Joint forum to address the changes and challenges in corporate finance

By SCMP EDITOR| May 21, 2014 (Education Post)

In today's complex business world, the changes in corporate finance in various operations remain a constant challenge for management accountants and the companies they work for.

"Life is not always as it says on the menu, so finance professionals need to use the tools available to enable them to penetrate deeper to arrive at possible outcomes"

The topic recently came under the spotlight during a joint forum organised by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Heriot-Watt Edinburgh Business School in Scotland, and the Hong Kong University School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKUSPACE). Participants heard that increasing expectations of the finance function create challenges, but also offer opportunities for finance professionals to provide valuable insights to support business decision making.

Already the world's largest professional body of management accountants, with 218,000 members and students in 177 countries, CIMA membership is on the rise in Hong Kong and mainland China. Equipped with a wide variety of skills, CIMA members are highly employable and their role within any organisation puts them at the heart of the business. According to CIMA, the role has evolved from transactional accounting and financial reporting to include broader responsibilities and, in Hong Kong, corporate financial re-engineering is a particularly “hot” topic, as well as an important discipline in the execution of corporate strategies. 

Focusing on “Change Management at Work”, guest presenter Dr Douglas McCulloch, senior teaching fellow in economics at Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-WattUniversity said finance professionals need an all-round approach. "Life is not always as it says on the menu, so finance professionals need to use the tools available to enable them to penetrate deeper to arrive at possible outcomes," he said. He also explained how opportunity cost - the process of evaluating the impact different strategies can have on goals, outcomes and efficacy - play a crucial role in financial re-engineering. "Opportunity cost is always going to be a means of defining the choices facing anorganisation," McCulloch said, adding that the concept has an impact on sustainability, accountability and economic development.

Patrick Yeung, founder and executive chairman of Asian Capital Holdings, a specialist corporate finance firm listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), stressed the importance of the work finance professionals do in helping their companies to manage with the resources available. Citing his own company as an example, he said it operates with "lean" corporate financial management and is structured to avoid any gearing or borrowing.

"Just like any small business, we keep a close watch on our finances and operate according to the resources we have," said Yeung, a past president of CIMA and professional management accountant with over 25 years’ experience. This includes corporate advisory, M&As, fund raising, debt restructuring and resumption of trading for listed companies. After listing, Yeung’s firm faced certain unavoidable expenditure such as compliance costs. However, by building a strong culture of corporate governance and compliance, these costs could be managed effectively. He added that management accountants need the tools and ability to work with other teams to ensure that resources are efficiently deployed in the best interests of all stakeholders.

In addition to strong accounting fundamentals, the CIMA qualification teaches strategic business and management skills. These include analysing information, identifying and managing risk, and communicating financial information to non-financial managers. Members and students are required to comply with the CIMA code of ethics and adopt the fundamental principles in their work. As companies look to do more with less, theCIMA exam has been structured to provide the most relevant finance qualification to help manage the future of a business.

As a committed provider of financial programmes, HKU SPACE offers a 36-hour examination preparatory course for the CIMA Masters Gateway Assessment / CIMAProfessional Gateway Assessment. The course is part-time and taught on weekday evenings and at weekends. Subjects include cost planning and analysis for competitive advantages, preparing consolidated statements, and tools and techniques for project management. Those successfully completing the assessment are awarded the CIMAadvanced diploma in management accounting and are granted exemption from 11 papers for the CIMA professional exams. Offered by the University of Hull, in collaboration with HKU SPACE, a two-year part-time MSc in accounting and finance is also accredited by CIMA.

Professor C F Lee, director of HKU SPACE, emphasised the importance of supporting Hong Kong business by offering a wide range of high- quality programmes. "We strive to provide a good study platform which is conducive to business knowledge enhancement and professional qualification development," said Lee.

Since September 2012, HKU SPACE has provided intensive MBA examination preparatory courses for Edinburgh Business School students. These are in English or Chinese for all seven compulsory courses. Widely recognised for its flexibility, which is designed to meet the needs of busy working professionals, the EBS MBA offers part-time students the chance to work at their own pace, in their own time, while receiving full on-campus and online academic support. More than 40 per cent of Fortune 500 companies currently have employees enrolled in the EBS distance learning MBAprogramme.