Exploring the Roles of Financial Managers Towards Maintaining The Records Of Business Expenses And I

Background

Exploring The Roles Of Financial Managers Towards Maintaining The Records Of Business Expenses And Its Necessity For Smme’S In The Gauteng Province, South Africa.

Small, Micro and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) are the drivers of economic development for several countries (Chimucheka & Mandipaka, 2015:783; Karadag, 2015:26; Ndweni et al., 2019; Bushe, 2019). The survival of the SMMEs is of greater concern as most SMMEs stop operating within five years of their inception (Masutha & Rogerson, 2014; Chimucheka & Mandipaka, 2015; Bushe, 2019).

Studies reveal that they are faced with numerous challenges such as insufficient managerial skills, lack of trained poor access to financial resources and low utilization of new technologies (Chimucheka & Mandipaka, 2015:783; Karadag, 2015:26; Bushe, 2019).

Karadag (2015) found out that the core problem bedevilling SMEs is an inefficient and ineffective financial management system.

In another study conducted by Ajibade and Khayundi (2017) the researchers found out that several countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa are incapacitated in terms of records management.

Therefore, this assignment is a proposal to investigate the records management and the role of finance managers in keeping records of expenses in the SMMEs sector, particularly in the context of Gauteng Province, South Africa.  It encompasses the cities such as Pretoria, Johannesburg, Germiston and Vereeniging together with metropolitan areas East of Witwatersrand region.

There is a problem of poor financial management in SMMEs (Karadag, 2015:26).The problem is attributed to failure to keep financial records such as expenditure records (Ajibade & Khayundi, 2017).

Finance managers fail to understand their role towards maintaining financial records of their small businesses (Karadag, 2015:30).  There have been several policies formulated to promote the growth and sustainability of SMMEs together with supporting the opportunities for their growth.  Financial problems within the SMMEs still bedevil the sector (Ajibade & Khayundi, 2017; Ndweni et al., 2019).

Conducting this study could strengthen small businesses and contribute to unemployment and poverty reduction strategies for SMMEs in Gauteng Province, South Africa (Masutha & Rogerson, 2014:47; Kirsten & Fourie, 2012).

This study could contribute to theory, policy and practice in business management. It could provide knowledge about the importance of the role of financial managers in maintaining records of expenditure for SMMEs. This could assist South Africa, to assist SMMEs by formulating policies that could support the contributions of financial managers for the sustainability of SMMEs.

It could motivate the researcher to use effective methodologies that will deal with the attitudes of SMMEs owners towards employing finance managers. 

5.1 The main research question

What can be identified as the roles of a financial manager in SMMEs towards maintaining the records of business expenses and its necessity in Gauteng Province, South Africa?

5.2 Sub-research questions

1. To explore the roles of finance managers in maintaining financial records of business expenses?
2. Do SMMEs owners and management regard maintaining financial records of expenditure as a necessity?  
3. What can be recommended as ways of consistently maintaining expenditure records in SMMEs?

1. To explore the roles of finance managers in maintaining financial records of business expenses.
2. To find out whether SMMEs management regard maintaining financial records of expenditure as a necessity.  
3. To recommend ways of consistently maintaining expenditure records in SMMEs.