Project Management has become so Financially Sensitive that all Essay

Project Management has become so Financially Sensitive that all Project Managers should be Qualified Accountants - Essay Example This essay examines the point that "Whether or not a project manager has to be a qualified accountant" A project is a team work and every single individual has to play his own part in it to utmost faith. Finance is very important for the success or failure of a project. In fact finance is the life blood of every project. So it becomes imperative that the project manager must have knowledge of the financial aspects of the project. He will be able to direct in a better way the accountants if the project manager is a qualified accountant. If a project manager has to function effectively then he/she has to understand every aspect of cost and also the timing with regard to recognition of cost. Cost affects both the project and also the financial performance of the corporate. The project manager's duty is to be aware of the various cost perceptions and way in which they have to be reported. This knowledge will help the project manager to control the cost of goods sold which is his/her sole financial responsibility. The project manager can also control the timing of cost so that cash flow and the total cost of the project improves. Apart from this he can also affect revenue expenses and its report in the Profit and Loss statement (Project Management Journal, June 1986, p372). The different organizational goals which require continuous improvement in the quality of services and goods supplied to a customer through close customer relationships has contributed to this changing environment. Project managers should therefore understand and be aware of the various financial aspects of a project (Lundsten, David J 2006). The field of Project Managers is developing rapidly. This field now has its own professional body, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and its own professional certification, Project Management Professional (PMP). A project manager's task is to hand over the project on time and also within the prescribed budget. Most project managers feel they are responsible towards the firm's profitability only to the extent and limitation of controlling the project cost. But this is not so, they are capable of doing even beyond that. As soon as the various costs of a project is recognized the project manager's responsibility and effectiveness is increased. Planning the expenses and the cost of the project and execution of the same by the project manager influences a company's profit. He has to take timely action of the range of cash flow, expenses, and reporting of revenue and expenses. Thus the project manager has to be well versed and have a total knowledge in the cost accounting practices which shape the firm's project cost reporting (Project Management Journal, June 1986, p375). Scrutiny of the distinctive project profit & loss statement (Table 1) depicts how a project when sold for profit is subjugated to costs apart from the projects' cost (cost of 4 goods sold). The project manager