Basic concepts of an accountant career

At the onset of one’s career it is a very optimistic viewpoint. An individual tends to be drifted towards the field of his liking. Days pass turning into weeks, months and years. The work which began on the threshold of life as a career builder gradually attains stagnancy. Pondering over the past years this field of passion seems to have come to a standstill and after years of hard work poured in, it seems as if a voice from within is calling for a change, yeah a change in career.

This has happened to you and me, it is nothing new. The very reason of pointing out to this aspect is to highlight upon the “Accounting and Finance” Sector. There are a lot of perceptions of jumbling the accounting and finance areas as one, but both the sectors are inter-related and we could say it is two sides of a coin.

Who is an Accountant?

An accountant primarily assesses the “financial position” of the firm. He is responsible for preparing financial statements such as balance sheets, income statements and cash flow.

Who is a Financial Analyst?

After the accountant completes his role of preparing the balance sheets, then the “financial analyst” zooms into action. The scope of work for a “Financial Analyst” is spread over a broad spectrum. He has a vision to foresee the future of the company and helps the company officials to understand the company’s stand, advising them of the possible profit and losses. Finance is more of a risk management area. Students opting to take up finance as their career need to understand that finance is a much generalized area wherein banking, real estate, corporate control, insurance organizations etc. come under one umbrella.

Why the Jump?

Any simple question arise controversies. Different heads think differently. If you say that why there is a need to hire two separate individuals if the accounting and finance is so well gelled in each other? People assume that the person who deals with numerical data may not possibly enjoy the work of forecasting and vice-versa.

Transition – Not as easy!

Nothing in life comes the easy way. You cannot enjoy the delicious meal decorated on a platter unless you have earned it. Same is in the case where you have to now go in for a drift in profile. If you have worked as an accountant since long and have been able to gather an idea on how the finance works, then you could definitely go in for the change. The accounting degree will surely help in conducting financial analysis but, an MBA in finance will give a finishing touch to your ambition.

Conclusion

Crossing lines is always impressive and appealing. One of the major reasons behind career decisions is to maintain a balance between work and personal life. Becoming successful largely depends on your background, education and years of experience. Magic is created if you are “at the right place at the right time”.

What is called financial management?

Simply, financial management known as those managerial activities that is required to procure funds at the least cost and their effective deployment. For an organization finance is known as blood. No business can ignore the role of finance.

On the understanding of its branch it is known as science which manages the money of a company. Traditionally, it was known as a branch of knowledge with focus on the procurement of funds. In the modern approach it is known as the procurement of the least cost funds and its effective utilization for maximization of share holder’s wealth. In the globalize world after the impact of information technology financial management have added new dimensions in the field of accounting and finance.

About the goal of financial management it is clear that financial management of a firm is maximization of economic welfare of its shareholders. Broadly, it fulfills two goals – profit maximization and wealth maximization. Profit maximization would be under perfect competition to allocate the resources. Wealth maximization is known as maximizing the net wealth of the company’s share holders.

Financial management has financial functions which are closely related to financial decisions. Finance functions are performed by financial managers. In this course finance manager can takes the following decisions:

Financing decision

Investment decision

Dividend decision

Liquidity decision

Latter, financial management cover the areas of accounting, marketing, productions and HR. In the accounting it works as computation, statements and decisions. In the marketing it works as formulation of policy, investment and working capital. In the production it works as technology selections, operations, plant size and capital budgeting. In the HR it works as paid salary, salary packages and capital productivity.

In this way, we can say financial management in the modern age has broader aspect which covers the necessary aspect of any organization. To grow or establish organization, finance is the blood as earlier.

Preparing an efficient federal corporate tax returns

The key to preparing efficient federal corporate tax returns is to utilize a Certified Public Account (CPA) who will develop a tax strategy that will minimize your company’s tax liability in the short and long term while minimizing the impact on cash flow.

A corporation can file their tax return based on either a Calendar year, beginning January 1 and ending December 31, or a Fiscal year, any 12 month period ending on the last day of the 12th month, except for December. Many corporations that use a fiscal calendar year start in October and end in September.

When preparing for your tax returns, the corporation must report income and deductions based on the annual accounting method used for their calendar year. The general accounting methods used is either Cash Basis or Accrual. The cash basis method of accounting reports income in the tax year it was received and deducts business-related expenses in the tax year it was paid. The Accrual method of accounting reports income in the tax year it was received and deducts business-related expenses in the tax year those expenses accrued.

To prepare for your federal corporate tax return, you will need the following documents: A copy of last years federal tax return, the corporation's federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) obtained from the IRS, and the documents filed and accepted by the IRS if the corporation files as an S corporation. You will need supporting documentation for all gross business income received including interest earned in all business savings, checking, and investment accounts, IRC Section 61. You will also need a list of itemized business-related expenses which the company has paid or incurred during the year, IRC Section 162. The itemized expenses would include employees W2 and W3 forms, 1099 forms, and capital assets or property and equipment that was purchased, IRC Sections 197 and 263. Lastly if the corporation has any organizational or start up costs, supporting documentation will be needed.