The field of finance covers money management and the actual process of obtaining funds for different activities. Finance education covers the oversight, creation, and study of money, including credit, banking, assets, and liabilities as well as investments. There are numerous career options for people with financial education that are valuable to many firms and individuals. Two financial career options that an individual with financial education could pursue include investment banking and corporate accounting.
Corporate Accounting
Corporate accounting is a branch of financial accounting that deals with the accounting of firms; this includes the preparation of final financial accounts as well as cash flow statements, analysis and interpretation of all financial results and specific events accounting such as absorption or amalgamation. Corporate accountants are specialists in business accounting, and apart from preparing and analyzing financial documents, they also ensure that all the firms’ records comply with laws, regulations, and organizational policies. Corporate accountants are important to any firm as they can prevent the misuse of assets, control costs, increase efficiency, and eventually increase production and profit. They are also very crucial in decision making as they help derive important financial information necessary for the management to make decisions which are based on genuine facts and figures. The main aim why most businesses operate is to get a profit, and for this to be possible, it is necessary to observe the firm’s accounts to be able to know the financial position at all times.
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The essential skills for a corporate accountant include openness, organization, time management, analytical, communication, and leadership. Corporate accountants are generally busy as they manage a lot of responsibility. Therefore, it is necessary for them to be organized to track their duties and avoid mix up of data. In line with this, analytical skills are essential to ensure that they are properly able to analyze figures and numbers. They should also possess time management skills to ensure on-time delivery of financial information to avoid loss of funds. Corporate accountants should have good communication skills whether in writing or orally as they bear vital information for firms which if distorted could lead to a loss. They should be able to communicate openly and with integrity regarding all financial accounts and avoid withholding any information to the necessary people.
Investment Banking
Investment banking is a branch of baking that deals with the creation of capital for firms. Investment bankers act in advisory capacity to firms by helping their clients raise money in capital markets. They also play a significant role in activities relating to merger and acquisition. Investment bankers act as intermediaries between security issuers and investors and assist new companies in going public. They do this by either purchasing the available shares at an appropriate estimated price and reselling them to the public or selling shares on behalf of the company getting a commission from each share.
The necessary skills required from any investment banker include analytical, presentation and communication, networking, and entrepreneurial. Good number crunching and quantitative abilities are highly necessary for any investment banker as they are more often required to present a detailed analysis of possible investments and business ventures. Analytical skills are important in dealing with the numerous figures and facts given to investment bankers. Investment bankers have to persuade and convince their clients especially on capital ventures regularly. Having excellent communication and presentation skills is critical to ensure that firms buy the ideas of the IB. Investment bankers help many businesses build from scratch by identifying potential funding channels and enabling expansion through mergers. It is essential for any investment banker to have entrepreneurial skills to help a business identify different business growth opportunities. Most investment bankers face difficult clients who may create different situations, in turn; it is necessary for them to possess networking skills that will help create healthy client relationships despite the situation.
Both corporate accounting and investment banking are suitable and promising financial careers that many people in finance are wearing an income from. Corporate finance in general, however, is broader in scope compared to other finance functions. It also offers a great variety of job roles compared to investment banking. Investment banking opportunities are very competitive and are very hard to come across. An individual in corporate finance can venture into financial advisory, account management, and treasures. Most companies that hire investment bankers prefer individuals from renowned Ivy League schools who are extremely good in communication, mathematics and the finance function itself. This, therefore, limits the number of people who can enter into the investment banking field. Investment banking, however, bears a high remuneration compared to other corporate finance careers. For instance, apart from their salary, investment bankers also earn equity-based incentives. This has propelled it to be one of the front-runner careers in finance.
Looking at both the pros and cons of the two finance careers, corporate accounting would be more recommendable. This preference may be due to the numerous openings in corporate finance and a greater variety of career roles that one can easily switch to. Even though the earning may not match up to what is offered in investment banking, it is also on the higher side as compared to other careers in the corporate world.
