Financial management for architects: A guide to understanding and planning
Architectural rendering of a penthouse apartment seen through foliage from ground level.Financial management for architects: A guide to understanding and planning

Financial management is essential for all the fields, especially for the architects as they can generate enough money. Architects are the people who have a lot of deals and can have huge amounts of money in their hands.

Therefore for architects having good financial management is a must and they cannot proceed without it.

The Structure of Financial Management

In the activities of a modern company, important structural characteristics are interconnected that determine its appearance in the commodity and financial markets. In the theory of corporate finance, the capital structure of a company is traditionally singled out as a key factor in its fundamental value, since this characteristic reflects the ratio of debt and equity used to finance the long-term development of the company and affects its investment risks.\

Issues of ownership structure have been given serious attention in both theoretical and empirical studies of corporate finance.

Why is the architecture of the company and its business financial?

This is due to several reasons. First, it covers three key structures - capital, ownership and corporate governance. They have a significant impact on investment risks, forming both the unique risks of the company and its susceptibility to systematic (market) risks.

The last two characteristics—ownership structure and corporate governance—predetermine methods for reconciling the interests of various types of owners, regulating conflicts of interest between owners and management, and the risk of non-payment and the increase in the costs of financial instability directly depend on the capital structure.

High-Level Certification for Finances

As an architect you need enough skills to manage your finances and surely you will need some certifications to have experienced knowledge. Do not feel uncomfortable if you have never had such practice. It is always a great idea to start doing it as soon as possible.

Before starting to prepare for getting a certification, think about your needs and your future steps to achieve it. Nowadays one of the most famous and practical exams is CPA exam and many professionals seek to get it. To have this certification you can start skimming the best CPA review courses and materials, and afterwards you will be more prepared to pass the exam and have the certification.

Do not be afraid to stretch yourself and do your best to get new certifications, as in the modern world life-long learning is an important practice. You will fall behind if you fail to have those certifications.

Financial Management Certification

As we have discussed so far in this article, financial management is a must for architects and to have profound knowledge it is a great way to get certifications. Financial certifications allow people to have complete and all in one experience.

If you are an architect or you are interested in becoming one then definitely you should think about getting financial certifications and feel more confident about financial regulations and other details.

If you wonder which financial certification will work better for you, then think about your future goals and why you need it. You can choose financial certifications which have the best ROI and feel confident that your financial management will be in a good shape.

Do your first steps and get high-quality financial certifications, as you can become a pro in financial management and it is a great investment in your architecture career.

The Style of Financial Management for Architects

The approach from the standpoint of financial architecture makes significant changes in the construction of research on the complex of financial decisions and company efficiency. This is due to the specifics of the corporate financial architecture. First of all, based on this approach, it becomes possible to abandon the so-called stylized models of the company's financial decisions (stylized models).

They are stylized, firstly, because they single out a separate type of structural characteristics as an independent subject of analysis and as the dominant driver of changes in the dependent variable chosen for the model. However, building a research model for each of the separately taken stylized facts is a fundamentally wrong approach, since the point of financial modelling when working with company sample data is precisely to unify the model, with the help of which firms with sufficiently pronounced differences could recommend certain financial solutions.

Secondly, the approach to the study of financial decisions of companies based on a model that optimizes a specific individual attribute of a company is not relevant today. The formulation of the problem of studying the financial architecture of a company implies the need to take into account the interdependencies between its components, as well as between each of the components and the subject of study. Thus, all those approaches are important for the architects if they want to have promotions and in the future create their own agencies and companies.

Practical Tools for Architects; Improving Value and Management

So far we have discussed the types of financial management and certifications which can be helpful for all the architects. Now let’s discuss how architects can use more tools to earn more money and become more independent.

If you are an architect who wishes to work individually and mind own business without being part of a company, then you need to regulate all the processes. Firstly you need to arrange your working space, raw materials and monthly expenses. All of these are part of your financial management.

Nowadays, there are many tools available which will improve architects time management and help in work processes. If you are an architect and you need to manage construction, then you will need many tools. To manage the route of your drivers you can start using a route planner, which will save your money and add value in your management.

To think as a leader, you need to separate all your costs to understand how to manage finances and at the same time save some money. Have an accountant and financial analyst and they will support you to have better financial management.

Strategic performance of Finances

Strategic performance refers to the performance of the corporate strategy. This aspect of performance analysis is aimed at evaluating the functioning of all the internal mechanisms of the company involved in the implementation of its strategy. From a financial point of view, strategic effectiveness is reflected both in the company's return on equity and its value, and in the case of a public company, in its market capitalization. Decisions about operational efficiency depend on the company's management, while strategic efficiency is the responsibility of the board of directors.

From the standpoint of corporate finance, as a measure of strategic effectiveness, it is advisable to use indicators based on the value of the company. In assessing the value of a company, various results of its activities are summarized and refracted, and therefore it must be considered as a value in which key indicators are integrated that reflect the corporate strategy, the measure of its implementation and the versatile financial and investment decisions accompanying it. Both strategic and financial decisions affect cash flows and investment risks, and these decisions are translated into measures of company value and trend.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, financial management education is a must for architects and they need to plan and analyse all the means of financial management. Having good certifications and experience in financial management is a must for architecture, as they need to calculate a lot of costs and predict values and provide estimations.

If you are an architect and still hesitate to start working on your financial skills, then this article is a sign for you to start it today. You are all set up now, do your first steps, find some certifications or courses to sign up and start your journey.