How To Become A Contract Finance Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a contract finance analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Nate Peach Ph.D.

Contract finance analysts need to have computer skills, analytical skills, and communication skills to accomplish their responsibilities. They need to analyze current and past financial data, prepare reports based on analysis, and evaluate profit plans.

Finance analysts are expected to hold at least a bachelor's degree in accounting, statistics, economics, business administration, finance, or other related fields. They may require a master's degree for an advanced position.

They can make about $71,265 per year or $34.26 per hour. Financial analysts will have long days because most of the time, their job continues outside the workplace. They may also need to work more than 40 hours a week.

What general advice would you give to a contract finance analyst?

Nate Peach Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Economics, George Fox University

Try to stay optimistic. You've invested your time, energy, and money on a precious degree. The pandemic has not changed the value of the skills you've acquired. What it has done is to make it challenging to find a job for the moment. Things are weird right now. Many companies are redesigning their hiring practices, which is bound to cause challenges for job seekers. The skills that you developed as an economist are precious to employers, be diligent in your job search, and you will be rewarded with a great career.

ScoreContract Finance AnalystUS Average

Salary

5.0

Avg. Salary $64,424

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.8

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.10%

Asian 14.09%

Black or African American 5.64%

Hispanic or Latino 7.67%

Unknown 4.50%

White 68.00%

Gender

female 47.47%

male 52.53%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

5.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a contract finance analyst

Explore contract finance analyst education requirements

Most common contract finance analyst degrees

Bachelor's

73.2 %

Master's

15.4 %

Associate

8.4 %

Start to develop specific contract finance analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Financial Analysis	16.71%
SQL	14.70%
Cost Analysis	11.73%
Financial Data	3.84%
Reconciliations	3.29%

Complete relevant contract finance analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New contract finance analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a contract finance analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real contract finance analyst resumes.

Research contract finance analyst duties and responsibilities

Manage cash activities and resolve old and current accounts through reconciliations and variance analysis.
Develop, maintain financial models/applications (VBA Excel/Access) to automate and streamline business processes and perform financial analysis.
Maintain audit readiness and compliance for internal/external corporate and project audits - PWC, KPMG, and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX).
Subject matter expert on sun setting GL/Budget/Reporting system while concurrently participating in the design and implementation of custom forecasting ERP tool.

Prepare your contract finance analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your contract finance analyst resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a contract finance analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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