Finance Manager Job Description
The core job responsibility of a finance manager is to manage the funds. Management of funds is not an easy job. As a part of managing funds, you need to deal with both the collection and proper utilization of funds. A finance manager job description must include these core functions.
Who is Finance Manager?
A finance manager is a person who is responsible for taking all the financial decisions for the company. The motive of the finance manager is to increase the value of the organization. And also maximize the return of investors.
The person who is working for cost reduction and provides financial advice is well known as the finance manager. Top management of the company takes financial advice from the finance manager. An experienced finance manager take financial decision based on his work experience to improve financial health by considering the market trends.
Educational Qualification of Finance Manager
A person should have a degree in finance or accounting. A master’s degree in Accounting or MBA in Finance will add value to this position. A professional degree like; CA, CFA, CMA, ACCA, etc. will give you the highest level of benefit.
The Job Responsibility of Finance Manager
From the job title “Finance Manager” we find the following core job responsibilities:
- Leading Financial Management Team
- Prepare Financial Report and Submit to Top Management
- Provide Financial Advice
- Take the Most Beneficial Financial Decision
- Do Long Term Financial Planning
- Analysis of Financial Data to Evaluate the Performance
- Take Investment and Financing Decision
- Forecasting of Financial Outcome
- Maximize the ROI
- Continuously Monitor the Liquidity and Optimize Flow of Funds
- Work with Financial Analyst
- Maintain Agency Relationship
Details of Job Description of a Finance Manager
Leading Financial Management Team
A manager by name is responsible for managing resources. The finance manager is basically responsible for managing and leading the financial management team. Provide guidelines to the member and time to time receive feedback. Small corporations may not have a financial management team, where the finance manager is responsible to do all the financial activities. In the case of a large corporation, there may have a large financial management team, so there must have enough scope of managing the team.
Prepare Financial Report and Submit to Top Management
The finance manager is responsible to prepare financial reports and submit to the top management so that they remain updated on the business operation. While reporting financial outcomes, you must present it concisely to ensure the focused key outcome. The report can be for daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. The reporting time is based on the top management requirements.
Provide Financial Advice
A key task of a finance manager is to provide financial advice to the respective authorities. An analytical report with can be submitted with financial advice as a supporting document. A good finance manager performs as a financial advisor if he has good analytical skills.
Take the Most Beneficial Financial Decision
Evaluation of all the investment alternatives is needed to be there before taking the most beneficial financial decision. All you need to do is to identify the financial factors. Put them in side by side and compare the outcome of each and combine and then choose the right one.
Do Long Term Financial Planning
Based on the current business condition, future opportunities or threats proper financial planning is mandatory. In addition to short term financial planning, long term planning will ensure the sustainability of a good financial position. The better a financial plan is; the company will be in a better financial position. All the factors must be considered when a finance manager does a long run financial planning.
Analysis of Financial Data to Evaluate the Performance
To evaluate the performance of a company, a proper analysis of financial data is required. Before that, you need to collect all the required financial data. Then arrange, create a result, interpret and take the decision. This is the optimal way of doing financial analysis. If there is any possibility of financial distress, then the finance manager must have to take precautionary measures to minimize the risk.
Take Investment and Financing Decision
The financial decision includes both borrowing and investing. While taking a financial decision, you need to keep in mind that typically investment will be done where the benefit from the investment is maximum and the funding of funds will be done from least cost sources of funds. Before investing or financing, a proper cost-benefit analysis must be done by the finance manager or his team.
Forecasting of Financial Outcome
A finance manager always needs to forecast the organizational financial outcome. Based on the predictive value, an action plan should be pre-determined. Better forecasting will minimize the overall financial risk of the firm.
Maximize the ROI
The investor of the company is aware of the Return on Investment (ROI), so the finance manager needs to focus on it to ensure the maximization of the ROI. As the finance manager is responsible for the investment opportunities analysis, he must choose or suggest the opportunity where the return for the shareholders is maximum. And that will maximize the value of the organization.
Continuously Monitor the Liquidity and Optimize Flow of Funds
Many companies face the problem of liquidity. Here the liquidity problem arises from the excess of liquid funds or deficit of liquid funds. A finance manager should focus his concentration on the fund flow, where the funds are going and from where it is generated and coming back to the organization. If funds are not monitored properly then your company may become financially looser. So you must take advantage of having a finance manager in your organization.
Work with Financial Analyst
Financial analysis is the key important person who works for the finance department or for the company who always deals with the financial data to identify the core financial information which will be helpful for financial decision making. So the job of a finance manager and the financial analyst need to be aligned so that the financial decision-making process can be flexible and quick.
Maintain Agency Relationship
You know, there is an agency relationship among the finance manager or top manager. Manager work as an agent to ensure most out of a particular investment, so that the return on investment would be maximum.
Finance Manager Should Have Qualities
The finance manager should have the following qualities
- Good Communication Skills
- Adequate Analytical Skills
- Proper Understanding of Financial Risk
- Problem Solving Skills
- Enough Knowledge of Finance
- Quick Decision Making
Finally, a finance manager is a key important person for the company who is responsible for ensuring the best financial performance and provide financial advice to the top management of the company. So before recruiting a finance manager, a company should mention all the responsibilities in the job description of a finance manager.
Written by
Md. Nahian Mahmud Shaikat