home Convectors The financial structure of an enterprise is the basis of budgeting. Financial structure Financial structure of a modern enterprise

The financial structure of an enterprise is the basis of budgeting. Financial structure Financial structure of a modern enterprise

If the company has a pressing need to streamline management processes and create a coherent system of planning and control, then we are talking about setting up a system of management accounting and budgeting. The foundation of this system is the financial structure.

What is the financial structure?

The financial structure is a hierarchical system of financial responsibility centers. It determines the procedure for generating financial results and the distribution of responsibility for achieving the overall result of the company. Financial structuring allows you to conduct internal accounting policy, track the movement of resources within the company and evaluate the effectiveness of the business as a whole and its components. In other words, the presence of a financial structure allows the company’s management to see who is responsible for what, allows them to evaluate, control and coordinate the activities of departments, and helps to develop an effective system of employee motivation.

The main types of financial responsibility centers are presented in Table 1. The key distinguishing feature of financial responsibility centers is the target indicators towards which their activities are focused.

Table 1. Main types of financial responsibility centers.

Central Federal District	Target performance indicators of the Central Federal District	May include the following types of digital financial institutions	May be included in the following types of digital financial institutions
Revenue Center	Income received from the activities of the Central Federal District	Revenue Center	Profit center
Profit center	Profit received from the activities of the Central Federal District	Revenue Center Standard Cost Center Cost center Profit center	Profit center Investment Center
Standard Cost Center	Central Federal District costs per unit of product or service	Standard Cost Center	Standard Cost Center Profit center
Cost center	Costs of the Central Federal District	Standard Cost Center Cost center	Profit center Cost center
Investment Center	Return on investment ROI	Revenue Center Cost center Profit center Investment Center	Investment Center

As shown in Table 1, financial responsibility centers at different levels form a hierarchy in which, for example, a profit center may include revenue centers, cost centers of both types, as well as other profit centers. In turn, the profit center can be included in the investment center and other profit centers as a subordinate to the Central Federal District.

How is financial structure different from organizational structure?

Let us list the main differences between financial and organizational structures.

The financial structure is built on the basis of economic and financial relations between the centers of responsibility. Organizational structure - based on the functional specialization of the organization's divisions. Therefore, for example, costs of a certain type are grouped at a cost center, and functions the implementation of which requires certain professional knowledge and skills are grouped in a division of the organizational structure.
The financial structure reflects the hierarchy of responsibility for achieving target financial indicators. Organizational structure - hierarchy of subordination.
When building an organizational structure, “political” compromises and the influence of personal factors are possible. When building a financial structure, only business realities are taken into account.

Due to these features, financial and organizational structures do not coincide. If the discrepancy between them is large, then serious management problems arise, since the picture of the business that is formed by management accounting based on the financial structure does not coincide with the structure of enterprise management based on the organizational structure. It's like driving a car with distorted viewing mirrors and confused controls: we change gear, but the windshield wipers turn on. In order for the enterprise management system to be adequate for the business, it is necessary to bring the organizational structure, as far as possible, into line with the financial structure.

Main tasks of developing a financial structure

Developing a financial structure requires deep knowledge of the business and a willingness to look at the company with open eyes. How to form financial structure?

Determine your business structure.
Highlight key processes.
Define boundaries investment activities.
Identify assets.
Determine your profit structure.
Define departmental relationships.
Identify key management connections.

Let's take a closer look at each of these provisions.

Determine your business structure

The first step to forming a financial structure is to determine the structure of the business. Often a company combines several lines of business that use common resources and are barely distinguishable in the organizational structure. To highlight business areas, it is necessary to consider the company's customer base, products and services. Here characteristic features various business areas:

Different product groups are sold to different customer groups;
The company has different competitors for different product groups;
Fundamentally different technologies and resources are used to produce different groups of products or services.

The presence of these signs indicates that the company operates in not one, but two or more target markets, in which there are different target customer groups and different competitive conditions.

Often new businesses in a company arise unnoticed by management, and only as a result of analysis this situation becomes obvious. Thus, one enterprise producing transformer substations began to provide its customers with services for installing and connecting these substations. The emergence of this service entailed the creation of divisions for design, management construction work, maintenance and operation of construction equipment. The development of this service has led to the fact that complex projects for the construction of turnkey substations have become an independent product, more profitable than the traditional products of the enterprise. Realizing what it is new business, it didn’t come right away. In Fig. Figure 1 shows the top level of the financial structure of this company.

Rice. 1. Financial structure of a company conducting two lines of business

Thus, first of all, it is necessary to divide the centers of responsibility by business area, guided by the following principle: “different areas of business correspond to different centers of responsibility.”

Highlight key processes

At the next step of building a financial structure, it is necessary to analyze the structure of processes for each line of business. This is not about a detailed study and description of the company's processes. It is enough to highlight the top-level processes to clarify the structure of the company’s activities and link responsibility centers with key processes. As a basic model for analysis, it is convenient to consider the “value chain” created by the company for the client, as well as auxiliary groups of processes that ensure the functioning of the “value chain”. An example of the key processes of a software development company is shown in Fig. 2.

Consideration of the process diagram allows you to determine how the financial results V this business and what are the main areas of investment for its development. On this basis, the main elements of the financial structure of the business line under consideration are formed. It must be emphasized that if a company is engaged in several areas of business, then each of them must be considered in the same way.

Rice. 2. An example of highlighting key company processes

Main processes included in the “value chain”

In the example under consideration, the centers of responsibility for groups of processes that create value for the consumer are clearly visible:

Purchase of components used to manufacture the product (CDs, program protection keys, packaging).
Production and packaging of the product.
Promotion of the product on the market (informing potential consumers about the capabilities of the product).
Selling a product.
Technical support for users.

Processes serving the core activities include the work of the legal department, accounting, maintaining the company’s own IT infrastructure, business support, etc. The main “value chain” also does not include company management processes. Development processes occupy a special place software. They relate to the company's investment activities, since the creation of new products is aimed at business development.

