Importance Of Finance And Financial Management To Companys - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 14 Words: 4200 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? If you plan to go big with your business, you can never neglect the importance of Financial Management. It is an essential tool that is required to move ahead with your expansion plans. Generally, this critical aspect is disregarded because the entrepreneurs are unaware of its advantages and uses. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Importance Of Finance And Financial Management To Companys" essay for you Create order Financial reports can help aid in making important future decisions. If you have a solo or micro business, then it is not imperative to make use of Financial Management. But as I mentioned earlier, if you plan to make it big in the world of business and commerce, you should make Financial Management your forte! Accounting and Financial Reports It is very important to keep track of your companys origin and its past history, particularly an account of the money that has been spent. When you analyze the financial reports, you will be aware of all the spending and expenses accurately. The earnings from specific services, product lines and sales staff all will come into clear focus once you have gone through the financial reports. This will help you to manage your expenses and marketing accordingly. Financial Ratios These ratios gives you all the information that you need to know about your business. Moreover, it is very easy to calculate. This way you can compare your companys standard with others. Financial ratios are not essential but it can point out your faults. Research A little bit of research on the expenses managed by other companies will help you manage yours better and your bottom line could increase. You might need to tweak the procedures, alter operations, streamline competencies or shake up the staff for a better performance. Analyzing the financial ratios will guide you towards the area you are most weak in so that you can develop a strategy to enhance the efficiency of your business. Financial Statements All the patterns in your expenses are exposed with the help of Financial Statements. Sales Trends comes into attention whether impacted by the season, changing consumer taste or other factors. This helps you to manage your inventories better, staff levels and sales promotions. Variable expenses and unusual or unauthorized expenses can be monitored with the help of Financial Statements. This will aid you in occasions of theft, embezzlement or other questionable activity before the stakes become too high. Economic highs and lows affect all companies and these periods of change is a test for all. Some stumble, some even fail and there are some who stand unscathed. But the economic growth of all companies is affected collectively. Sometimes the growth is totally unplanned and the expansion occurs due to some external factor which can range from landing a large account to just finding a great deal on a second location space. Always remember that without proper and concrete planning, no business can survive. Financial planning and management is not only for reviewing the financial statements but also to be aware of your expenses and then manage them in such a way that they dont go waste. You can use it to fund your future realistic projects and help your business go big. To explain why companies need to raise finance for different purposes. Finance is the money available to spend on business needs. Right from the moment someone thinks of a business idea, there needs to be cash. As the business grows there are inevitably greater calls for more money to finance expansion. The day to day running of the business also needs money. The main reasons a business needs finance are to: Start a business Depending on the type of business, it will need to finance the purchase of assets, materials and employing people. There will also need to be money to cover the running costs. It may be some time before the business generates enough cash from sales to pay for these costs. Link to cash flow forecasting. Finance expansions to production capacity As a business grows, it needs higher capacity and new technology to cut unit costs and keep up with competitors. New technology can be relatively expensive to the business and is seen as a long term investment, because the costs will outweigh the money saved or generated for a considerable period of time. And remember new technology is not just dealing with computer systems, but also new machinery and tools to perform processes quicker, more efficiently and with greater quality. To develop and market new products In fast moving markets, where competitors are constantly updating their products, a business needs to spend money on developing and marketing new products e.g. to do marketing research and test new products in pilot markets. These costs are not normally covered by sales of the products for some time (if at all), so money needs to be raised to pay for the research. To enter new markets When a business seeks to expand it may look to sell their products into new markets. These can be new geographical areas to sell to (e.g. export markets) or new types of customers. This costs money in terms of research and marketing e.g. advertising campaigns and setting up retail outlets. Take-over or acquisition When a business buys another business, it will need to find money to pay for the acquisition (acquisitions involve significant investment). This money will be used to pay owners of the business which is being bought. Moving to new premises Finance is needed to pay for simple expenses such as the cost of renting of removal vans, through to relocation packages for employees and the installation of machinery. To pay for the day to day running of business A business has many calls on its cash on a day to day basis, from paying a supplier for raw materials, paying the wages through to buying a new printer cartridge. Choosing the Right Source of Finance A business needs to assess the different types of finance based on the following criteria: Amount of money required a large amount of money is not available through some sources and the other sources of finance may not offer enough flexibility for a smaller amount. How quickly the money is needed the longer a business