EMERGING ROLE OF FINANCE MANAGER One of the most important functions in any company is that of the finance manager.

For those who are uninformed, they tend to think the sole function of this position is that of the head of Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable, but it goes far beyond that capacity. In fact, the finance manager is in charge of any financing and accounting function throughout the company. The role of this position involves that of not only financing functions such as Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Billing, but it also involves that of budget projections and working with the Chief Financial Officer to make sure that the company's funds are stable and assisting with any budget cuts that become necessary. The finance manager is now a part of the top management. The finance manager does not cover the routine duties of finance and accounting. As a member of top management he is also responsible for formulation and implementation of policies and decision making. The finance manager is the head of both the Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable areas of the company. As such, he will be the one to set policy and direct procedures for both areas of business. That includes hiring staff based upon need, following budget guidelines for expenses including staffing, assuring that procedures are followed by all staff members, setting reasonable quota system to assure work is completed in a timely fashion, and interacting with department supervisors on a regular basis in order to stay abreast of happenings within the department. The finance manager will also compile reports that show all of the conditions within his department including expenditures, open invoices, production standards, quality control standards, and timeliness of both payment of invoices and processing of payments. The finance manager is also responsible for the billing operation of the Accounts Receivable Department and making sure that guidelines for timely billing are followed as well. The finance manager also is the one who will work with other executives in order to develop the budget for each year. He will work with the Chief Finance Officer and Chief Executive Officer in order to develop an equitable solution for each year's expenditures in both staff, office supplies, and any other needs that they company has including training, business trips, out of town meetings, and staff entertainment expenses. The finance manager has

a very important position within a company, and his decisions will determine the financial stability of the company, at least within the areas that fall under his control. It is also his job to make certain that other departments and areas of the company follow their budgets and make the most use of the company's money by avoiding frivolous expenses. Key challenges of Finance Manager Investment Planning Investment planning focuses on effective investment strategies and to analyze the risk associate with it. Finance manager is responsible for analyze the risk and help management to reduce this risk so that it does not affect the financial goal of an organization. Financial Structure Financial structure is the way in which company assets are financed such as short term, borrowings long term debt, and equity. Finance manager analyze the government rules and regulation, banks norms, capability of the organization and the available options in the market to finance the companies assets. That helps management to decide which option is profitable for the organization. Treasury Operations Treasury operations is basically the overall responsibility for administering the banking functions of organization, cash management and investment services. These all activities are directly linked with the growth of organization and profit. Investor Communication Finance department provides investors with an accurate account of the company's affairs. This helps investors to make informed buy or sell decisions. Management Control Control is one of the managerial functions like planning, organizing, directing etc. It basically includes the three steps, to set the standards, measure actual performance and taking corrective action. Finance manager help

organization to set the targets and helps organization to achieve that target by continuously monitoring the actual performance with set standards. Clearly, the clout of the finance manager is growing along with the change in his role and reforms in the financial sector gather speed, this trend will only increase. Financial managers aim to boost the levels of resources at their disposal. Besides, they control the functioning on money put in by external investors. Providing investors with sufficient amount of returns on their investments is one of the goals that every company tries to achieve. Efficient financial management ensures that this becomes possible. The finance manager's role is undergoing enormous change. He is transforming from a steward of financial assets into an internal venture capitalist because tomorrow's finance managers will be much more involved in deciding the future of their companies. He will have to assess the risks in funding these opportunities and be prepared to justify investments based on the value they will create as options in the future. Because of these challenges, a finance manager is a partner to the CEO who is actively involved in anticipating industry trends, launching new ventures, valuing intangible assets, and managing business options far more dynamic. Critical responsibilities Designing and fine-tuning a more responsive "Rolling Forecast" budgeting process. Breeding new economy businesses from within and releasing value through M&As, planning, negotiating and overseeing strategic alliances. Managing physical and even working capital will become less and less important as the focus of finance shifts increasingly to intangible assets. How these assets are valued and nurtured will have little to do with accounting goals. Dramatic changes in resource allocation. Dynamically balancing investments between old and new economy ventures will be essential to fuelling growth and shareholder value.

SHAREHOLDER ORIENTATION IN PAKISTAN

Shareholders or stockholders own parts or shares of companies. In large corporations, shareholders are people and institutions that simply invest money for future dividends and for the potential increased value of their shares, whereas in small companies they may be the people who established the business or who have a more personal stake in it. When investors buy shares of companies, they receive certificates that say how many shares they own. Owning shares of a company often entitles an investor to a part of the company's profits, which is issued as a dividend. In addition, shareholders are typically offered a fixed payout per share if the company is bought out. Because they are partial owners of a company, shareholders are allowed to vote at shareholder meetings for certain company actions (such as approving or rejecting a merger proposal), review company accounts, and receive periodic reports on company performance. If shareholders cannot attend annual meetings, they are permitted to vote by proxy by mailing in their vote. Furthermore, if a company decides to issue more shares, current shareholders have the option to buy shares before they are offered to the public. Pakistan have a massive capital and relied mostly on self-funding, the stock/ capital market didnt develop very much. Besides, pakistanis managers also

focus toward short-term and speculative nature of investors. These two factors, added with the inefficient market and market manipulation and have yielded weak shareholder orientation of the pakistanis managers. The factors explained above are the structural factors, i.e. factors related to the stock market and economic mechanism itself. However, there are also socio-cultural aspects that make the weak shareholder orientation in pakistan. These socio-cultural factors, combined with the economic-structural factors more lead to relatively weak shareholder orientation of pakistani companies. The last and most difficult question is that should pakistanis company management change their perspectives and transform into a stronger, more concerned shareholder orientation? This is a tough question. In my opinion, as long as the current pakistani perspective works well and could overcome the disadvantages it might bring, it will still last for some significant time until the future. In case the contrary results happen, I am sure that pakistani companies will be flexible and will modify their perspectives to meet the challenges that might obstruct them in the future.