General Description
A corporate finance person manages the financial aspects of a company. The corporate finance person is a problem solver, focusing on ways to create value. Financial aspects of a firm to be managed include capital budgeting, cash management, capital structure, investor relations, working capital management, foreign exchange, dividend policy, financial planning, and risk management. The bigger the firm, the more specialized the duties a person would have.
Daily activities vary considerably over time and special projects (e.g., comparing the benefits of alternative new store sites) are common. Quarter and year end can be very busy times. Some days will largely be spent gathering and analyzing information, often times as part of a team. The larger the company, the more you would work as part of a team. Extensive communication with internal customers is required, increasing over time.
Entry level employees typically use computer applications like Excel a lot. Other commonly used computer applications include PowerPoint, Tableau and big data tools such as Python.
Some common job titles are financial analyst, budget analyst, and business analyst.
Internal audit of risk and operational processes is closely related to corporate finance.
Medium size to very large companies will have a few to well over a hundred people working in corporate finance.
Suggested Elective Courses
- Financial Decision Making and Statement Analysis – FIN4660
- International Business Finance – FIN4750
- Intermediate Accounting I – ACC3100
- Intermediate Accounting II – ACC3110
- Cost Accounting – ACC3200
- FinTech/InsureTech – FIN 4850
Additional Courses of Interest (not as critical as above)
- Principles of Risk Management & Insurance - FIN 3100
- Derivatives – FIN4770
- International Business Transactions – FIN3350
- Commercial Bank Management – FIN4610
- Investment Management I & II – FIN4620, FIN4622