The ideal structure of a company’s financial sector depends on several factors. Before defining what is right or wrong, it is necessary to consider its size, the number of employees and even the business model.
With regard to size, for example, it is very common that, in smaller companies, the owner himself takes care of the finance department or else only one employee dedicates himself exclusively to it.
In any case, those who take care of a company’s finances have a great responsibility, as this sector needs to ensure the efficient management of the business’s assets.
In this article, we will explain how the company’s financial sector works , the positions that the department needs to hold and also give some tips on how to optimize it. Good reading!
How should the structure of the financial sector be?
We can say that the financial department of a company represents a link between all sectors, and this relationship between them is essential to ensure the smooth running of the business.
The financier’s contact with the other departments can be both to align the amount made available for each one to invest in improvements and to resolve payment issues.
In addition, the company’s financial sector has a variety of functions and its managers need to show their ability to raise funds and also present ways on how to best invest the available capital.
It is also important to ensure that unnecessary expenses do not occur so that business finances are always up to date and healthy.
Therefore, we have compiled a list of the main functions of the financial sector so that you can better understand how it works. Check out:
- Accounting
One of the most important functions of the financial sector, accounting has the role of taking care of the company’s assets and liabilities, that is, controlling its inventories, equipment, real estate, investments, among others. The assets represent all the assets that the company owns and the liabilities its financing and payments.
Not only that: accounting also involves any changes that may interfere with a company’s capital and, after analyzing all the data, it is possible to calculate the expenses and profits that the business has obtained. It also allows managers to make better decisions regarding everything that involves money.
- Bills to pay and receive
Through the management of accounts payable and receivable , all financial transactions that are made within the company go through. After all, for effective control, it is essential to document and record all transactions.
In this role, the financial officer controls the money that the company must pay to its suppliers and employees, for example, preventing any payment from being made. If this happens, she may even be fined.
Accounts receivable management needs to ensure that all amounts expected to be credited in a given period are actually paid.
- Treasury
The Treasury makes use of tools such as cash flow and chart of accounts to ensure that all accounts are organized. As a result, it ensures that business finances are healthy, avoiding possible losses.
- Tax management
He is responsible for handling all taxes and duties for a company. The managers of this sector need to calculate what is due and ensure that it is paid on time to comply with all tax requirements.
Furthermore, with tax management, it is possible to identify the best tax regime and save the payment of unnecessary taxes.
- Financial planning
In this role, the manager needs to plan the budget available for the next periods, determine strategies in order to meet the company’s objectives and still be prepared to solve any problems that may arise.
With good financial planning , there is the possibility to identify which resources can be used for the company to continue to progress and also to better project its future considering the financial data generated by accounting.
- Credit Analysis and Granting
It is the area responsible for granting credit to the customer in order to maximize sales, while at the same time avoiding default and future financial problems. Every credit analysis and granting area must have a Credit Policy agreed between the finance and the commercial area.
- Audit
Auditing is a very important task, as it assesses the company’s financial sector and identifies whether what is being done is correct, ensuring something very important for everyone: transparency.
In this way, it promotes the department’s credibility and can help managers to prevent certain unforeseen events.
If you want to know even more the routines of the financial sector of an organization, we have a post that can be useful to you: Know the main routines of the financial sector
How to optimize a company’s financial sector?
Now that you have seen the main functions of the financial sector, let’s check out 3 ways to optimize the department, ensuring the improvement in its structure and activities. See below:
- Control cash flow
Controlling cash flow is essential to ensure that financial sector management is effective. For this, it is always necessary to check all the information received so that it is possible to clearly see the amounts that are coming in and out of the cash register.
With this control, in addition to avoiding unnecessary expenses, there is an optimization of the resources of the company’s financial sector .
- Use financial management tools
When analyzing the data and generating reports, it is natural for the responsible professional to make some mistakes which, if not found quickly, can cause several losses to the company.
And since manual tasks are very time consuming, the manager ends up losing productivity, as he could be performing another more important task for the sector.
Thus, it is very worthwhile to invest in software aimed at financial management, as they allow the automation of various activities, resulting in savings in the time available so that the team can focus on what is really important.
- Perform financial control
When carrying out regular monitoring in relation to the management of accounts payable and receivable, managers will always obtain updated information regarding expenses and revenues. This is essential to save them from having to pay for any unplanned expenses.
By ensuring that the processes are optimized, errors that could compromise the company’s financial sector will be ruled out and the department will have a high performance in all its functions.
