Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between finance associates and finance managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a finance associate, becoming a finance manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a finance manager has an average salary of $101,374, which is higher than the $81,339 average annual salary of a finance associate.
The top three skills for a finance associate include financial statements, powerpoint and financial services. The most important skills for a finance manager are financial analysis, CPA, and customer service.
| Finance Associate | Finance Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $81,339 | $101,374 |
| Hourly rate | $39.11 | $48.74 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 83,256 | 125,345 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 43 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 8 |
Finance associates perform various financial tasks for a company. These include managing accounting records, preparing payroll documents as well as financial and budget reports, and handling payments. Additionally, finance associates help with tax preparation, audits and reviews, and help with developing and implementing procedures, best practices, and policies for financial and accounting operations. The skills and qualifications for this role may include a bachelor's degree in finance or accounting, excellent communication skills, and attention to detail.
A finance manager is responsible for monitoring the financial system of a company. Their tasks include handling their organization's financial status, generating cost estimates and budget goals, identifying business opportunities to increase revenues and profitability, improving financial strategies, reducing costs, analyzing account statements, processing invoice as needed, analyzing market trends, searching potential partnerships, and presenting reports. A finance manager must have excellent analytical skills and knowledge of the accounting and financial industry. They are responsible for providing the best recommendations for the organization's growth.
Finance associates and finance managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Finance Associate | Finance Manager | |
| Average salary | $81,339 | $101,374 |
| Salary range | Between $50,000 And $130,000 | Between $71,000 And $144,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman | Barclays |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between a finance associate and a finance manager in terms of educational background:
| Finance Associate | Finance Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between finance associates' and finance managers' demographics:
| Finance Associate | Finance Manager | |
| Average age | 43 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 47.3% Female, 52.7% | Male, 60.0% Female, 40.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% Asian, 12.3% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 10.2% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 11% |