Finance Manager Job Description & Profile

Finance Manager Job Description & Profile

The finance department is responsible for handling every aspect of corporate financial management. Finance managers are mid or senior-level professionals responsible for all their organisation’s financial activities. The responsibilities entrusted to finance managers are consistent across industries and corporations. Their main task is to ensure the company’s economic well-being and engage in activities like budgeting, reporting, compliance, risk management, etc., to achieve these goals.

Photo by Adeolu Eletu on Unsplash

Here Are Some of the Main Job Responsibilities for Finance Managers:

Budgeting and Financial Planning

Managing the financial budget is one of the prime responsibilities of the finance department. The process starts with the finance managers sourcing the data from various departments. Then they work with the department heads and senior management to arrive at detailed budgets for multiple projects and departments.

The budgeting exercise lays the groundwork for how the company will proceed in the coming year. Management must make critical decisions at this point, and the budgeting exercise allocates resources for every initiative or operational activity.

Reporting the Numbers

Reporting is an ongoing activity that executives in the finance department must perform. A business must turn a profit, and finance managers are responsible for tracking the profitability and other related metrics for the company and within each department or product line. The finance department serves as the eyes of the top management and even external stakeholders and provides a glimpse into the business’s operations.

These reports are the most important indicators of how well a specific product, department/ business vertical is doing. Therefore, some companies review these reports daily. It falls to the finance department to ensure that all managerial staff has access to relevant and presented statements in a format that is easily decipherable and actionable.

The relevant numbers for each department head might differ, and finance managers must provide each of them with what they need. For example, the HR Department might only need numbers related to payrolls, but they might need them in greater detail. As the CEO will need them, they should condense Department-specific statistics. 

Managing Risks

The finance department is also responsible for managing many risks related to the financial management of the business. For example, consider a European company importing raw materials from Japan and exporting finished goods to the United States. In this case, the industry is subject to currency risk and changes in the value of the US dollar, the Euro, and the Japanese Yen. The finance department thus must manage this risk which involves forecasting, analysis, simulations, scenario building, and finally, deciding on the actual hedging strategy.

There are dozens of other risks to manage as well. For example, managing the credit risk of the company’s creditors, having enough cash liquidity for day-to-day operations or contingencies, having backup credit lines set up in emergencies, and so on.

Coordinating With Banks/ Securing Capital

Depending on the company’s business structure, the finance department might have to liaise with several banks worldwide. Examples of bank-related activities include – a merger or acquisition, raising capital from the debt or equity markets, managing international trade and payments, handling investments on behalf of the company, or even managing day-to-day cash collections.

In addition to coordinating with banks on these activities, it also falls on the finance department to minimise the cost of capital for the business. They must negotiate the cheapest rates for borrowing and structure the company to maximise shareholder value.

Compliance

The finance department also has a role in managing regulatory and legal compliance and, for example, ensuring that fair tax laws are followed or complying with international sanctions.

See also Operations Manager Job Description and Profile for reference here.

Search Other Articles To Learn More About Finance Manager Careers: CV Template and examples, Salary and pay, Qualifications, Skills and requirements, etc. Search Jobs to find out about the finance manager job roles we currently have available.