can spend trying to raise the money, normally the cheaper it is. However it may need the money very quickly (say if had to pay a big wage bill which if not paid would mean the factory would close down). The business would then have to accept a higher cost. The cheapest option available the cost of finance is normally measured in terms of the extra money that needs to be paid to secure the initial amount the typical cost is the interest that has to be paid on the borrowed amount. The cheapest form of money to a business comes from its trading profits. The amount of risk involved in the reason for the cash a project which has less chance of leading to a profit is deemed more risky than one that does. Potential sources of finance (especially external sources) take this into account and may not lend money to higher risk business projects, unless there is some sort of guarantee that their money will be returned. The length of time of the requirement for finance a good entrepreneur will judge whether the finance needed is for a long-term project or short term and therefore decide what type of finance they wish to use. To conduct an appraisal on different options available to a company wishing to invest specific amount of money. Introduction Investment is a key part of building your business. New assets such as machinery can boost productivity, cut costs and give you a competitive edge. Investments in product development, research and development, expertise and new markets can open up exciting growth opportunities. At the same time, you need to avoid overstretching limited financial resources or restricting your ability to pursue other options. Deciding where to focus your investment is an essential part of making the most of your potential. Even a project that is not designed to generate a profit should be subjected to investment appraisal to identify the best way to achieve its aims. This guide highlights the key financial and non-financial factors you should take into account when considering an investment. It also introduces the main financial appraisal techniques you can use. Net present value and internal rate of return Discounting cashflow allows you to put cashflows received at different times on a comparable basis. See the page in this guide on discounting future cashflow. You can use discounting cashflow to evaluate potential investments. There are two types of discounting methods of appraisal the net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR). The NPV calculates the present value of all cashflow associated with an investment: the initial investment outflow and the future cashflow returns. The higher the NPV the better. Alternatively, you can work out the discount rate that would give an investment an NPV of zero. This is called the IRR. The higher the IRR the better. You can compare the IRR to your own cost of capital, or the IRR on alternative projects. The key advantage of NPV and IRR is that they take into account the time value of money the fact that money you expect sooner is worth more to you than money you expect further in the future. Disadvantages NPV and IRR are sophisticated and relatively complicated ways of evaluating a potential investment. Most spreadsheet packages include functions that can calculate these or you could ask your accountant for help. Choosing the right discount rate to use to calculate NPV is difficult. The discount rate needs to take into account the riskiness of an investment project and should at least match your cost of capital. Financial aspects of investment appraisal Different appraisal techniques let you assess the effects an investment will have on your cashflow. You can compare the expected return to your cost of funding and to the returns offered by other potential investments. Your assessment should consider all the financial consequences of an investment. For example, buying more expensive machinery might be worthwhile if it is more efficient and uses cheaper supplies. As well as the financial impact, your calculations shouldalso considerÂÂ  any indirect effects. Identifying these soft benefits is often as important as the financial evaluation and may make the difference. Soft benefits could be: greater flexibility and quality of production faster time-to-market resulting in a bigger market share improved company image, better morale and job satisfaction, leading to greater productivity quicker decisions due to better availability of information Evaluating these benefits is not easy, particularly when it comes to raising the funds. Generally speaking, benefits that contribute to higher prices or increased sales are rated better than those cutting costs. For example, a manufacturer of machine parts could take a general benefit such as quality and break it down with estimated savings: ReducedÂÂ  reworking means less disruption to the production process, less manufacturing down-time and fewer design changes, resulting in an overall saving of 25 per cent. The current warranty and service costs of 10,000 per annum are likely to be halved. Quality assurance staff will be reduced by one as needs for inspections are lower. Better quality products will increase sales by 6 per cent and will also improve the companys current position of fourth among its competitors. It is important to estimate what the investments benefits are in financial terms wherever possible. You should ignore any sunk costs (ie costs that have already been incurred and cannot be recovered or would be spent regardless of whether the investment goes ahead), as these are not part of the specific investment. Before committing to any investment, it is essential to ensure any financing you need is available.