2012-03-09

“In fact, a business can contribute to social welfare only if it is highly profitable.”

Peter F. Drucker

Economics and finance contains terms, management methods, various analytical techniques, financial indicators and standards, whose subject are the financial management in an enterprise or organization.

It includes the comprehensive financial management, various financial management methods, i.e. the handling of financial resources throughout their life cycle - from fund and capital (financing, financial market) raising, budgeting, allocation and distribution of financial resources, management and effective handling of financial resources, financial risk management, profit sharing and other financial operations in the organization.

The goal of financial management in a market economy is to maximize its market value, i.e. the market value of equity capital, for which managers through their work are responsible to the business owners and other stakeholders. The manager responsible for the financial management throughout the organization is called Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Other goals of financial management are: ensuring a business’ solvency, assets liquidity and return on assets (profitability) of the enterprise.

The objectives of financial management in public sector and Public Finance Management are described in the article Public Finance.

Financial management includes several different categories of processes such as:

Financial Planning

Obtaining financial resources (financing)

Budgeting

Financial Analysis

Financial operations, Accounting

Financial management methods:

Financial analysis - is one of the methods for theevaluation of the organization. Its basis is the evaluation of financial statements and various financial indicators. The result is a ratio and synthetic indicators and other analytical outputs. Financial analysis can use various analytical techniques.

Cash Flow analysis

Indebtedness analysis

Liquidity analysis

Profit analysis

Return on assets and activity analysis

Cost analysis

ABC Method (Activity Based Costing)

Break Even Point Analysis

Fixed costs

Marginal costs

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Unit costs

Variable costs

Current assets management methods

Accounts receivable management methods

Cash flow management methods

Cash management methods

Inventory management methods

Liquidity management methods (cash management, cash flow management)

Payment methods

Methods and means of financing (obtaining financial resources)

Leasing methods

Long-term financing methods

Short-term financing methods

Investments management methods

Depreciation methods

Enterprise Valuation Methods

Financial management methods are based on various financial indicators and statements:

Profit ratios

EAC, EAT, EBT, EBIT,EBITDA, Gross Margin, NOPAT, Economic profit, Net profit plus interest after taxes

Valuation Criteria for Enterprise Performance Measurement

CFROI - Cash Flow Return on Investment

CROGA - Cash Return on Gross Assets

EVA - Economic Value Added

MVA - Market Value Added

RONA - Return on Net Assets

Cash Flow ratios

Cash flow liquidity

Cash flow per share

CF interest coverage

CF Return On Assets - ROA (CF)

CF Return on Equity

CF Return On Equity – ROE (CF)

CF return on sales - ROS(CF)

CF solvency

Debt relief level

Debt repayment period

Fixed payment coverage

Price-To-Cash-Flow-Ratio

Self-financing ratio

Liquidity ratios

CPR - Cash Position Ratio

CR - Current Ratio

QAR - Quick Asset Ratio

Profitability ratios

DuPont Analysis – decomposition of Return on Equity ratio

ROA - Return on Assets

ROC - Return on Capital

ROCE - Return on Capital Employed

ROE - Return on Equity

ROGIC - Return on Gross Invested Capital

ROI - Return on Investments

ROIC - Return on Invested Capital

ROO - Return on Organization

ROR - Return on Revenue

ROS - Return on Sales

Investment evaluation techniques (investment options)

AAR - Average Annual Return

ABPM - Accounting-Based Profitability Measures

Average Payback Period

Average Percentage Return

IRR - Internal Rate of Return

NPV - Net Present Value

PI - Profitability Index

Payback Period

Debt Ratios

DCR - Debt Coverage Ratio

Debt to Equity Ratio

Equity Indebtedness Ratio

Equity Ratio

Financial leverage

Interest Coverage (TIE) Ratio

Total Debt to Total Assets Ratio

Activity Ratios

Asset Turnover Ratio

Average Collection Period

Business Deficit

Creditors Payment Period

Fixed Asset Turnover

Inventory Turnover

Inventory Turnover Ratio

Market value ratios (capital market)

P/S - Price to Sales Ratio

BV - Book Value

Dividend Cover

Dividend Yield

EPS - Earnings Per Share

P/B - Price Book Value, M/B - Market to Book Ratio

P/E - Price Earnings Ratio

Payout Ratio

Plowback Ratio

Price to Earnings to Growth Ratio

Sustainable Growth Rate

Productivity ratios

EVA - Economic Value Added

TFP - Total Factor Productivity

Other financial ratios

Altman Analysis (Altman Z-score) - Altman Index

CAGR - Compound annual growth rate

DAR - Debt/Asset Ratio

NWC - Net Working Capital

WACC - Weighted Average Cost of Capital

WC - Working Capital

Absolute ratios

Horizontal analysis

Vertical analysis

Difference ratios

Relative ratios

Activity Ratios

Debt Ratios

Liquidity Ratios

Market Value Ratios (capital market)

Profitability Ratios

Set of interrelated ratios - e.g. Balanced ScoreCard (BSC)

Basic financial statements:

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow

Income Statement

Analytical techniques used in financial management:

Pareto Principle

PESTLE Analysis

SWOT Analysis

VRIO Analysis

Standards in field of finance:

Accounting Standards

SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act)

Keywords in finance field:

Accounting

Assets

Budget

Costs (Expenditure and Costs)

Capital

Debt

Equity

Expenditure (Expenditure and Costs)

Financial resources, Finance

Financial Result

Liability

Income (Income and Revenue)

Money

Cash

Currency

Exchange rate

Revenue (Income and Revenue)

Related management field:

Inventory Management

Risk Management

Other information and sources (International)

IMA (Institute of Management Accountants)

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