In the practice of my profession, my fortes are
Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Management Services,
Accounting Administration, etc. These are disciplines that focus on the
financial management of an organization, one organization at a time,
and does not delve into analyzing entire industries.
In my experience, most people do not realize that Finance is a vast universe, and just like Medicine it has many specializations. When people seek the help of a medical doctor, they know right away that there is a specialization for each ailment, and therefore they seek right away the appropriate specialist.
But in the case of Finance, once you introduce yourself as a Finance Professional, people usually think you know everything and therefore they can ask you anything, from Job Order Costing to Foreign Exchange Management, from Constructive Accounting to Hedging, etc. Even External Audit is quite different from Internal Audit, but most people think Audit is just Audit and that's it.
The funny thing is, many Finance professionals are themselves not aware of -- or refuse to accept -- the forgoing truth and reality. Some of them are even so unenlightened that they quite obviously believe that whatever field of Finance they happen to specialize in is actually that only field that deserves to be referred to as "Finance."
This lack of awareness among Finance Professionals, and/or their lack of willingness to acknowledge the truth, plus the similar lack of awareness among their clients, is perhaps one of the causes of the current dismal state of the global economy. Just imagine a medical hospital where specializations are not clearly identified, and most of the doctors do not honestly acknowledge their limitations and are free and trusted to deal with just about any physical ailment. What would you think is going to happen?
Whenever you seek the help of a medical doctor, you will notice that he or she will readily refer you to another doctor if necessary. But if you seek the help of a Finance consultant, in most cases you will notice that he or she will have an answer for just about anything, and will hardly ever refer you to another Finance expert -- unless that other Finance expert is somehow under his or her control and will not "steal" you as a client.
In my experience, most people do not realize that Finance is a vast universe, and just like Medicine it has many specializations. When people seek the help of a medical doctor, they know right away that there is a specialization for each ailment, and therefore they seek right away the appropriate specialist.
But in the case of Finance, once you introduce yourself as a Finance Professional, people usually think you know everything and therefore they can ask you anything, from Job Order Costing to Foreign Exchange Management, from Constructive Accounting to Hedging, etc. Even External Audit is quite different from Internal Audit, but most people think Audit is just Audit and that's it.
The funny thing is, many Finance professionals are themselves not aware of -- or refuse to accept -- the forgoing truth and reality. Some of them are even so unenlightened that they quite obviously believe that whatever field of Finance they happen to specialize in is actually that only field that deserves to be referred to as "Finance."
This lack of awareness among Finance Professionals, and/or their lack of willingness to acknowledge the truth, plus the similar lack of awareness among their clients, is perhaps one of the causes of the current dismal state of the global economy. Just imagine a medical hospital where specializations are not clearly identified, and most of the doctors do not honestly acknowledge their limitations and are free and trusted to deal with just about any physical ailment. What would you think is going to happen?
Whenever you seek the help of a medical doctor, you will notice that he or she will readily refer you to another doctor if necessary. But if you seek the help of a Finance consultant, in most cases you will notice that he or she will have an answer for just about anything, and will hardly ever refer you to another Finance expert -- unless that other Finance expert is somehow under his or her control and will not "steal" you as a client.
