Difference between Accounting & Finance

Accounting: Accountant’s (sometimes called: Controller) primary function is to develop and provide data measuring the performance of the firm, assessing its financial position, and paying taxes. The accountant is responsible for preparing financial statements such as the income statement, balance sheets, and cash flows. It is normally passive work, in the sense that, the work has a very independent nature to it such as preparing forms and financial statements. It is a good job for people who want to work independently and are very organized (this is only a very brief description, if you are interested in accounting; consult your accounting instructor for more information).

Finance: The financial manager or consultant places primary emphasis on decision making. It uses the financial statements prepared by accountants to make decisions about the firm’s financial condition and to advise others about possible losses and profits. In some cases, finance is more a type of leadership position. A financial manager has to deal not only with finance, but also with economics, accounting, statistics, math, and management. For example, people working with stocks and bonds have to understand and analyze how the underlying companies are performing. How a given company is going to perform during recession?  Should they sell or buy stocks or bonds. How a decrease in the interest rate in England may affect the projects a company has in that country. Finance also deals a lot with risk. Derivative securities (options, futures, swaps, etc) are used to hedge against possible increase in risk. Risk managers are in great demand everywhere. Most finance majors find jobs in banks and other financial institutions, government, real estate, consultant companies, insurance, investment companies, stock market exchanges, fundraising, and any firm that needs someone to make financial decisions.

What Is The True Meaning Of "FINANCE"

The definition of FINANCE is the provision of funds or loan supplied to an individual or company. Often this term is used for the study of economics and how money is controlled. It can be also defined as the management of funds and capital required by a business and private activities. Management of finance has also developed into a specialized branch within the financial sector and is carried out by finance managers.


Managing this involves dealing with the optimization and allocation of funds to various areas either by borrowing or by using those available from internal resources. The word Optimizing may sound strange but it refers to taking measures that minimize the cost of financing while simultaneously attempting to maximize the profits out of the employed finance. Bad debts are poor finance management where rules have not been followed; the result of this is depressed markets, low production and a cash crisis. It is for this very reason that finance managers are very careful with finance they agree too and where it is funded from.


It is not uncommon to hear finance managers referred to as bean counters as they are looking at immediate returns and initial costs against the potential at a later stage. Finance managers are the pessimists whereas sales managers are the optimists who look to the future and not to the past! Often though, problems occur with small businesses who fail to see the distinction between a business loan and a personal one. Most lenders will cancel the loan if they feel they have been deceived this way because they are unsure what the money is to be invested in.


Hopefully by educating the small (and large) business owners of their fiscal responsibilities they may build the basis of an improved company in the future. Small businesses can be very flexible, however, and call upon friends, other businesses, family members, even their own bank for finance.


Finance managers can help improve their company's profits by using external sources which also lessens the risk on them at the same time. The famous comedian Bob Hope best summed up the subject when he 
once said; a bank is a place that will lend you money but only if you can prove that you don't need it.