It is important that the financial structure reflects this business model and becomes the basis for setting up clearly structured management accounting and building a budget model. The financial structure corresponding to these processes is presented in Fig. 3. As can be seen in the diagram, the financial responsibility centers “Sales” and “Services” are responsible for income from the sale of products and technical support services, respectively. The central financial departments “Production”, “Purchasing” and “Promotion” are responsible for the costs of the processes under their control. The results of the listed centers of financial responsibility form the overall result of the activities of the Central Federal District "Production and Sale", which is a profit center.

Rice. 3. An example of the financial structure of a software company

The profit of this Central Federal District is an indicator of the entire production and commercial activities companies. Net profit of the company is formed taking into account the costs of the CFO “Service” and “Management”. The costs of the Central Federal Federal District “Software Development” do not affect profits, since the development budget for software products is financed not from the company’s current income, but from profits received or external investments.

Thus, considering a properly constructed financial structure, it is not difficult to “read” the company’s key processes and clearly see the business logic.

Define the boundaries of investment activities

The question of which processes are classified as investment activities, upon closer examination, turns out to be far from simple. His decision has a direct impact on the financial structure. So, in the example discussed above, delving into the essence of the software product development processes, we will see that the activities of developers have two directions:

development of new products;
support of previously created and distributed products on the market.

The first direction, of course, relates to investment activities, while the second is related to the maintenance of an asset that the company already has - a previously created software product. The processes of maintaining a software product include correcting errors in the program code identified during the operation of the program, introducing small improvements at the request of users, and finalizing documentation. This work can take up 40-60% of the development department's resources. Therefore, deciding what type of activity we attribute the costs of these resources to - investing or operating - will significantly affect the company’s profit margin. If the processes of development and maintenance of software products are clearly demarcated, then the best solution would be to present them with different centers of responsibility, as shown in Fig. 4. It is useful to note that this example demonstrates, in particular, the difference between the organizational and financial structures of a company. Thus, the software development department is represented by two financial responsibility centers located on different “branches” of the financial structure.

In practice, however, the processes of developing and maintaining software products are closely intertwined, and it is not possible to ensure their separate accounting. Therefore, you have to make one of the following decisions:

All activities of the development department should be assigned to the Central Federal District “Software Maintenance”. This is acceptable if the company primarily distributes previously developed software products and does not invest significant funds in new developments.
All activities of the development department should be attributed to the Central Federal District “Software Development”, that is, to investment activities. This assumption is possible if the company carries out a large amount of development.
Divide between two central federal districts those resources that can be clearly attributed to them, and distribute the rest on the basis expert assessment. In this case, employees engaged only in product support will be included in the “Support” CFO, and developers of new products will be included in the “Software Development” CFO. Those who are engaged in two processes will be “divided” between two CFDs in accordance with the assessment of their employment in these processes.

Rice. 4. An example of delineation in the financial structure of responsibility for the development and maintenance of software products

It must be emphasized that such a division into the Central Federal District does not necessarily mean a change in the organizational structure. In this case, it is not people who are divided, but the resources of their working time and the corresponding costs. At the same time, the correct delineation of processes necessary for building the correct financial structure and the formation on its basis of adequate management accounting will stimulate company managers to optimize processes and organizational structure.

Define Assets

Assets are a company's long-term renewable resources. They are created during investment activities and “work” for a long time in business, ensuring profit. Why is it important to record assets in a financial structure? Because assets always raise important decision-making questions:

How much did we invest in creating the asset?
How much does it cost us to maintain the asset?
What is the return on the asset?

Which resources are classified as assets is a question whose solution largely depends on the views of the company’s managers on the business, their strategy and management style.

Let's first consider a traditional type of asset - income-generating real estate - using the example of a development company that owns a business center building. This company operates in two business areas:

construction of objects for sale (hotels, business centers, shopping and entertainment complexes);
provision of offices for rent in the building of its own business center.

The upper level of the financial structure reflecting these areas of business is presented in Fig. 5.

Rice. 5. Financial structure of the development company. First option.

With such a financial structure, is it possible to answer shareholders’ questions “without hesitation” about how much the “business center” asset they own is worth, what are the costs of its maintenance and what is the return on the capital invested in it? Obviously not.

The asset is not visible at all in this structure. It is “on the balance sheet” of the Central Federal Financial District “Real Estate Rental Services”, although in fact it is the property of the company’s owners, transferred to the management of this business unit. Thus, this structure does not reflect real ownership relations and does not answer key questions regarding the efficiency of asset use.

Let us now consider a clearer diagram presented in Fig. 6.

Rice. 6. Financial structure of the development company. Second option.

In this version of the financial structure, the profit center “Assets” appeared. Business center". It includes the cost of operating the building, depreciation of the asset, and property taxes. The income of the Central Federal District is generated from fees for the use of the asset received from the Central Federal District “Real Estate Rental Services”. This responsibility center acquires the right to use the building at a “wholesale price” (it is advisable to tie it to the market price), and sells it at retail to clients it finds on the market. He is also responsible for providing a range of services to tenants. This structure clearly clarifies the relationships of all parties interested in this business and makes the corresponding financial flows explicit. In this case, you can directly determine the profit that assets bring, as well as the return on investment in assets. In addition, the added value that the Real Estate Rental Services Center creates through its ability to attract clients and provide them with quality services becomes transparent.

Assets can include not only material objects, but also intangible business resources, such as a brand, information systems, and intellectual capital. Their inclusion in the financial structure only makes sense if these resources are actually managed as assets. The key difference between approaches to resource and asset management was noted by P. Drucker: “Resource costs need to be reduced, and investments in assets need to be increased.” I will add that, of course, you need to evaluate the return on investment.

