Job Outlook
In the shorter term, the outlook for folks in corporate finance and in-house accounting is getting brighter; after several years during which corporate hiring was quite slow, the economy is picking up, which means more corporate spending, more mergers and acquisitions, and so on—and more work for corporate finance types.

Longer term, globalization means more opportunities for sophisticated financial analysts and planners. Increased merger and acquisition activity will create more opportunities for people in finance who are able to think strategically. This means a greater demand for people with higher degrees who can develop more theoretical financial models, develop currency hedges, or estimate another company's future earnings and current value.

As more and more accounting functions become automated by software, those accountants and financial analysts able to do analytical work and think strategically will have much better prospects than those who stick to keeping the books. Graduate degrees, extensive analytical experience, and good regulatory knowledge will help keep you employed over the long term.


Career Tracks
Although conditions vary at different companies, people going into corporate finance generally start their careers either as staff accountants (for the corporate-reporting function) or as financial analysts (for a business group or function). In both roles, you'll supply management with the information it needs to make smart, opportune decisions.

Staff accountants consolidate information for the official corporate financial reports—primarily comparing the present to the past. Financial analysts, on the other hand, are assigned to either a product line or business unit. They help management set up profit objectives, analyze current unit results, and anticipate future financial performance. Over time, financial analysts and staff accountants eventually specialize in one of the areas described below.

General Accounting
General accountants are responsible for producing all of the financial records a corporation uses to track its progress internally and to meet government regulations. Such workers also gather all the information needed to compute a company's balance sheet, profit and loss statements, and income statements. They also track the corporate budget, cash flow, and pay all the bills.

Usually, your first job in general accounting will be in accounts payable or accounts receivable. Success in accounting might lead you to a position as a controller, overseeing a larger group, aggregating information, or working on portions of the corporate budget.

Internal Audit
When most people think of an audit, they think of an outside audit—a large accounting firm like Ernst & Young checking the corporate books on behalf of the shareholders. However, most large companies have an internal-audit group that regularly visits individual company branches and checks the company's accounting systems.

Internal auditors perform the investigative and corrective work that ensures the external auditors don't find anything. The internal-audit group reviews the quality of the data, making sure it's both accurate and complete. Internal auditors also evaluate whether the corporate-accounting procedures are effective and universally followed. Finally, internal auditors introduce or revise procedures to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Divisional Financial Services
In this area, you work with each division's business team to prepare financial plans, make forecasts, and compare actual financial results to forecasts. You may also evaluate the financial consequences of alternative strategies.

Responsibilities include everything from analyzing new business opportunities to restructuring a business or developing a capital-spending program. The primary concerns are to find better ways of using company assets, reduce costs, and research ways to develop better forecasts. Financial services evaluates the risks versus potential return of any course of action and develops recommendations so that managers can pick the most profitable strategies, depending on their goals.

Tax
Activities in this area involve administering taxes (i.e., paying taxes on time—or finding loopholes to avoid paying them) and determining how to decrease the company's tax burden. Responsibilities include working with attorneys on tax litigation, researching tax laws and reporting requirements by nation (if the company is international), and keeping up with new government rules and regulations.

Large companies have an entire department dedicated to recommending methods to minimize the tax impact of any business decision such as a new division launch, a capital-spending plan, or purchasing a new company. Investments and pensions also need to be managed with an eye toward minimizing taxes. The tax department helps structure transactions, makes recommendations on the timing of acquisitions or sales based on what else will be written off that year, and can decide what corporate-reporting structure reduces taxes—for example, creating a wholly owned subsidiary versus having an internal division.

Treasury
The treasury department is responsible for all of a company's financing and investing activities. This department works with investment bankers who help the corporation raise capital with stock or bond sales or expand through mergers and acquisitions. Treasury also manages the pension fund and the corporation's investments in other companies. The department also handles risk management, making sure that the right steps are taken to safeguard corporate assets by using insurance policies or currency hedges.

Cash Management
This is a company's piggy bank. The cash-management group makes sure the company has enough cash on hand to meet its daily needs. The group also sees to it that any excess cash is invested overnight by picking the best short-term investment options. And it negotiates with local banks to get regional business units the banking services they need at the best price.

Corporate Development and Strategic Planning
Corporate development involves both corporate finance and business development. (For more on these types of jobs, check out WetFeet's business development career profile.) Finance experts in corporate development study acquisition targets, investment options, and licensing deals. Often they assess the best firms to buy or invest in, such as pre-IPO cutting-edge technology companies with complementary products that could either extend the company's product line or mitigate competition. Corporate development jobs require planning and analysis know-how and the kind of skills that investment bankers working merger-and-acquisition deals put to use.


Compensation
Corporate finance compensation will vary by region, size of company, and industry. Following are typical salary ranges for a variety of corporate finance functions:


    * Chief financial officer: $85,000 to $350,000
    * Treasurer: $85,000 to $200,000
    * Controller/finance director: $60,000 to $190,000
    * Cash manager: $50,000 to $90,000
    * Financial analyst: $35,000 to $110,000
    * Accounts payable manager: $40,000 to $75,000
    * Accountant: $40,000 to $65,000
    * Credit analyst: $25,000 to $70,000
    * Bookkeeping manager: $25,000 to $80,000