Difference between Finance and Accountant in Business Function

Every company has a need to be able to manage finances. Whether you are carrying out a strategic role or in the recruitment process, you may need to know the differences in the specific roles of the people entrusted with these responsibilities.

In operational activities, these two roles may often overlap. Therefore, it is important to make proper division of duties and roles within the company. The more specific the tasks, the clearer the responsibilities that will be used by each role.

Understanding Finance and Accountant

Finance and accountant are terms that are often used in business. Although both are related to finance, each has a different scope and focus of work.

Finance (in Indonesian means finance) refers to the way in which certain parties manage their finances. This often includes planning, investing, lending, and budget management activities.

While accountant refers to the process of financial reporting and communication between individuals, businesses, or organizations. Not limited to that context, accountants are also related to financial activities at a certain time.

Difference between Finance and Accountant

Under certain conditions, these two roles may still be carried out by the same person. This is arguably natural, especially in a start-up company. However, as the business grows, there are several other differences that can be seen between the roles of finance and accountants.

1. Scope and focus

Finance and accountants work at different levels of management. Accountants provide an overview of the financial situation in a business using transactional data in the past and present, while finance focuses on a picture of the future.

In accountants, the company's financial situation is obtained through what is known as the "accounting equation", namely assets = liabilities + owner's equity. This formula looks at what the company owns (its assets), its debts (liabilities), and the remainder that belongs to shareholders (owner's equity).

All of this must be balanced. This is done to see whether the company's financial transactions have been running according to what was done in a period of time.

Unlike accountants who rely on data, finance looks at how effectively a company generates and uses money. For finance, cash flow is very important because it is an indicator of a company's profitability.

The amount of money that must be distributed by the company to investors or reinvested after all costs of return on investment will be checked. Its purpose is to make current and future investment decisions.

2. Measuring financial performance

This distinction is based on the basic principles of the two fields. Accountants will record transactions according to the agreement, not when the transaction is complete. This allows transactions to be made by credit or deferred payments. From there, companies can compare revenue, cost, and profit growth.

In contrast to accountants, finance believes that the best way to measure a company's economic returns. The trick is to calculate the cash that can be generated, not about what was agreed.

3. Assessment of the price

Another difference is how the two view prices. For accountants, companies are advised to record a lower and higher projected value or price for assets and liabilities. If the value or price is not known, it will be counted as zero.

This is much different from finance. In practice finance uses an analytical process known as valuation to determine the value of a company, project, or asset. If there is no fixed value or price, then finance will analyze the possibility of a discounted price at a certain time.

4. Field of study and work

Finance provides a solid foundation in economics, banking and financial markets. The main focus is on the market, how the market functions and fluctuates, how to manage and how to reduce risk in investing wisely and effectively.

Accountants are also needed when the economy is growing or is strong. The reason is, the stronger the economy, the more people will need services to manage and supervise finances.

The activities that are usually carried out by accountants are recording transactions, collecting financial information, compiling reports, and analyzing financial performance.

The end result of an accountant's efforts often includes comprehensive financial statements, such as profit and loss, balance sheets, and cash flow statements that are used to understand the organization's position at any given time.

Not all companies are qualified to recruit both roles. However, prasmul eli designed the Finance for Non-Finance program to be able to provide managerial functions where anyone can study accounting and finance, regardless of their background.