Your accounting & finance team

In M&A, the accounting and finance disciplines are key areas to correctly resource to ensure teamwork in a transaction.

Below are 2 key differences between accounting and finance to take into consideration:

1.?????? Focus

Accounting: Primarily concerned with the recording, summarizing, and reporting of financial transactions. It focuses on ensuring accuracy and compliance with regulatory standards.

Finance: Involves the management of assets and liabilities and planning for future growth. Focuses on strategies to increase wealth and manage risk.

2.?????? Time

Accounting: Accountants mostly look back in time. Accounting deals with past financial transactions and events, providing a snapshot of a company’s financial position at a specific point in time.

Finance: Finance professionals mostly look forward in time. Finance involves planning and forecasting future financial performance, investment opportunities, and funding needs.

Accounting is done by accountants, auditors, tax consultants, and controllers whereas finance roles include financial analysts, investment bankers, financial managers, and portfolio managers.

Both know something about the other discipline but in an M&A transaction, be sure to have both skill sets working as a team. Accountants use double-entry bookkeeping methods, accounting systems, and financial statement analysis whereas finance professions use tools like Excel to model forecast future financial statements, undertake risk analysis and complete valuation. Teamwork between these disciplines maximises transaction outcomes.