Monday, August 6, 2001		Article

CFA for e-business
Sumesh Raizada

SINCE ages, people all over the world are engaged in trade and exchange of goods or money. Records of business transactions are regularly maintained for analysis of investment, financial planning, legal or taxation purposes, etc. Earlier, the task was undertaken by accountants and munshis. These were formally qualified in accounts and finance functions that included, making profit and loss accounts, budgeting, preparing balance sheets, planning cash flows, maintaining data of income and expenditures on weekly or monthly basis, etc. Till few years ago, all major accounting and financial data were prepared and maintained manually, a procedure that was not only cumbersome but was also time consuming. Besides, chances of human error were high, thereby affecting the productivity.

With the IT wave sweeping every possible functional area, finance and accounts have also caught the due attention of enterprises. Since accounts form the basis of any commercial activity, whether manufacturing, distribution or retail industry, making it IT-enabled has several distinctive advantages. Most importantly, financial and accounting data is more easily and accurately available. As a result decision-making is fast, which can help in improving productivity as well as efficiency of an organisation. Several software tools are now available for the aid of account and finance managers. Scope therefore exists in abundance for IT-enabled finance careers for individuals with as well as without formal account background. They work in coordination with senior finance executives to generate vital financial reports on the company and provide feedback to top management. These professionals who work on the specialised software and interpret the financial data and results generated, are called as Financial Analyst.

They play a key role in any business organisation, as they are the persons who actually know the financial health of that organisation and regularly keep the top management abreast with it. Several important business decisions are taken; contracts are made or broken, simply on their advice. These professionals are updated with latest laws, government policies, taxation, etc. and work for maintaining best possible financial results. Mostly they are employed in finance and merchant banking firms, banks, manufacturing and marketing companies.

Financial analysts work in different functional areas like corporate finance, investment management and financial services. They are involved in financial accounting, international finance management, quantitative technique, economic legislation, project planning, venture capital, leasing, hire purchase, credit rating, etc. Financial Analysts are required to do business planning and financial analysis for the company. They are also required to analyse the costs and financial implications involved in any business decision. They are required to evaluate the costs and revenues to the company for a commercial transaction.

MIS or computer-aided information systems forms a major part of their job and they regularly prepare and present financial report for the management.

Those going in for a position of Financial Analyst may be qualified in management with specialisation in finance, ICWA, CA, etc. He must be thoroughly proficient in IT tools and software and must have experience in financial analysis, MIS, presentation and computation of financial figures or data. The job also includes strategic business planning and competition analysis, etc. A person must possess sufficient analytical and mathematical skills and must be thorough in power point, MS Excel, besides accounting and other MIS packages like Oracle, etc. Those with accounting background, MCA or even engineering with specialised finance courses are eligible for the job. Having experience in manufacturing, cost and financial analysis is an added advantage.

Financial Analysts are also required to perform long term planning, finance forecasting, budgeting, etc. and assists other departments like manufacturing, marketing, etc. to provide assistance on accounting issues. They prepare financial analysis report for the management and for those who are involved in the functioning of an enterprise. They conduct variance analysis and provide analytical support to different business units. They assist management by providing analysis of financial trends, financial reports, weekly forecasts, etc.

In India, Financial Analysts are finding huge career prospects in several industries, though may be with different designations. However job profile remains the same. Besides getting employed in finance, manufacturing or merchant banking firms, these professionals also work with consulting companies and undertaking financial projects for the clients. The qualifications required may be engineering, MBA, MCA, ICWA, CA, etc. with strong proficiency in computers and related accounting software. A Delhi-based financial company employ financial analyst to prepare MIS reports, analysis of balance sheets, financial statements, etc. A Mumbai-based IT service provider employ Financial Analyst for assisting in development of banking operations, project documentation and other finance based projects. Compensation earned starts from Rs.1.2 lakh and above in most of the companies.

Financial Analyst must have strong written and communication skills. Those having knowledge of Oracle or other finance packages depending upon the application, have advantages. In some cases Hyperion Pillar or Oracle financial analyser is desired. Knowledge of VB 6.0, Power Point, Excel, etc. is essential in most applications.

CFA or Chartered Financial Analyst covers a broader concept keeping into account the latest trends in the industry. CFA are professionals from different functional areas and focus primarily on financial analysis and management. These are trained on different IT based accounting and finance procedures. In e-commerce, CFA plays an important role as they have not only a deep understanding of finance and accounting, but are able to integrate IT in the business procedures quite effectively.

In India a Hyderabad-based Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) conducts a CFA Program. It is postgraduate program and helps a student in evaluating financial results and making decisions based on those results. ICFAI offers courses for CFA at Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Mumbai, New Delhi, Patna, etc. The Government of India (AICTE) has approved the CFA program as equivalent to a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Analysis (PGDFA). The Certified Financial Analysts Course is a post-graduate programme of nearly three years duration. The course includes a Foundation, Preliminary, Intermediate modules. This course can also be pursued at some business schools like SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, International Management Institute, New Delhi, BITS, Pilani and Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), have also recognised the CFA Program as equivalent to a Master's Degree.

The CFA Program is a career-oriented professional certification program. It provides a strong focus on information technology and its linkage with finance. The course module covers e-business framework and encourage the students to increase their understanding of financial management and analysis in the broad spectrum of e-commerce.

Trained and qualified IT enabled finance professionals have lucrative career opportunities in the corporate sector as well as in the financial services industry. With the growing application of Information Technology in business organisations, the career opportunities for finance professionals with IT skills are enormously increasing.