Determine your profit structure

Profit is a universal indicator of the performance of a company and its individual divisions. Approaches to determining profit and ways of structuring it influence the formation of the financial structure. Consider, for example, a bakery that is part of a grain holding company. The holding centralizes the functions of product sales and procurement of basic raw materials. The holding's management evaluates the plant's activities based on profit indicators. In this case, several stages of profit formation are distinguished, as shown in Fig. 7.

Rice. 7. Profit structure of the bakery

Marginal profit serves as an indicator of the efficiency of the main production processes. When calculating it, conditionally variable costs are taken into account, consisting mainly of piecework wages and the cost of raw materials.

Production profit characterizes production activities as a whole. It takes into account semi-fixed costs for wages of production personnel, maintenance production premises, maintenance of production equipment, etc.

Controlled contribution to profit- this is the financial result of the bakery. When calculating it, all expenses controlled by the plant management are taken into account. In addition to those listed above, this includes the costs of maintaining the management apparatus and economic support.

Gross profit is determined taking into account the share of the holding’s expenses that is assigned by senior management to this business unit. These are maintenance costs management company holding, distributed between profit centers according to established rules.

Net profit is formed after deducting income tax and interest on loans from gross profit.

So, each stage of profit generation is associated with a certain group of costs. It is necessary to distribute responsibility for various groups of costs between financial responsibility centers - this will allow one to gain an understanding of the effectiveness of all main production processes and manage them. In Fig. Figure 8 shows the financial structure of the bakery that provides this opportunity.

Rice. 8. Financial structure of the bakery

Here, responsibility for different kinds costs that determine certain stages of profit formation. A clear diagram of the division of responsibility for cost groups is presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Division of responsibility for cost groups.

		Variable costs	Fixed costs	Indirect internal	Indirect external	Taxes and interest
Central Federal District "Production"	Central Federal District "Workshop 1"
	Central Federal District "Workshop 2"
	CFO "Production Management"
CFO "Production support"	Central Federal District "Warehouse"
	CFO "OTK"
	CFO "Technologist Service"

CFO "Household Support"	Central Federal District "Warehouse"
	CFO "OTK"
	CFO "Technologist Service"
	CFO "Chief Engineer Service"
CFO "Plant Management"	Central Federal District "Warehouse"
	CFO "OTK"
	CFO "Technologist Service"
	CFO "Chief Engineer Service"
CFO "Holding Management"

As can be seen in Table 2, the production central federal district “Workshop 1” and the central federal district “Workshop 2” are responsible for costs consisting of piecework wages of workers, the cost of raw materials and materials used in production. Central Federal Financial Institutions “Production Management”, “Warehouse”, “QTC”, etc. are responsible for the costs of salaries of production personnel, maintenance of production premises, maintenance of production equipment, etc. CFO “Holding Management” is responsible for the costs of maintaining the holding management company and taxes.

Define departmental relationships

All company processes are interconnected. The results of one process serve as resources for another. Therefore, it is always possible to identify “suppliers” within the company domestic products or services and the “customers” who use these products or services in their work. If you include these relationships in the economic model, internal profit centers will appear in the financial structure. Such relationship models are called “self-financing” or “internal outsourcing.” They provide the possibility of using economic mechanisms to motivate responsibility centers included in the value chain.

As an example, consider a manufacturing and trading company that has three main divisions: trade, production, and logistics. The company sells primarily its own products. The logistics division ensures the storage of products in the company's warehouses and their delivery to customers. In the simplest case, the financial structure of an enterprise has the form shown in Fig. 9.

Rice. 9. Financial structure of a production and trading company

In accordance with this scheme, the CFO “Sales” is a profit center, the indicator of which is the controlled contribution to profit - the difference between income and costs of implementing sales processes. All other central financial districts are cost centers that influence the formation of the company's profit.

If we take a deeper look at the essence of the relationship between the company's divisions, it becomes clear that the Production Center is a supplier of products to the Sales Center, and the Logistics Center provides storage and delivery services for the latter. In the case of establishing internal tariffs for the products and services of divisions, the Central Federal District “Production” and the Central Federal District “Logistics” become profit centers. It must be emphasized that this is internal profit resulting from the accrual by these financial institutions of income from the sale of their products and services to the “Sales” financial responsibility center. A diagram reflecting these relationships is presented in Fig. 10.

The arrows in the diagram show the sources of income for profit centers. The “Sales” financial department receives income from the sale of products on the market, and the “Production” and “Logistics” financial departments receive income from the “sale” of their products and services to the internal client. It is important to note that in this case, the profit of the CFO “Sales” is formed taking into account the cost of products purchased from the CFO “Production” and the cost of services purchased from the CFO “Logistics”. Thus, the center of financial responsibility “Sales” becomes not indifferent to the cost generated by internal suppliers, since it directly affects the indicators of this central financial center. Working in accordance with this model, the Sales Center will necessarily study the cost structure of internal suppliers, compare their prices with market prices and put pressure on internal prices towards their reduction. This pressure will work to reduce production and logistics costs and increase the efficiency of the company as a whole.

Rice. 10. Financial structure for the internal outsourcing model

Implementing internal outsourcing in a company is a complex task. Establishing customer-supplier relationships between company departments is not limited to developing schemes. But if the decision is made to implement in the company economic methods management, then the internal outsourcing model must be correctly reflected in its financial structure.

Identify key management connections

Control theory defines several types organizational structures: divisional, functional, project, matrix. In practice, they are rarely found “in their pure form”. Each company combines several types of organizational structures. In particular, in the example of a production and trading holding presented above, the basis of management is the divisional structure. The holding includes trade, production and logistics business units with significant independence. Upon closer examination, we will see that the structure of the CFO “Sales” includes several trading companies located in different regions, each of which is a profit center: CFO “Sales A”, CFO “Sales B”, CFO “Sales C”.

