Finance and accounting play an important role in the administrative work of any company. Because they are intrinsic specialties to the business numbers, it is very common for them to be interpreted as a single activity and the same department. Is this true? Is the finance and accounting department the same? Let's analyze. technologyify
Accounting
Accounting is the activity of recording all the money that
goes into and out of the business. It is a procedure that aims to record
impartially and accurately all financial operations of the company; as well as
its presentation through reports for later analysis.
In a comparative way, the accounting department is like the
laboratory that is in charge of analyzing our blood samples when we are in poor
health. Its only objective is to accurately analyze the sample, to later issue
a report of what was observed.
All information related to the company's money must be
reflected in the financial statements. In this way, shareholders will be able
to objectively analyze the profitability of their company, allowing them to
create financial improvement strategies if necessary.
Although these records can be kept manually, for convenience
it is often recommended to rely on digital tools such as accounting programs.
Even over the years these have evolved, and there are already options for
programs in the cloud, allowing access to information anywhere and at any time.
Finance
Following the previous analogy, if accounting is the
laboratory that examines your blood samples and issues a report; finances are
the doctor who analyzes these reports and prescribes the necessary treatment to
improve your health.
The role of the finance department is to help shareholders
make the right decisions and strategies based on the analysis of accounting
data. In other words, through its functions it is possible to plan and control
all the financial actions necessary for the growth of the company.
The finance department is also in charge of optimizing the
management of money that is invested and / or obtained through financing. That
is, it applies strategies to improve the flow of money, evaluating the pros and
cons of decisions, thus maximizing the value of the company.
The finance and accounting department
It is common for small companies to be in charge of finance
and accounting , however, as we have seen, although related, they are different
elements. Proof of this is that larger companies, this is different since the
person in charge of accounting depends, in terms of hierarchy, on the financial
director.
Of course, both branches feed back and depend on each other,
allowing the best decisions for the business to be made. Any company has the
main objective, not only to consolidate in the market but also to evolve,
accounting and finance project and drive decisions to achieve it.
In short, accounting tells a story and finance analyzes that
story and makes sense of it. They are different administrative branches that
complement each other, that should not be confused and that are of vital
importance for the growth of the company.