The Advanced ACCA Financial Management course covers several functions such as acquisition and mergers, corporate reconstruction and reorganisation, treasury and advanced risk management because they are expected to be in high demand over the next decade. 

The reason for the evolving, high demand for this function is because financial management is one of the core skills needed to maintain the financial health of an organisation. But even more critical than the rosy career outlook and the plump compensation it fetches, advanced ACCA financial management is a field that provides a good variety of professional challenges, continuous learning and personal fulfilment. 

To be able to utilise this growing demand, one needs good skills. One way to keep your financial management skills sharp and current is to gain experience and continuously handle new work but this will usually take a longer time to accomplish. 

The other way is to take up-to-date, relevant ACCA courses in Financial Management. No wonder many accounting professionals are shifting towards the ACCA’s Advanced Financial Management course for the very same reason!

We will discuss the top 3 core advisory skills needed in advanced ACCA financial management and how they help senior financial managers in multinational corporations create and implement business strategies to enjoy continued success.

Top 3 Core Advisory Skills In Advanced ACCA Financial Management

Monitoring and directing the financial health of an organisation is a complex job. For a business to reach its goals, it needs senior financial managers/ advisors to possess advisory skills in the areas of investment and financing decisions, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate reorganisations as well as treasury and advanced risk management. 

They are interdependent and are critical to maintaining an organisation’s financial health: 

I) There are two fundamental types of financial decisions that the senior financial managers/ advisors need to make in a business – investment and financing. These are equally important in ensuring the organisation stays on solid footing. Normally senior financial managers/ advisors supervise investment and financing activities that will yield the highest returns for the organisation over a desired time period.

II) Although mergers and acquisitions at any given time are seemingly common, successful senior financial managers/ advisors pick the best plan as an alternative growth strategy and stick to it. They also evaluate and advise on alternative corporate reorganisation strategies – M&A need not always be the best option!

III) Within treasury and advanced risk management, the senior financial managers/ advisors assess the types of risk that could exist, the range of possible outcomes, and the impact that these risks may have on an organisation. They then inform the leadership and decide on the metrics and reporting of risk factors, and how to implement policies.

The Role of Senior Financial Managers/ Advisors in Multinationals 

Any organisation, whether it is a local organisation or a multinational corporation, needs a senior financial manager/ advisor to monitor its financial health and help ensure its continued viability. In multinational corporations, the financial managers/ advisors will be assigned to more complex strategic financial management issues. 

This is due to the availability of  a wide variety of financial instruments, products, funding options and investment vehicles. Therefore financial managers/ advisors will need to actively exploit these in order to generate financial gains. 

While an understanding of economic theories and principles is necessary to estimate and model financial decisions, financial accounting and management accounting are equally important in financial management at a multinational level. The advanced ACCA Financial Management will be able to help hone these 2 areas. 

In addition, senior financial managers/ advisors must understand the context of a globalised economy, such as compliance with national regulatory requirements, national limitations on remittances/ transfer pricing and other risk exposures in the different national markets in order to operate within the business environment. 

In conclusion, if you are hoping to progress into a senior financial manager/ advisor role, you will need a more finely tuned advisory skill set, the experience and expertise when it comes to managing finance in an organisation, both domestically and internationally. That is when the advanced ACCA Financial Management comes into play.