At the same time, in addition to the divisional structure, there is a functional component in the company's management system. Let's take an example of how the promotion of a company's products to target markets is organized. At the top level of management, this task is solved by the marketing department of the holding management company. In addition, each trading company has a marketing department that ensures promotion in the regional market. This division has dual subordination. In a divisional structure, it is part of a business unit - a trading company. In the functional structure, it is subordinate to the marketing department of the management company, which determines the goals and objectives of work in the market, approves plans and budgets, and controls their implementation. This dualism should be reflected in the financial structure, since in terms of the functional projection it is necessary to present budgets, generate reports, and “collect” costs.

In the one shown in Fig. 11 financial structure of the Central Federal District “Marketing Department” is included in the hierarchy of financial responsibility centers, the top of which is “Alpha Product”. On the other hand, all CFOs, represented by shaded rectangles according to their functional affiliation, are included in the CFO “Marketing” (indicated by a dotted line), which is not part of the hierarchical structure. This is another projection of the financial structure. In the functional projection, other components can be distinguished, for example, “ Information Technology", "Security", etc.

Rice. 11. Clarified financial structure of a production and trading company

Companies with many similar geographically distributed divisions are characterized by a matrix financial structure. A simplified example of such a structure is shown in Fig. 12, where a company engaged in servicing regional electrical networks.

Rice. 12. Financial structure for the internal outsourcing model

The company includes Electric Network Enterprises (PES), each of which has territorial divisions in its structure - District Electric Networks (RES). All district production units are engaged in the same types of activities: maintenance and Maintenance electrical networks, as well as installation and maintenance of electricity meters. In the functional projection of the financial structure, these areas are presented, respectively, as the CFO “Network Maintenance” and the CFO “Electricity Accounting”. Carrying out work on major renovation is administered by Electric Network Enterprises; there is no RES level here. In the diagram depicting the financial structure of this company, the shaded rectangles indicate the centers of financial responsibility located at the intersection of the territorial and functional projections. For example, the structure of the Central Federal District “PES 1” reads as follows. The structure of the Central Federal District "PES 1" includes the following profit centers (territorial Central Federal District):

CFO "RES 1.1"
CFO "RES 1.2"
CFO "RES 1.3"

On the other hand, the CFO “PES 1” includes the following functional CFOs:

CFO "Management" (cost center)
Central Federal District "Network Maintenance" (profit center)
Central Federal District "Electricity Accounting" (profit center)
Central Federal District "Overhaul" (cost center)

As can be seen from the above examples, a properly constructed financial structure is a reflection of business management processes. To identify all management connections, it is necessary to consider not only the functional and territorial aspects of management, but also to determine the principles of organization project activities, which occupies a significant place in most companies.

In conclusion, I would like to note that developing a financial structure is a creative process in which the entire management team of the company should participate. After all, the goal of the work is not a scheme, but living, working principles of company management. How can you ensure that the financial structure resulting from teamwork is correct? For this it is necessary that every of the top managers outlined to his colleagues the principles of his work and the activities of the units under his jurisdiction, in accordance with the created structure and the principles of its functioning. After hearing and discussing each report, agreement is reached between the company's leaders, it can be argued that they were able to develop the correct, that is, workable, financial structure, which can become the basis for effective teamwork.

The organization of financial activities at an enterprise is influenced by two factors: the organizational and legal form of business and the technical and economic features of the industry (4, p. 125).

The organizational and legal form of business is determined by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Commercial enterprises can be created in the form of economic organizations and societies, production cooperatives, unitary (state and municipal) enterprises. Industry technical and economic features influence the composition and structure of production assets and the duration of the operating cycle. Industry specifics are also associated with the predominance of one or another form of ownership and the peculiarities of accounting policies. There are certain specifics in the organization of financial activities in industry, agriculture, in transport, in trade, etc.

The financial structure is a hierarchical system of financial responsibility centers. It determines the procedure for generating financial results and the distribution of responsibility for achieving the overall result of the company. Financial structuring allows you to maintain internal accounting policies, track the movement of resources within the company and evaluate the effectiveness of the business as a whole and its components. In other words, the presence of a financial structure allows the company’s management to see who is responsible for what, allows them to evaluate, control and coordinate the activities of departments, and helps develop an effective system of motivating employees (4, p. 129.

The main task of developing a financial structure: Developing a financial structure requires in-depth knowledge of the business and a willingness to look at the company with open eyes.

To form a financial structure, it is necessary:

- determine the structure of the business.
- highlight key processes.
- determine the boundaries of investment activity.
- identify assets.
- determine the profit structure.
- determine the relationships between departments.
- identify the main management connections.

How does a financial structure differ from an organizational structure?

Let us list the main differences between the financial and organizational structures (8, p. 29).

a certain type, and in a division of the organizational structure functions are grouped, the implementation of which requires certain professional knowledge and skills.

When building an organizational structure, political compromises and the influence of personal factors are possible. When building a financial structure, only business realities are taken into account.

Due to these features, financial and organizational structures do not coincide. If the discrepancy between them is large, then serious management problems arise, since the picture of the business that is formed by management accounting based on the financial structure does not coincide with the structure of enterprise management based on the organizational structure. It's like driving a car with distorted view mirrors and confused controls: we change gear, but the windshield wipers turn on. In order for the enterprise management system to be adequate to the business, it is necessary to bring the organizational structure, as far as possible, into line with the financial structure.

In conclusion, I would like to note that the development of a financial structure is a creative process in which the entire management team of the company should participate. After all, the goal of the work is not a scheme, but living, working principles of company management. How can you ensure that the financial structure resulting from teamwork is correct? To do this, it is necessary that each of the top managers outline to their colleagues the principles of their work and the activities of the units under their jurisdiction, in accordance with the created structure and the principles of its functioning. After hearing and discussing each report, agreement is reached between the company's leaders, it can be argued that they were able to develop the correct, that is, workable, financial structure, which can become the basis for effective teamwork.

Financial management – is the management of the financial and economic activities of a company based on the use of modern methods. His role in the organization is multifaceted and very important at the present stage.

