Keep Your Head in the Clouds and Your Feet on the Ground
131still allows to perceive them as concrete and transferable entities, ready to
be printed. Thus, within the framework of financial management, one can
encounter terms such as financial plan, cashflow projection, budget,
financial analysis, financial statement, financial report, capital repairs
program. Any conceptualization of this type is also facilitated by the
metonymy RESULT FOR ACTION. Notice that the way Patterson
(2011b: 14) defines financial analysis reflects the process of
conceptualization guided by the metaphor ABSTRACT IS CONCRETE
with its specialized metonymical extension FINANCIAL ANALYSIS IS
A DOCUMENT as well as the conceptual metaphor ANALYSIS IS
RECONSTRUCTION:
Financial analysis: The thinking required to understand a company’s
business, its industry, its performance as reflected in financial statements
and the risks it faces (...). Financial analysis makes a progression from raw
data to the ability to take actions. It often involves simplifying, comparing,
quantifying (often employing financial ratios), qualifying and forecasting.
Qualitative conclusions, which distil financial reality down to clear value
statements (i.e. this is good or bad, strong or weak), are ultimately sought
(Patterson 2011b: 14).In some contexts, the preparation of documents which present results of
financial operations is described as ‘production’:
Chief economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility
for the development, coordination, and production of economic and
financial analysis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_economist).They produce financial reports, direct investment activities, and develop
strategies and plans for the long-term financial goals of their organization
(https://www.sokanu.com/careers/financial-manager).Furthermore, financial operation can conceptually assume the form of
‘instruments’, ‘services’ or even ‘products’ which can be bought and sold.
Thus, a financial manager has at her/his disposal financial instruments –
tradable assets of any kind including liabilities and equity instruments. In
the case of assets, financial assets distinguish themselves from tangible
assets such as inventory or property and intangible assets such as goodwill
and capitalized costs (Patterson 2011b: 29). Among the most common
financial instruments are: cash, bank balances and certificates of deposit,
trade receivables or payables, loans, bonds, stocks, guarantees, derivates
such as forwards, futures, swaps, options.