Finance Manager
What the work is
Plans, organises, directs, controls and coordinates the financial and accounting activities within an organisation.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Determines, implements, monitors, reviews and evaluates budgetary and accounting strategies, policies and plans in consultation with other managers
- Provides financial information and interprets the implications for business performance and funding needs
- Coordinates the development, implementation and monitoring of accounting systems
- Directs the preparation of financial reports that summarise and forecast an organisation's financial position, such as income statements and balance sheets, and analyses future earnings and income
- Advises on investment strategies, sources of funds, and the distribution of earnings
- Delivers long-range profit forecasts, budgeting and financial reports
- Ensures compliance with financial legislation and standards
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the finance team of a fictional family-owned building supplies business with five branches. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A messy set of figures becomes a clear picture the owners can make a decision from
- The auditors finish with no surprises because your team kept tidy records all year
- You explain a budget to a branch manager and watch it finally make sense to them
Hard days
- Month end, with a deadline and one missing invoice holding everything up
- Telling a manager the money they were counting on is not there
- Being pushed to present the numbers in a more flattering way than they deserve
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 111231, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.