The main objectives of financial management are:

1) financial and business planning;

2) investment planning;

3) analysis of the effectiveness of mergers and acquisitions of organizations, commercial banks, insurance companies;

4) development of accounting policies for accounting, tax and management accounting;

5) coordination of budget planning and control;

6) cash and working capital management;

7) financial risk management;

8) asset management – formation, control and analysis of compliance with standards for the turnover of current (accounts receivable, inventories, accounts payable) and long-term (fixed assets, intangible assets, long-term financial investments) assets;

9) cost and profit management:

– coordination of the processes of development, approval and adjustment of standards for cost items;

– cost accounting and cost calculation;

– preparation of segment reporting;

– development of measures to optimize the use of resources;

– analysis of pricing and product portfolio management;

10) provision of financial resources:

– managing relationships with potential sources of financing and external investors;

– identification of financing needs;

– conducting transactions to attract financial resources;

11) financial forecasting;

12) internal audit;

13) tax planning and accounting;

14) controlling;

15) promotion of the economic way of thinking:

– development of training programs for company employees in the process of making effective management decisions;

– creation of models and standards for decision making..

The solution to these problems is assigned to various specialists depending on the organizational structure, size of the organization, and the tasks facing it. The functions of a financial manager can be performed by the finance directorate, accounting department, financial director, commercial director, general director, or external specialists. In order for the structure of the financial and economic service (FES) to be optimal, it is recommended to discuss with the company management the tasks of the financial service arising from strategic goals, the possibility of delegating the powers necessary to implement these tasks, the range of responsibilities of employees, as well as the system for assessing the activities of the financial unit and its head ..

In many ways, the role of a financial director or financial manager in a company is determined by the type and structure of the business, as well as the stage of development of the company. Depending on this identify the three most common functions of financial directors today:

1) the general director independently makes all decisions; The financial director performs the tasks of the chief accountant, accountant - small business;

2) the financial director is one of the key figures. The value and position of a company in the market no longer consists only of effective sales and production, but also of financial management - medium-sized businesses;

3) the company is headed by a general director, who is responsible for the enterprise strategy, sales, and marketing. However, not a single dollar can be spent without the consent of the CFO - big business.

When creating a financial block, you will have to take into account the specifics of the business, the traditions that have developed in the company, for example, the performance of related functions by employees, the features of the organizational structure. Of course, this somewhat complicates the adaptation process for a novice financial director, but, for example, without knowing the specifics of the company’s business, you will not be able to effectively cope with even simple tasks facing the FES.

The main task of the financial director is to organize the work of the departments he heads in the following main areas:

- controlling;

- financial planning;

- accounting and tax accounting;

- flow control Money(treasury function);

- Management Accounting;

- financial risk management.

Controlling can be characterized as a system of defining goals, forecasting and planning, establishing mechanisms and tools for achieving set goals, as well as checking how successfully they have been completed. This work is usually performed by the financial controlling department, or the economic planning department. When determining the functions of employees of this department, it should be remembered that the controlling system is based on “four pillars”: accounting, analysis, planning and organization of business processes responsibilities of the financial director.

To competence treasury The company usually includes the ongoing management of cash flows, determination of the priority of payments, the order of mutual settlements, foreign exchange transactions, as well as control of payments and account balances of companies within the perimeter of the group, if we are talking about a holding company. Most often, treasury is allocated to a separate department in large and medium-sized companies; in small companies, the corresponding functions are performed by one or several employees (for example, a manager for working with banks).

To attract financing and choose the most profitable way to allocate temporarily available funds within the framework of the FES, a finance department (credit department). However, in many companies, the function of raising and placing funds is often also the responsibility of the treasury. At the same time, the activities of these divisions are not limited only to choosing a reliable bank and obtaining loans on terms acceptable to the company. The tasks of the financial director also include organizing interaction in these areas with other divisions of the enterprise. It is possible to achieve effective interaction if the procedure for such interaction is regulated in terms of collecting and providing the necessary information.

The main tasks facing the financial director (manager) are determined under the influence of a number of factors: the competitive environment, the need for constant technological improvement, the need for capital investments, changing tax legislation, global conditions, political instability, information trends, changes in interest rates and the stock market situation. market. When forming an appropriate financial policy, a financial manager must develop an algorithm for achieving financial success. Maximizing an enterprise's funds through the correct choice of financing methods, implementing an appropriate dividend policy and minimizing risks in obtaining net profit is the task of current and future activities in the field of financial management.

Financial management is the process of developing and implementing management decisions in order to influence finances, cash flow, and financial relations. Controlling influence on finances is necessary to achieve financial stability, strategic and tactical goals of the enterprise.

Thus, achieving and maintaining financial stability is the main task of financial management. Its solution assumes that the financial position of the enterprise is characterized by:

– high solvency;

– balance sheet liquidity;

– liquidity of assets;

– creditworthiness;

– profitability.

It is possible to achieve a combination of these characteristics by observing a number of important balance proportions:

1) the most liquid assets must cover the most urgent liabilities (accounts payable) or exceed them;

2) quickly realizable assets (accounts receivable, funds on deposits) must cover short-term liabilities (short-term loans) or exceed them;

3) slowly selling assets (inventories of finished products, raw materials or materials) must cover long-term liabilities or exceed them;

4) hard-to-sell assets (buildings, land) must be covered by permanent liabilities (own funds) and not exceed them.

Financial management must provide opportunities for targeted improvement of individual functional blocks, system elements and any combination of them.

In the financial structure of the company, in order to optimize cash flows, depending on the specifics and structure of the business, as well as on the functions performed by the divisions, responsibility centers (RCs) can be allocated. Responsibility Center is an element of the company’s financial structure that carries out business operations in accordance with its budget and has the necessary resources for this. The budget of the central authority includes only cost and income items controlled by its manager. As a rule, the company as a whole, its individual structural divisions (workshops, departments, employees) or their groups are identified as a central authority.

