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Essay / The Role of Accountant in Corporate Governance of Business Organizations
In the context of corporate governance, two essential elements must be maintained in order to ensure efficiency and transparency in organizational operations. These two elements are accountability and performance. Shareholder confidence is enhanced by good corporate governance practices. Thus, good corporate governance creates value for shareholders and ensures the company's image in a competitive business environment. The objective of corporate governance is to ensure the interests of all stakeholders and protect an entity from any type of financial crisis and risks that may harm corporate relations (Rezaee Z., 2007). Achieving this goal requires a high level of commitment from all management employees whose responsibility is to oversee operational tasks as well as strategic level tasks in order to achieve organizational goals. The position of accountant in an organization is that of a manager or executive who plays a vital role in the financial function of the organization. All financial transactions are either initiated by an accountant or presented by him to the board of directors or other stakeholders in the form of financial statements and annual reports. Thus, through his role, the accountant enables the board of directors and senior management to fulfill their responsibilities regarding good corporate governance in the financial function of the organization. This article discusses the detailed aspects of the role of the accountant in the corporate governance of the organization. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay Although common shareholders are the owners of the company to whom the board of directors is responsible, the actual powers of shareholders tend to be limited. , except in companies where shareholders also assume the role of directors. Shareholders are often unaware of the company's current situation and future prospects. And they usually don't inspect the account books. They only forecast the future profitability of the company by analyzing the results presented to them in the form of annual reports or by analyzing market reports available in daily newspapers or market journals. The day-to-day management of the company's operations is not their responsibility; rather, it is the responsibility of management staff and directors to whom this responsibility is delegated. As a result, potential conflicts of interest may arise between shareholders and management personnel. The accountant is part of the management staff. The relationship between the accountant and an organization is a kind of agency relationship. Under this relationship, the accountant acts as an agent of the shareholders and his responsibility is to maintain the accuracy and transparency of accounting information. Accounting information is used for the preparation of financial statements and these financial statements are used by stakeholders in decision making (Cox C., 2005). Agency theory was suggested by Jensen M. in 1983 to explain the nature of relationships within organizations. This theory explains some aspects of the role of managerial employees in controlling organizational functions. Agency theory suggests that audited accounts of public companies constitute an important source of post-decision information, minimizing agency costs for the investor, unlike alternative approaches.An alternative approach is that financial statements are the primary source of information for advance decision making from the perspective of equity investors. According to the agency theory framework, each group of employees has their own set of goals within their department. If the achievement of these objectives leads to the achievement of organizational objectives, then it is called objective congruence. And if these goals differ from each other, a conflict of interest arises. For example, in the case an accountant has his own set of objectives which may differ from the objectives of the organization. An accountant as part of his role in the finance function has the responsibility of maintaining the books of accounts and forecasting the cash position of the organization. Payments against sales and purchases should be sanctioned in accordance with the cash flow position of the organization. In times of financial constraints, an accountant may suggest the organization to obtain long-term and short-term loans from the bank in order to meet its financial obligations. This could be a risky move from a shareholder perspective. Obtaining loans to meet daily cash flow needs shows that the company's credit policies are not very effective and debtors are not making their payments in a timely manner. Instead of suggesting that a business obtain loans to meet its daily cash flow needs, an accountant will suggest that senior management revise credit policies to ensure timely payment of customers. A company that relies too heavily on loans to meet its financial obligations becomes highly leveraged and investor confidence is reduced. However, this aspect of meeting financial obligations depends entirely on the information that an accountant presents to management and directors. The board of directors has the primary overall responsibility for setting the direction of organizational operations and ensuring good corporate governance (Conference Board, 2003). In this role, the director's responsibility is to oversee all functions of the organization by directly monitoring, evaluating management's performance and rewarding them appropriately with the best interests of shareholders in mind. (Rezaee Z., 2007). One of the most important responsibilities of the board of directors is to ensure the integrity of the financial reporting process and to oversee all information provided in the financial statements. An accountant provides all the necessary information used to present all the information provided in the financial statements. Thus, the integrity of the financial information system by which these reports are generated depends on the integrity of the accountant who is responsible for entering the data used to produce these reports. The role of the accountant is to maintain the accuracy of all financial data and ensure its completeness. The valuation and valuation of assets and liabilities are based on calculations carried out by an accountant. Besides this, all significant accounting estimates are also based on the accountant's judgment. The information contained in the books of accounts in the form of assets, liabilities and estimates is used by the Board to make informed and deliberate decisions. These decisions could be linked to potential investments to be made in factories or machines to modernize the production process or to making investments in subsidiaries or associated companies. All these investments are made after analysis of the financial data presented by an accountant. An accountant must.