ÂÂ   You should also consider the potential risks of any investment. Other factors Although profitability and cashflow are important, you should take into account how an investment fits w Strategic issues for investment appraisal Effective investment appraisal does not consider an investment in isolation. Instead, you should consider how the investment could contribute to your overall strategic objectives. Some investments can offer strategic benefits for your business. For example, you might invest in extending your product range so that you can supply more of the products that your key customers want. An investment like this could help strengthen your brand and your relationship with your customers. Often, one of the key benefits of making an investment can be the skills your business learns and the future opportunities that may arise. For example, you might invest in developing and trialling a new product even if you dont expect to make any profits at that stage. If the trial is successful, you can use what you have learned to make a larger, more profitable investment in bringing the product into full-scale production. On the other hand, making an investment can limit your flexibility to respond to future changes. For example, you would not want to invest heavily in new manufacturing equipment unless you were confident of the demand for your product. See the page in this guide on investment risk and sensitivity analysis. Timescales can also be an important strategic issue. For example, investors in your business may prefer investments that are expected to produce a quick return. See the page in this guide on the payback period. A useful test for a possible investment is to think about your alternatives. For example, instead of buying new machinery you could: do nothing do the minimum necessary to maintain your existing machinery achieve a similar outcome a different way, eg by outsourcing production to a supplier invest in an alternative project instead ith your existing business. There may also be other, non-financial reasons for making an investment. For example, you may need to update your equipment to improve health and safety or to meet modern standards. Accounting rate of return The accounting rate of return (ARR) is a way of comparing the profits you expect to make from an investment to the amount you need to invest. The ARR is normally calculated as the average annual profit you expect over the life of an investment project, compared with the average amount of capital invested. For example, if a project requires an average investment of 100,000 and is expected to produce an average annual profit of 15,000, the ARR would be 15 per cent. The higher the ARR, the more attractive the investment is. You can compare the ARR to your own target rate of return, and to the ARR on other potential investments. The ARR is widely used to provide a rough guide to how attractive an investment is. The main advantage is that it is easy to understand. Disadvantages Unlike other methods of investment appraisal, the ARR is based on profits rather than cashflow. So it is affected by subjective, non-cash items such as the rate of depreciation you use to calculate profits. The ARR also fails to take into account the timing of profits. In calculating ARR, a 100,000 profit five years away is given just as much weight as a 100,000 profit next year. In reality, you would prefer to get the profit sooner rather than later. See the page in this guide on discounting future cashflow. There are also several different formulas that can be used to calculate an ARR. If you use the ARR to compare different investments, you must be sure that you are calculating the ARR on a consistent basis. Payback period Payback period is a simple technique for assessing an investment by the length of time it would take to repay it. It is usually the default technique for smaller businesses and focuses on cashflow, not profit. For example, if a project requiring an investment of 100,000 is expected to provide annual cashflow of 25,000, the payback period would be four years. Similar calculations can be used to work out the payback period for a project with uneven annual cash flows. Payback period is a widely used method of assessing an investment. It is easy to calculate and easy to understand. By focusing on projects which offer a quick payback, it helps you avoid giving too much weight to risky, long-term projections. Disadvantages Payback period ignores the value of any cashflows once the initial investment has been repaid. For example, two projects could both have a payback period of four years, but one might be expected to produce no further return after five years, while the other might continue generating cash indefinitely. Although payback period focuses on relatively short-term cashflows, it fails to take into account the time value of money. For example, a 100,000 investment that produced no cashflow until the fourth year and then a payback of 100,000 would have the same four year payback period as an investment that produced an annual cashflow of 25,000. In reality, the first is likely to be a riskier and less attractive investment. A more complex version of payback period can be calculated using discounted cashflows. This gives more weight to cashflows you expect to receive sooner. See the page in this guide on discounting future cashflow. Discounting future cashflow As a rule, money now is better than money in the future. There are two key reasons: Money has a time value. If you have money now, you can use it for example, by putting it on deposit. Conversely, if you want money now but will only get it in the future, you would have to pay to borrow it. The further you look ahead, the greater the risks are. If you expect an investment to return 1,000 in a years time, you may well be right. If you are looking ten years into the future, things might well have changed. Discounting cashflow takes these concerns into account. It applies a discount rate to work out the present-day equivalent of a future cashflow. For example, suppose that you expect to receive 100 in one years time, and use a discount rate of 10 per cent. If you put 90.91 on deposit at 10 per cent for one year, at the end of the year you would have 100. In other words, the present value of that 100 can be calculated as 90.91. Similar calculations can be used to work out the present value of cashflows you expect to receive further into the future. For example, suppose you expect to receive 100 in two years time and use a discount rate of 10 per cent. If you put 82.64 on deposit for two years at 10 per cent, at the end of two years you would have 100. In other words, the present value of that 100 is 82.64. You can use discounted cashflows to assess a potential investment. See the page in this guide on net present value and internal rate of return. To demonstrate the importance of reports on the sale of an organizations finances. At regular period public companies must prepare documents called financial statements. Financial statements show the