Distinguish five main types of responsibility centers(Table 1.1):

1) standard cost center (SC)– its manager is responsible for compliance with cost standards for the production of products, works or services (production units, purchasing department);

2) management cost center (MCC)) – its manager is responsible for maintaining the level of expenses planned in the budget (for example, accounting, administrative department (AHO), security). As a rule, TsUZ includes divisions whose activities are associated with indirect costs of the enterprise;

3) income center (RC)) – usually divisions that sell products, works and services are identified as income centers. The head of the revenue center is responsible for the size of the company's revenue;

4) profit center (CP)– its manager has the authority to make management decisions on which the company’s profit depends. Since in this case control is exercised over income and expenses, then, as a rule, divisions are allocated in the CPU that implement one or more projects;

5) investment center (CI)– in addition to the powers and responsibilities of the head of the CP, the head of the DI is also responsible for the effectiveness of investments.

Table 1.1 Classification of responsibility centers

The list of tasks of the financial director (manager) expands significantly if the company plans to enter the capital markets. He becomes the coordinator of the audit process according to international standards, takes part in mergers and acquisitions of other companies, and works with investors and investment banks.

Factors that determine the composition of the job responsibilities of the financial director are:

– areas of activity and the company’s priorities (tax planning, allocation of free funds, cash flow management, increasing business capitalization);

– the degree of participation of the financial director in decision-making related to related departments, for example, the degree of participation in pricing;

– the CFO’s management style and view of what issues require his direct participation.

The job responsibilities of a financial director or manager will also be influenced by the company's ability to attract the necessary financial specialists, for example, a group of experts may be brought in to manage financial risks. If the company cannot afford to hire a specialist who will generate reporting on International system financial statements (IFRS), but there is an urgent need for such reporting, then the financial director will probably have to prepare it himself.

What is the financial structure?

The financial structure is a hierarchical system of financial responsibility centers. It determines the procedure for generating financial results and the distribution of responsibility for achieving the overall result of the company. Financial structuring allows you to maintain internal accounting policies, track the movement of resources within the company and evaluate the effectiveness of the business as a whole and its components. In other words, the presence of a financial structure allows the company’s management to see who is responsible for what, allows them to evaluate, control and coordinate the activities of departments, and helps to develop an effective system of employee motivation.

Table 1. Main types of financial responsibility centers.

	Target performance indicators of the Central Federal District	May include the following types of digital financial institutions	May be included in the following types of digital financial institutions
Revenue Center	Income received from the activities of the Central Federal District	Revenue Center	Profit center
Profit center	Profit received from the activities of the Central Federal District	Revenue Center Standard Cost Center Cost center Profit center	Profit center Investment Center
Standard Cost Center	Central Federal District costs per unit of product or service	Standard Cost Center	Standard Cost Center Profit center
Cost center	Costs of the Central Federal District	Standard Cost Center Cost center	Profit center Cost center
Investment Center	Return on investment ROI	Revenue Center Cost center Profit center Investment Center	Investment Center

How is financial structure different from organizational structure?

Let us list the main differences between financial and organizational structures.

The financial structure is built on the basis of economic and financial relations between the centers of responsibility. Organizational structure” based on the functional specialization of the organization’s divisions. Therefore, for example, costs of a certain type are grouped at a cost center, and functions the implementation of which requires certain professional knowledge and skills are grouped in a division of the organizational structure.

The financial structure reflects the hierarchy of responsibility for achieving target financial indicators. Organizational structure – hierarchy of subordination.

When building an organizational structure, “political” compromises and the influence of personal factors are possible. When building a financial structure, only business realities are taken into account.

Due to these features, financial and organizational structures do not coincide. If the discrepancy between them is large, then serious management problems arise, since the picture of the business that is formed by management accounting based on the financial structure does not coincide with the structure of enterprise management based on the organizational structure. It's like driving a car with distorted view mirrors and confused controls: we change gear, but the windshield wipers turn on. In order for the enterprise management system to be adequate for the business, it is necessary to bring the organizational structure, as far as possible, into line with the financial structure.

Main tasks of developing a financial structure

Developing a financial structure requires deep knowledge of the business and a willingness to look at the company with open eyes. How to form a financial structure?

Determine your business structure.

Highlight key processes.

Determine the boundaries of investment activities.

Identify assets.

Determine your profit structure.

Define departmental relationships.

Identify key management connections.

Let's take a closer look at each of these provisions.

Determine your business structure

Different product groups are sold to different customer groups;

The company has different competitors for different product groups;

Fundamentally different technologies and resources are used to produce different groups of products or services.

The presence of these signs indicates that the company operates in not one, but two or more target markets, in which there are different target customer groups and different competitive conditions.

Often new businesses in a company arise unnoticed by management, and only as a result of analysis this situation becomes obvious. Thus, one enterprise producing transformer substations began to provide its customers with services for installing and connecting these substations. The emergence of this service entailed the creation of departments for design, construction management, maintenance and operation of construction equipment. The development of this service has led to the fact that complex projects for the construction of turnkey substations have become an independent product, more profitable than the traditional products of the enterprise. The realization that this was a new business did not come immediately. In Fig. Figure 1 shows the top level of the financial structure of this company.

Rice. 1. Financial structure of a company conducting two lines of business

Highlight key processes

Consideration of the process diagram allows you to determine how the financial result in a given business is formed and what are the main areas of investment for its development. On this basis, the main elements of the financial structure of the business line under consideration are formed. It must be emphasized that if a company is engaged in several areas of business, then each of them must be considered in the same way.

Rice. 2. An example of highlighting key company processes

In the example under consideration, the centers of responsibility for groups of processes that create value for the consumer are clearly visible:

Purchase of components used to manufacture the product (CDs, program protection keys, packaging);
Production and packaging of the product;
Promotion of the product on the market (informing potential consumers about the capabilities of the product);
Selling a product;
Technical support for users.

