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

What is a finance counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Tommy Casarez Ph.D.

Financial counselors are employed in hospitals to provide patients with cost estimates before they are admitted. They assist patients with financial applications and arrangements. Similarly, they determine health insurance benefits, conditions, and requirements by contacting providers. Also, financial counselors review and verify patients' financial information to determine their status. They act as a liaison between the hospital and the patient to oversee payment collection. Additionally, they document results, conduct measures, and prepare outcome reports. Besides that, they ensure compliance with relevant rules, regulations, and policies.

To qualify for this job, you must possess a high school diploma or its equivalent. You must also have two or more years of experience in a related discipline. You must be proficient in Microsoft Office. Similarly, you must be familiar with medical terminology, billing practices, and coding. Core skills for this position include communication, maths, people, and organization skills. Financial counselors make about $39,920 per year. This varies from $30,000 to $54,000.

What general advice would you give to a finance counselor?

Dr. Tommy Casarez Ph.D.

Dr., Assistant Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology, Vanguard University

Opportunities come in many different shapes and sizes, but they are still out there. Whether you are seeking to land a job in education or the non-profit sector, you will need to familiarize yourself and get used to all things digital, for the sake of communicating effectively. The younger your student or service partner's mindset, the more digitally savvy you will need to be, especially in the classroom and in the non-profit world.

ScoreFinance CounselorUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $40,561

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate 15%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.11%

Asian 5.82%

Black or African American 6.14%

Hispanic or Latino 10.10%

Unknown 4.41%

White 73.42%

Gender

female 79.00%

male 21.00%

Age - 44

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 - 44

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a finance counselor

Explore finance counselor education requirements

Most common finance counselor degrees

Bachelor's

46.7 %

Associate

22.0 %

High School Diploma

12.4 %

Start to develop specific finance counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	28.45%
Customer Service	10.77%
Medical Terminology	6.01%
Insurance Benefits	5.21%
Insurance Coverage	3.63%

Complete relevant finance counselor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New finance counselors 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 finance counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real finance counselor resumes.

Gain additional finance counselor certifications

Finance counselor certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific finance counselor certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for finance counselors include Medical Assistant and Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS).

More About Certifications

Research finance counselor duties and responsibilities

Lead cleanup of company database and files with pending patient and insurance payments through Meditech software program.
Work one on one with the nurses to insure all patients are registered and treat with dignity and compassion.
Develop ad implement in-house software financial aid college work-study program.
Collect student paperwork to verify FAFSA applications to award accurate financial aid.

Prepare your finance counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your finance counselor 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 finance counselor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable finance counselor resume templates

Build a professional finance counselor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your finance counselor resume.