financial performance of an company. They are used for both internal-, and external purposes. When they are used internally, the management and sometimes the employees use it for their own information. Managers use it to plan ahead and set goals for upcoming periods. When they use the financial statements that were published, the management can compare them with their internally used financial statements. They can also use their own and other enterprises financial statements for comparison with macroeconomical datas and forecasts, as well as to the market and industry in which they operate in. The four main types are balance sheets, profit and loss accounts, cash flow statements, and income statements. Balance Sheets Balance sheets provide the observant with a clear picture of the financial condition of the company as a whole. It lists in detail the tangible and the intangible goods that the company owns or owes. These good can be broken further down into three main categories; the assets, the liabilities and the shareholders equity. Assets Assets include anything that the company actually owns and has disposal over. Examples of the assets of a company are its cash, lands, buildings, and real estates, equipment, machinery, furniture, patents and trademarks, and money owed by certain individuals or/and other businesses to the particular company. Assets that are owed to the company are referred to as accounts-, or notes receivables. Current Assets include anything that company can quickly monetise. Such current assets include cash, government securities, marketable securities, accounts receivable, notes receivable (other than from officers or employees), inventories, prepaid expenses, and any other item that could be converted into cash within one year in the normal course of business. Fixed Assets are long-term investments of the company, such as land, plant, equipment, machinery, leasehold improvements, furniture, fixtures, and any other items with an expected useful business life usually measured in a number of years or decades (as opposed to assets that wear out or are used up in less than one year. Fixed assets are usually accounted as expenses upon their purchase. They are normally not for resale and are recorded in the Balance Sheet at their net cost less (less is accounting term for minus) accumulated depreciation. Other Assets include any intangible assets, such as patents, copyrights, other intelectual property, royalties, exclusive contracts, and notes receivable from officers and employees. Liabilities Liabilities are money or goods acquired from individuals, and/or other corporate entities. Some examples of liabilities would be loans, sale of property, or services to the company on credit. Creditors (those that loan to the company) do not receive ownership in the business, only a (usually written) promise that their loans will be paid back according to te term agreed upon. Current Liabilities are accounts-, and notes-, taxes payable to financial institutions, accrued expenses (eg.: wages, salaries), current payment (due within one year) of long-term debts, and other obligations to creditors due within one year. Long-Term Liabilities are mortgages, intermediate and long-term loans, equipment loans, and other payment obligation due to a creditor of the company. Long-term liabilities are due to be payed in more than one year. Shareholders equity The shareholders equity (also called as net worth, or capital) is money or other forms of assets invested into the business by the owner, or owners, to acquire assets and to start the business. Any net profits that are not paid out in form of dividends to the owner, or owners, are also added to the shareholders equity. Losses during the operation of the business are subtracted from the shareholders equity. Assets are calculated the following way: Assets=Liabilities+Net worth Balance sheets show how the assets, liabilities, and the net worth of a business are distributed. They usually are prepared at set periods of time, for example at the end of each quarter. It is always prepared at the end of fiscal years. The periodic preparation of the balance sheets, the owner and/or the manager of the company can see historic-, and current trends andalsothe general performance of the corporation. It allows decision makers to make adjustments when needed, like the proportion of liabilities to assets. All balance sheets contain the same categories of assets, liabilities and net worth figures. Assets are arranged in decreasing order of their liquidity . Liabilities are listed in order of how soon they must be repaid, followed by retained earnings (net worth of owners equity). The categories and formats of Balance Sheets are established by a system known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The system is applied to all companies, large or small, so anyone reading the Balance Sheets can readily understand what it is saying. Profit and Loss Account Profit and loss accounts (abbreviated as PL account) summarize the incomes and expenses of a company in a given period of time. It also includes accruals too, which are incomes that will be realized only after the particular Profit and Loss Account statement was prepared. Cash-Flow Statements These statements show how money is predicted to move around (hence the phrase cash flow) at a given period of time. It is useful for planning future expenses. It shows whether or not there will be enough money to carry out the planned activities and whether or not the cash coming in are enough to cover the expenses. The cash flow statement is useful in the determination of the companys liquidity in a given period of time. Income Statements Income statements measure the companys sales and expenses over a specific period of time. They are prepared each month and fiscal year end. Income statements show the results of operating during those accounting periods. They are also prepared using the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and contain specific revenue and expense categories regardless of the nature of the company. Conclusion Financial statements are useful, because they show the financial condition of a company at a given period. There are many types of financial statements uses and purposes, measuring different financial aspects of the company. They can be used for both internal-, and external uses.