Processes serving the core activities include the work of the legal department, accounting, maintaining the company’s own IT infrastructure, business support, etc. The main “value chain” also does not include company management processes. Software development processes occupy a special place. They relate to the company's investment activities, since the creation of new products is aimed at business development.

Rice. 3. An example of the financial structure of a software company

The profit of this central financial district is an indicator of the entire production and commercial activities of the company. The company’s net profit is formed taking into account the costs of the central financial institutions “Service” and “Management”. The costs of the Central Federal District “Software Development” do not affect profits, since the development budget for software products is financed not from the company’s current income, but from profits received or external investments.

Thus, considering a properly constructed financial structure, it is not difficult to “read” the company’s key processes and clearly see the logic of the business.

Define the boundaries of investment activities

development of new products,

support of previously created and distributed products on the market.

The first direction, of course, relates to investment activities, while the second is related to the maintenance of an asset that the company already has - a previously created software product. The processes of maintaining a software product include correcting errors in the program code identified during the operation of the program, introducing small improvements at the request of users, and finalizing documentation. This work can take up 40-60% of the development department's resources. Therefore, deciding what type of activity we attribute the costs of these resources to – investment or operating – will significantly affect the company’s profit margin. If the processes of development and maintenance of software products are clearly demarcated, then the best solution would be to present them with different centers of responsibility, as shown in Fig. 4. It is useful to note that this example demonstrates, in particular, the difference between the organizational and financial structures of a company. Thus, the software development department is represented by two financial responsibility centers located on different “branches” of the financial structure.

All activities of the development department should be assigned to the Central Federal District “Software Maintenance”. This is acceptable if the company primarily distributes previously developed software products and does not invest significant funds in new developments.
All activities of the development department are attributed to the Central Federal District “Software Development”, that is, to investment activities. This assumption is possible if the company carries out a large amount of development.
Divide between the two central federal districts those resources that can be clearly attributed to them, and distribute the rest on the basis of expert assessment. In this case, employees engaged only in product support will be included in the “Support” CFO, and new product developers will be included in the “Software Development” CFO. Those who are engaged in two processes will be “divided” between two CFDs in accordance with the assessment of their employment in these processes.

Rice. 4. An example of delineation in the financial structure of responsibility for the development and maintenance of software products

Define Assets

How much did we invest in creating the asset?
How much does it cost us to maintain the asset?
What is the return on the asset?

Which resources are classified as assets is a question whose solution largely depends on the views of the company’s managers on the business, their strategy and management style.

Let us first consider a traditional type of asset – income-generating real estate – using the example of a development company that owns a business center building. This company operates in two business areas:

Construction of objects for sale (hotels, business centers, shopping and entertainment complexes);
Provision of offices for rent in the building of our own business center.

The upper level of the financial structure reflecting these business areas is presented in Fig. 5.

Rice. 5. Financial structure of a development company. First option.

Is it possible, with such a financial structure, “without hesitation” to answer shareholders’ questions about how much the “business center” asset they own is worth, what are the costs of its maintenance and what is the return on the capital invested in it?” Obviously, no.

The asset is not visible at all in this structure. It is “on the balance sheet” of the Central Federal Financial District “Real Estate Rental Services,” although in fact it is the property of the company’s owners, transferred to the management of this business unit. Thus, this structure does not reflect real ownership relations and does not answer key questions regarding the efficiency of asset use.

Let us now consider a clearer diagram presented in Fig. 6.

Rice. 6. Financial structure of a development company. Second option.

In this version of the financial structure, a profit center “Assets” appeared. Business center". It includes the cost of operating the building, depreciation of the asset, and property taxes. The income of the Central Federal District is generated from fees for the use of the asset received from the Central Federal District “Real Estate Rental Services”. This responsibility center acquires the right to use the building at a “wholesale price” (it is advisable to link it to the market price), and sells it retail to clients it finds on the market. He is also responsible for providing a range of services to tenants. This structure clearly clarifies the relationships of all parties interested in this business and makes the corresponding financial flows explicit. In this case, you can directly determine the profit that assets bring, as well as the return on investment in assets. In addition, the added value that the Real Estate Rental Services Center creates through its ability to attract clients and provide them with quality services becomes transparent.

Determine your profit structure

Rice. 7. Bakery profit structure

Production profit characterizes production activities as a whole. It takes into account semi-fixed costs for wages of production personnel, maintenance of production premises, maintenance of production equipment, etc.

Controlled contribution to profit– this is the financial result of the bakery. When calculating it, all expenses controlled by the plant management are taken into account. In addition to those listed above, this includes the costs of maintaining the management apparatus and economic support.

Gross profit is determined taking into account the share of the holding’s expenses that is assigned by senior management to this business unit. These are the costs of maintaining the holding management company, distributed among profit centers according to established rules.

Net profit is formed after deducting income tax and interest on loans from gross profit.

Rice. 8. Financial structure of the bakery

Here, responsibility for various types of costs that determine certain stages of profit formation is divided between different central financial districts. A clear diagram of the division of responsibility for cost groups is presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Division of responsibility for cost groups.

		Variable costs	Fixed costs	Indirect internal	Indirect external	Taxes and interest
Central Federal District “Production”	Central Federal District “Workshop 1”
	Central Federal District “Workshop 2”
	CFO “Production Management”
CFO “Production support”	Central Federal District “Warehouse?
	CFO "OTK"
	CFO “Technologist Service”

CFO “Household Support”	Central Federal District "Warehouse"
	CFO "OTK"
	CFO “Technologist Service”
	CFO “Chief Engineer Service”
Central Federal District “Plant Management”	Central Federal District "Warehouse"
	CFO "OTK"
	CFO “Technologist Service”
	CFO “Chief Engineer Service”
CFO “Holding Management”

As can be seen in Table 2, the production central federal district “Workshop 1” and the central federal district “Workshop 2” are responsible for costs consisting of piecework wages of workers, the cost of raw materials and materials used in production. CFO “Production Management”, “Warehouse”, “QC”, etc. are responsible for the costs of salaries of production personnel, maintenance of production premises, maintenance of production equipment, etc. CFO “Holding Management” is responsible for the costs of maintaining the holding management company and taxes.

