Finance and Accounts are a division of management statistics. It provides management and accounting information to the Authority relating to the performance of its financial programs. It also ensures that all financial rules and regulations are followed in the various sections of finance, asset management, spending, payroll, price and cost control and other such areas of organization. The main aim of Finance and Accounts is to provide adequate and reliable information about the finances of an organization to support strategic decision making. This is achieved through analysis and interpretation of the data collected in the course of the day-to-day operations.
The entire process of analysis, drafting and compilation of financial statements and accounting records required by an organization is known as Finance and Accounts aat level 2. There are various techniques used for Finance and Accounts like Management Financial Analysis (MFA), Principal Financial Accounting (PFA), Financial Reporting, International Financial Reporting, Internal and External Financial reporting. Finance and Accounts prepare the reports required by the Authority relating to Finance and Accounts. These reports include the income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flows, profit and loss account and statement of equity. The purpose of Finance and Accounts is to make sure that all financial transactions are recorded properly and are based on correct principles.
The reports generated from the financial statements are used by Finance and Accounts to prepare the reports that are to be given to shareholders, creditors and suppliers. All the revenue and expenses are recorded in the books of Finance and Accounts so that they can be used by Management in future planning. Finance and Accounts are an integral part of all the various departments of an organization. Every department has a separate departmental finance department and a number of accountants are employed for the purpose. Some accounting software is also designed specifically for the purpose of Finance and Accounts.
Finance and Accounts prepares and submits the annual budget to the Board of Directors, which is then passed on to the Government for approval. The preparation of the budget and its submission to Government is called as Finance and Accounts. Apart from this Finance and Accounts prepares and submits a financial report to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for their perusal. The goal of Finance and Accounts is to ensure that the financial reports submitted by them meet the requirements of Government Accountability Office.
In order to achieve the goals of Finance and Accounts aat level 3, it becomes imperative for them to be highly skilled and knowledgeable in accounting practices, bookkeeping and budget preparation. These accounting professionals must be independent and have good communication skills, with good reading skills, computer and knowledge of accounting software. Finance and Accounts are headed by a Managing Accountant or a group of accountants.
The Managing Accountant is the head of Finance and Accounts and is the person who plans and prepare the budget. A number of reports are prepared each year by the Managing Accountant, who will give a brief to the General Manager of the organization on the status of the company’s financial health. The General Manager will then decide various plans, which include spending limits and allocation of budgeted funds amongst the different departments and organizations. Finance and Accounts are organized under a system called ‘group accounting’ wherein various offices of Finance and Accounts are connected to each other through a chain of command. This chain of command helps Finance and Accounts analyze the entire picture of the company’s current financial health to design a proper strategy to achieve future objectives