Financial Field

My goal in the financial field is to work as a financial auditor where I will be reviewing all the organization’s financial records, documentation, and the accounting data entries (O’Regan, 2007). Additionally, I will be gathering information from the organization’s financial reports, outstanding account balances, cash flow and income statements, and internal and external financial control of the enterprise (O’Regan, 2007). The purpose of this position in the financial field is to provide light to the shareholders concerning the progress and state of the organization financial statements. Also, I will be providing an independent opinion regarding the truth and fairness of the organization’s financial report (Aydin, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to illustrate my responsibilities as a financial auditor in a given organization and show the leadership and management practices that will support my planning and audit performance as well as decision making concerning the financial status.;

Management practices;

As a financial auditor, management concepts are key tools for effective financial management. The management practices and concepts enable smooth financial auditing. Especially in the internal financial auditing, one needs to use management concepts for a good outcome. Some of the management concepts to apply in financial auditing include leading by example, the Perp walk concept, positive reinforcement, and being flawlessly consistent (Van, 2008). With these practices in the financial management, everything will be as expected.;

Leading by example is the first management practice that enables financial auditors to obtain financial statements that are clear and presentable to the stakeholders and other external auditors (Van, 2008). Through the concept of leading by example, one is expected to use the organization’s accountants and other staffs as key contributors to your success in financial auditing and budgeting. As the financial auditor, I will not expect my support staff to perform my tasks just because am their boss. Another management example is giving shifts whereby I should allocate myself some extra duties to show my commitment to the organization. In the financial auditing, there are expectations that not all times when every financial report will be accurate and on such occasions, one should not show their personal dissatisfaction to the staffs. Being always positive is one of the skills of leading by example.

  The next concept or practice in the management of financial reports is by providing positive reinforcement to organizations staffs. Through positive reinforcement, the organization’s financial managers are the core sources of financial records. For every successful financial audit, one should thank the financial managers. Again, the reason for using this concept is because the same way someone is punished for underperforming should be the same way one should be complemented for good performance. An example of complementing the positive impression from the financial managers in the organization is by giving incentives or promotion in the job ladder. Positive reinforcement is one of the tools that serve the purpose of positive motivation in the organization. Financial shortcoming like capital mismanagement is observed in the cases of increased irresponsibility. Rudy Giuliani developed the Perp walk concept (Wringe, 2016). This practice was applied where troublesome employees are publicly fired by their boss for their wrong doings. Public firing of some employees in the organization sometimes creates a humiliation to other workers but is also a way of creating awareness of responsibilities. The firing of employees is a negative motivation although, with financial issues, some are very sensitive. As a financial auditor decision making whether to retain or fire troublesome employees in the organizations is sometimes a challenge. Positive reinforcement practices will, therefore, provide an easy approach to motivating the staffs and financial managers in the organization to ensure proper financial data is available without any shortcomings.;

The third concept to employ in the organization is through flawless consistency in your set goals, objectives, and vision of the organization (Van, 2008). As the financial auditor of the organization, one should be flawlessly consistent in the rules and policies of the organization. Management skills don’t allow the most senior personnel to break the rules just because there is nobody to sermon them. Keeping the rules of the organization is the most important thing that one should embrace. Rules should be final, and nobody should be exceptional. Financial managers are obligated to keep a good financial record of the organization and therefore stepping out of this obligation should be punishable. One of the shortcomings that face this practice is selectivity. As a financial auditor, you should not select best friends who you will tolerate their poor performances and punish the rest. The other consistency will be applied to the set goals and vision of the organization. Regular communication of financial goals, objectives and vision of the organization is a practice to keep the staffs aware. Flawless consistency is, therefore, an effective management concept that will enable successful financial auditing in the organization (Van, 2008). 

Leadership practices

Being a financial auditor in the organization, it is a position where leadership practices are essential for a successful outcome of the organization. One of the leadership practices is modeling the way for other workers (Fernando, 2016). Financial management involves different categories of staffs ranging from accountants to financial managers of the organization. As the financial auditor, it is my obligation to model the way for the rest of the staffs by doing what is right. An example of this practice is not accepting fixed financial statements from the managers just for the sake of keeping a good reputation of the organization. Truth and fairness to stakeholders should be maintained. Another leadership practice in the organization is through the inspiration of the shared vision (Fernando, 2016). Through the vision, the staffs are given what they should work towards achieving. The shared vision serves as the self-motivating tool to the staffs and in this case the accountants and the finance managers. An example of this leadership practice is through open communication of the organization’s vision to the staffs and additionally elaborating what the vision entails. Inspiration and motivation work alongside each other. Additionally, through inspiration, one can enable others to act in their positions with freedom to perform autonomously.;

The third leadership practice is through encouraging the heart of others (Fernando, 2016). The above practice entails recognition of the contributions of others and celebrating the victories of the organization together. Teamwork is the key to a successful leadership whereby some achievements are possible through team cooperation (Fernando, 2016). An example of team cooperation in financial management is budgeting where all financial management staffs are involved. Through embracing their effort in cooperating for a successful budget, the organization will succeed in having a positive financial statement.;

Comparison;

The management and leadership practices in financial management share a common interest which is a positive financial statement. Both practices have also focused on having acceptable practices in financial management. When considering the vision, objective, and mission communication in both practices, they have a similar role. Again both leadership and management practices have concentrated on having cooperation in the financial management chain. The only contrasting practice when comparing leadership and management practices is that in management practices there is more of maintaining the success of the organization through disciplining of the troublesome staffs whereas the leadership practices have focused on teamwork. One of the management practices which is positive reinforcement, it has proposed the step to fire poor performance, but in the leadership practices, inspiration and teamwork are the practices put forward to ensure a successful outcome of the organization.;

Conclusion

As a financial auditor, it is a critical position of an organization, especially when considering the collapsing organization. Financial management is the core unit of organization management whereby a slight mistake can cost the whole organization to collapse. Through the management practices of the organization financial statements and budgeting, there is a possibility that the organization will have a positive result. One of the management practices which is leading by example has an effective contribution towards achieving a positive financial statement. A counter practice from the leadership practices which is modeling the way also contributes towards financial management success. Both leadership and management practices have share common goals and objectives to keep a positive progress of any organization’s or a company’s financial statement. Leadership and management practices also share a common platform in decision making regarding the right actions to take when encountered with different financial issues. The goal of a financial auditor to an organization will, therefore, apply both leadership and management practices to have a successful practice as a financial auditor. Through the application of both practices, the goal of having a smooth financial record is possible.

References

Aydin, A. D. (January 01, 2014). Role of Accounting and Audit in the Recent Financial Crisis.

Fernando, M. (January 01, 2016). Responsible Leadership in Practice.

O’Regan, P. (2007). Financial information analysis. Chichester [England: J. Wiley.

Van, W. H. A. (September 01, 2008). Perspectives of effective financial management in the 

public sector. Journal of Public Administration, 39, 3, 411-420.

Wringe, B. (January 01, 2016). Perp Walks as Punishment.