Define departmental relationships

All company processes are interconnected. The results of one process serve as resources for another. Therefore, it is always possible to identify within the company “suppliers” of internal products or services and “clients” who use these products or services in their work. If you include these relationships in the economic model, internal profit centers will appear in the financial structure. Such relationship models are called “self-financing” or “internal outsourcing”. They provide the possibility of using economic mechanisms to motivate responsibility centers included in the value chain.

Rice. 9. Financial structure of a production and trading company

In accordance with this scheme, the CFO “Sales” is a profit center, the indicator of which is the controlled contribution to profit “the difference between income and costs of implementing sales processes. All other central financial districts are cost centers that influence the formation of the company's profit.

The arrows in the diagram show the sources of income for profit centers. The “Sales” financial department receives income from the sale of products on the market, and the “Production” and “Logistics” financial departments receive income from the “sale” of their products and services to the internal client. It is important to note that in this case, the profit of the “Sales” Central Federal District is formed taking into account the cost of products purchased from the “Production” Central Federal District and the cost of services purchased from the “Logistics” Central Federal District. Thus, the financial responsibility center “Sales” becomes not indifferent to the cost generated by internal suppliers, since it directly affects the performance of this central financial district. Working in accordance with this model, the Sales Center will necessarily study the cost structure of internal suppliers, compare their prices with market prices and put pressure on internal prices towards their reduction. This pressure will work to reduce production and logistics costs and increase the efficiency of the company as a whole.

Rice. 10.

Implementing internal outsourcing in a company is a difficult task. Establishing customer-supplier relationships between company departments is not limited to developing schemes. But if a decision is made to introduce economic management methods in a company, then the internal outsourcing model must be correctly reflected in its financial structure.

Identify key management connections

Management theory defines several types of organizational structures: divisional, functional, project, matrix. In practice, they are rarely found “in their pure form.” Each company combines several types of organizational structures. In particular, in the example of a production and trading holding presented above, the basis of management is the divisional structure. The holding includes trade, production and logistics business units with significant independence. Upon closer examination, we will see that the structure of the CFO “Sales” includes several trading companies located in different regions, each of which is a profit center: CFO “Sales A”, CFO “Sales B”, CFO “Sales C”.

At the same time, in addition to the divisional structure, there is a functional component in the company's management system. Let's take an example of how the promotion of a company's products to target markets is organized. At the top level of management, this task is solved by the marketing department of the holding management company. In addition, each trading company has a marketing department that ensures promotion in the regional market. This division has dual subordination. In a divisional structure, it is part of the business unit of a trading company. In the functional structure, it is subordinate to the marketing department of the management company, which determines the goals and objectives of work in the market, approves plans and budgets, and controls their implementation. This dualism should be reflected in the financial structure, since in terms of the functional projection it is necessary to present budgets, generate reports, and “collect” costs.

In the one shown in Fig. 11 of the financial structure of the Central Federal District, the “Marketing Department” is included in the hierarchy of financial responsibility centers, the top of which is “Alpha Product”. On the other hand, all CFOs, represented by shaded rectangles according to their functional affiliation, are included in the CFO “Marketing” (indicated by a dotted line), which is not part of the hierarchical structure. This is another projection of the financial structure. In the functional projection, other components can be distinguished, for example, “Information technology”, “Security? and so on.

Rice. eleven. Clarified financial structure of a production and trading company

Companies with many similar geographically distributed divisions are characterized by a matrix financial structure. A simplified example of such a structure is shown in Fig. 12., where a company engaged in servicing regional electrical networks is represented.

Rice. 12. Financial structure for the internal outsourcing model

The company includes Electric Network Enterprises (PES), each of which has in its structure territorial divisions “District Electric Networks (RES). All district production units are engaged in the same types of activities: maintenance and repair of electrical networks, as well as installation and maintenance of electricity meters. In the functional projection of the financial structure, these areas are presented, respectively, as the CFO “Network Maintenance” and the CFO “Electricity Accounting?”. The implementation of major repairs is the responsibility of the Electric Network Enterprises; there is no RES level here. In the diagram depicting the financial structure of this company, the shaded rectangles indicate the centers of financial responsibility located at the intersection of the territorial and functional projections. For example, the structure of the Central Federal District “PES 1” reads as follows. The structure of the Central Federal District “PES 1” includes the following profit centers (territorial Central Federal District):

CFO “RES 1.1”
CFO “RES 1.2”
CFO “RES 1.3”

On the other hand, the CFO “PES 1” includes the following functional CFOs:

CFO “Management” (cost center)
Central Federal District “Network Maintenance” (profit center)
Central Federal District “Electricity Accounting” (profit center)
Central Federal District “Capremonts” (cost center)

As can be seen from the above examples, a properly constructed financial structure is a reflection of business management processes. To identify all management connections, it is necessary to consider not only the functional and territorial aspects of management, but also to determine the principles of organizing project activities, which occupy a significant place in most companies.

At my seminars, participants often ask about what is

Financial structure of the enterprise is a hierarchy of financial responsibility centers interacting with each other through budgets. A correctly constructed structure allows you to see the “key points” at which profits will be generated, taken into account, redistributed, and expenses and income controlled.

Center for Financial Responsibility (FRC)- a structural unit that carries out a certain set of business transactions, capable of having a direct impact on expenses and/or income from these operations and responsible for the amount of these expenses and/or income.

The enterprise manages responsibility centers through a financial structure. In the financial structure, the structural units are financial responsibility centers (FRC).

This definition needs to be supplemented with auxiliary but important definitions.