Michael Taillard

Everything that makes up a corporation and everything a corporation owns, including the building, equipment, office supplies, brand value, research, land, trademarks, and everything else, are considered assets. Believe it or not, when you start a corporation, that company’s assets aren’t just included in a Welcome Letter; you have to go out and acquire them.

Corporate finance is the study of how groups of people work together as a single organization to provide something of value to society. It’s the job of those in corporate finance to manage the organization so that resources are efficiently utilized, the most valuable projects are pursued, the corporation can remain competitive, and everyone gets to keep their job.

Corporate finance is the study of relationships between groups of people that quantifies the otherwise immeasurable. Take a look at the role of money in the world to understand how this definition makes any sense at all. According to Adam Smith, an 18th century economist, the use of money was preceded by a barter system.

You've decided that a career in corporate finance is absolutely your life's calling, so what do you do next? You need to bone-up on some essential mathematical and computer skills that not everyone warns you about when you first begin your journey into corporate finance. Whether you're pursuing your college degree or a professional certification, these skills tend to be sorely neglected, leaving many completely unprepared for the workplace.

Corporate finance jobs aren’t just about crunching numbers all day in a hidden corner of a corporation’s financial department. A variety of employment opportunities are available within the corporate finance function, including the following: Entry-level positions: The entry-level positions in corporate finance are typically the same as the ones you see in accounting: Payroll: The people who make sure you (and the rest of your company) get paid Accounts receivables: The people who process incoming payments and money owed Accounts payables: The people who process outgoing payments and money owed to others Bookkeeping clerks and other forms of paperwork processing: People who work on data entry; think Charles Dickens’ character Bob Cratchit from A Christmas Carol Analysts: These people get to do a whole lot of research and analysis to derive useful information from data or otherwise yet unstudied scenarios.

Corporate finance plays a very interesting role in all societies. Finance is the study of relationships between people: how they distribute themselves and their resources, place value on things, and exchange that value among each other. Because that’s the case, finance (all finance) is really the science of decision-making.

Determining how financially successful a corporation is actually provides a lot more information about the corporation than simply how well it manages money. Financial performance analyses are the way we pick apart, quantify, and measure every aspect of the success of the corporation. Because the ultimate goal of a corporation is to generate value for its shareholders (in other words, to make money), every aspect of the corporation’s activities is assessed in financial terms.