Follow
A financial manager is a mid to upper-level professional who has climbed the corporate ladder to take charge of key monetary decisions happening in their organization’s boardroom. Financial managers play a prominent role in overseeing the cash flow to ensure their company has the funds to maintain optimal financial growth. Financial manager is a catch-all term that can include various job titles in finance, including risk managers, money managers, credit managers, controllers, and treasurers. As our economy recovers, the demand for financial managers to plan, direct, and coordinate investments will also grow. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts average job growth by nine percent through 2022, thus creating 47,100 new jobs. Below we’ve created a brief career profile to help determine whether financial management fits you.
What Financial Managers Do
Financial managers maintain the significant responsibility of developing and implementing plans for strategically meeting the organization’s long-term financial goals. On a typical day, financial managers may be found reviewing financial records, creating forecasts, ensuring compliance with financial regulations, monitoring investments, brainstorming ways to lower operating costs, analyzing economic trends, evaluating risks, setting financial policies, and obtaining proper insurances. In their leadership role, financial managers will also be tasked with supervising finance or accounting staff who do the actual reporting. Financial managers attend meetings with senior executives frequently to provide their expert monetary advice on business moves.
Where Financial Managers Work
Financial managers lend a hand in coordinating the financial activities of organizations of all shapes and sizes across virtually all industries from manufacturing to healthcare. The highest percentage of financial managers are employed by banks and other depository credit intermediation settings. However, financial managers can find job opportunities in private corporations, accounting firms, insurance companies, government agencies, non-profit organizations, securities and commodity brokerages, investment firms, and educational institutions. Most financial managers work full-time in a comfortable office environment with top executives and department heads. Long hours and above-average stress levels are reported.
How to Become a Financial Manager
Becoming a financial manager won’t happen overnight because most need to have at least five years of relevant finance experience first. Although it’s possible to advance to financial manager with a bachelor’s degree and plenty of hard work, holding a master’s degree is now preferable. Most financial managers start with an undergraduate major in finance, accounting, economics, business, or statistics. Then, going to an accredited graduate business school for a Master of Science in Finance (MSF) or MBA in Finance is advised. Financial managers should also pursue professional credentials for marketability. For instance, passing the three exams to become a prestigious Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) will dazzle a manager’s resume.
Related Resource: Actuary
Overall, financial managers are highly trained, astute business professionals who utilize their finance background to monitor the company’s funds and find innovative strategies to maximize profits while lowering risks. The U.S. News and World Report has placed financial manager as the sixth best-paying job in America with an average yearly salary of $130,230. Financial managers are paid handsomely in exchange for making the right monetary choices that keep the organization’s finances afloat for growth. Although the pathway to become a financial manager is paved with years of experience, it pays off in a lucrative, rewarding career facilitating good financial health.
