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Companies are losing millions of dollars as a large number of finance professionals lack sound business knowledge and analytical skills to assess projects, a survey by financial training and consulting firm Elements Akademia has said.

Companies are losing millions of dollars as a large number of finance professionals lack sound business knowledge and analytical skills to assess projects, a survey by financial training and consulting firm Elements Akademia has said.

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As much as 70-90% finance staff lack business acumen and presentation skills, the survey, conducted among 110 company executives in 30 companies and 100 chartered accountants (finance profile) has found.

“By objectively analysing all investments, projected returns and risks, a good finance manager can recommend which initiatives are likely to succeed and which are too risky,” and acts as an “internal venture capitalist” in the company, said Elements Akademia CEO Nishant Saxena.

Cipla group CFO Rajesh Garg said while not all finance personnel need to have business acumen, “the finance team needs to help a company predict the future, provide real time analysis and ...help it mitigate risks.”

Financial advisory firm Amplus Consulting’s MD Praveen Nigam, however, felt many firms do not offer finance teams enough opportunities to participate in business decisions.

“It is the mid-size firms that give enough.