholders, potential investors, bankers, employees, trade creditors and government departments. They’re responsible for controlling the working capital of a business, ensuring debtors, creditors and stocks are maintained at an acceptable level, taking day-to-day decisions, giving advice to the board of directors (very often the financial accountant is a director of the company) and advising on capital investment.

Treasurer Treasury in a company is key in determining the financial strategy and financial policy, advising on what businesses to invest in, organising the appropriate funding and controlling the risk in the organisation. Depending on the risk environment, treasury will create an appropriate capital structure of debt and equity in order to fund the business, getting the optimum balance between cost and risk. This translates into the need to ensure that at all times the company has the liquidity and cash to meet its obligations as they fall due, taking in funding from equity or debt capital markets activities, bank borrowings, through to day-to-day cash management and investment. Treasury is responsible for the identification of risks associated with this activity and for controlling risks that could erode financial strength, using mitigation and hedging techniques and encouraging a culture of sound financial practice. Treasury management is all about handling the banking requirements, the funding for the business and managing financial risk. It therefore incorporates raising and managing money, currency, commodity and interest-rate risk management and dealing, and in some organisations the related areas of insurance, pensions, property and taxation.