Some of the most important lessons in finance come from an uncomfortable workplace reality.
An accountant may reconcile the bank account to the last cent, maintain complete invoice records and organise every receipt properly. Yet when the business owner asks:
- Why have sales increased while profit has declined?
- Why does the profit and loss statement show a profit while the bank account is nearly empty?
- Why is cash flow becoming tighter as the company grows?
the finance department may suddenly become as quiet as the LHDN hotline on a Friday afternoon.
The real problem may not be that the accountant cannot prepare the accounts. It may be that the accountant is so focused on preparing the accounts that the underlying business is no longer being analysed.
An accountant may know where every ringgit was spent, but not recognise which expenditure should never have been incurred.
An accountant may be able to explain last year’s accounts clearly, but still fail to warn management where the business may lose money next year.
Business owners do not need their finance teams merely to balance debits and credits. They also need them to identify:
- Where costs are out of control;
- Where profits are being lost;
- Where cash is tied up; and
- Where there is room for improvement.
From Recording Transactions to Creating Business Value
A bookkeeper records what has happened.
An accountant explains why it happened.
A finance leader who creates real business value goes one step further by helping management decide what should happen next.
Preparing balanced accounts is a fundamental skill. Understanding where the company is losing money is what turns financial information into a management tool.
It is also what enables finance professionals to contribute more meaningfully to business decisions, operational improvements and long-term growth.
A balanced set of accounts is the foundation. The ability to identify where the business is losing money is what creates greater professional value.
Without continuous development, someone may spend 20 years in accounting simply repeating the work of their first year 20 times.
CCS | Beyond Numbers
账做平了，老板的钱却不见了？
有些职场现实，虽然令人扎心，却值得认真思考。
有些会计师能够把银行调节表对到最后一分钱，发票一张不漏，收据一张不缺。但当老板问：
- 为什么销售额增加了，利润反而减少？
- 为什么损益表显示公司赚钱，银行账户却快要见底？
- 为什么公司越做越大，现金流却越来越紧？
财务部却突然安静得像星期五下午的 LHDN Hotline。
真正的问题，可能不是会计师不会做账，而是太专注于做账，却忘了看生意本身。
你知道每一分钱花在哪里，却未必看得出哪一分钱根本不应该花。
你能够把去年的账解释得清清楚楚，却未必能够提醒老板明年可能在哪些地方亏钱。
老板聘请会计师，不只是要你把借方和贷方做平。他更希望你能够看出：
- 哪些成本已经失控；
- 哪些利润正在流失；
- 哪些资金被占用或卡住；以及
- 哪些地方仍有改善空间。
从记录交易到创造商业价值
Bookkeeper 记录已经发生的事情。
Accountant 解释事情为什么会发生。
真正能够创造商业价值的 Finance Leader，则会进一步帮助管理层决定接下来应该怎么做。
把账做平，是会计工作的基本功。看得出公司在哪里漏钱，才是把财务资料转化为管理工具的关键。
这也让财务专业人士能够更有效地参与商业决策、营运改善及企业的长期发展。
账目平衡是基础；能够找出企业在哪里漏钱，才是更高层次的专业价值。
否则，做了 20 年会计，可能只是把第一年的工作重复了 20 次。
CCS | Beyond Numbers
