Commercial director vs finance director

The differences between commercial directors and finance directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 8-10 years to become a commercial director, becoming a finance director takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a commercial director has an average salary of $143,615, which is higher than the $118,518 average annual salary of a finance director.

The top three skills for a commercial director include project management, kpis and healthcare. The most important skills for a finance director are CPA, financial analysis, and payroll.

Commercial director vs finance director overview

	Commercial Director	Finance Director
Yearly salary	$143,615	$118,518
Hourly rate	$69.05	$56.98
Growth rate	10%	17%
Number of jobs	97,667	90,012
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age	39	46
Years of experience	10	8

What does a commercial director do?

Commercial Directors are executives who manage the performance and subsequent growth of the company. They lead activities related to the commerce side of the business. Commercial directors study the current trends in both the economic market and in the industry that the business operates in. They also study their target market. With this research, they devise ways to ensure that a company's performance will not decline as they navigate the changing market landscape. Commercial Directors should have good foresight and strong analytical skills to make sense of the current trends and how they would affect their future.

What does a finance director do?

A finance director's role is to oversee all financial activities and aspects of a company or organization. One of their duties is to gather necessary financial data and cultivate reports on essential matters such as revenue and budget, provide risk assessments and estimates, implement vital policies, and allocate funds within the company. Furthermore, a finance director must also devise strategies and recommend innovative methods for financial gains, while in adherence to the organization's policies and regulations.

Commercial director vs finance director salary

Commercial directors and finance directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Commercial Director	Finance Director
Average salary	$143,615	$118,518
Salary range	Between $93,000 And $221,000	Between $76,000 And $183,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Palo Alto, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	California
Best paying company	Emergent BioSolutions	Meta
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Manufacturing

Differences between commercial director and finance director education

There are a few differences between a commercial director and a finance director in terms of educational background:

	Commercial Director	Finance Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common major	Business	Accounting
Most common college	University of Georgia	University of Pennsylvania

Commercial director vs finance director demographics

Here are the differences between commercial directors' and finance directors' demographics:

	Commercial Director	Finance Director
Average age	39	46
Gender ratio	Male, 80.9% Female, 19.1%	Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 9.4% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	10%	11%

Differences between commercial director and finance director duties and responsibilities

Commercial director example responsibilities.

Monitor and manage budgets on each account to ensure high ROI and biggest bang for each buck.
Lead start-up of new far-east OEM partner, including selection process, technical & manufacturing management and relationship development.
Lead global project to commercialize expand portfolio of adhesive utilizing company synergies to establish a strong, highly-competitive distribution channel.
Define and implement the CRM and phone systems and infrastructure need to support commercialization efforts.
Create and maintain adoption measurement for SFDC resulting in increase usage of CRM tool, globally.
Institute metrics to document cost savings, purchase requisition turnaround, and number of POs issue.

Finance director example responsibilities.

Manage treasury functions considering the inflationary situation and changes in economic patterns to minimize any negative impact they may involve.
Improve internal controls and operating efficiency by training accountants and converting general ledger reconciliations to GAAP formats.
Prepare financial data and footnotes for independent CPA annual audit financial statements.
Develop financial models in Hyperion to aggregate sales data and allocate expenses for profitability analysis.
Complete Sarbanes-Oxley procedural requirements for entire incentive development, administration and reporting process.
Develop an electronic billing capacity and are the first Montana health care provider to bill Medicaid electronically.

Commercial director vs finance director skills

Common commercial director skills

Project Management, 9%
KPIs, 8%
Healthcare, 8%
Business Development, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
Lead Generation, 5%

Common finance director skills

CPA, 7%
Financial Analysis, 6%
Payroll, 4%
Work Ethic, 4%
Oversight, 4%
Financial Management, 4%

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Commercial Director
Commercial Director vs Finance Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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