Finance/Accounting wtf (1 Viewer)

[turtleface]

This is something I've grown to accept, but I find a lot of people I talk to haven't got used to the idea.

Now what am I on about this time? I've alluded to it in the past

For instance, take a look at this link to get an idea of what I mean:

Qantas Graduate Recruitment:
http://www.qantas.com.au/info/about/employment/graduate
>>CLICK ON "FINANCE" and read the information carefully

Note that the Graduate Position is for grads going into "Finance" and read on...

Now this is not isolated to Qantas, most companies call it "Finance", and the head accountants of these depts are Finance Directors/CFOs as we've said in the past. I was just wondering, does anyone know why the corporate world call it "Finance"???

 

[jpr333]

This was discussed in management accounting b, most firms are calling management accounting positions financial advisors etc these days. I think it's just the industry norm.

 

[seremify007]

I can't help but think... what else would you call them? After all, finance relates to money.

 

[AppleXY]

Yea.. Finance is basically is other word for money; people are so used to thinking finance is relating to Investment banking and Global Markets

 

[turtleface]

yeah i think finance in the business world is often used in the general "money" sense

 

[seremify007]

I think only the Finance major "elitists" really care (or get annoyed) at this usage of their word... but too bad for them.

 

[Minai]

The client I'm working at now (Westfield), all their accountants work on a floor that's named "Finance Operations"

 

[Conspirocy]

I think only the Finance major "elitists" really care (or get annoyed) at this usage of their word... but too bad for them.

last time i checked the area where accountants worked was called finance well before people in investment banking even existed. nothing to back this up with, just common sense that accounting came before investment banking in a strict sense.

as for why what accountants do is called finance, i'd suggest that maybe because the finance department would directly deal with, financial accounting requirements. hence the name 'finance'. I'd even go so far as to say most people in trade or commerce (remember small/medium business's makes up the bulk of the economy) would see their accountant for financial decisions, before they go to an investment bank...

 

[turtleface]

lol the other day in Finance tute, some guy was like "oh i want to be a financial controller."

He also said he hated accounting and loved finance, so he dropped accounting

lol

too bad all financial controllers are accountants

 

[seremify007]

LOL @ turtleface.

With regards to the topic, I also don't really know... I mean, I've always accepted that finance involved accounting, and that the two were connected. 'Finance' in terms of IB, always came second- because I usually associate 'IB' with the whole investing side of things. Finance seems a bit broader.