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.
Finance director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real finance director resumes:
- 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.
- Create market-sizing and operational plan that expand business to include PBM contracting and Medicaid MCO business model development.
- Streamline payroll process to increase accuracy and timeliness by implementing controls and improving time and attendance record keeping process.
- Lead the annual budget consolidation process, including aggregating all global business units and ensure accurately load into Hyperion.
- Work collaboratively with senior management, provide key financial metric reports: monthly reconciliations and analysis of accounts receivables.
- Increase ROI through implementation of improve processes relate to detail analysis and accurate project costing resulting increase project profitability.
- Transition internal processing of payroll to external vendor providing for more timely tax reporting, accuracy and substantial cost savings.
- Ensure customers have sound understanding of available options by providing managerial oversight to sales processes and reaffirmation of purchase products.
- Research technical accounting issues and implement new accounting pronouncements to ensure compliance with GAAP and other applicable regulatory agencies i.e.
- Improve the Sarbanes-Oxley control environment and documentation at multiple sites through simplify control environment by standardizing key controls across sites.
Finance director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Finance Directors are proficient in CPA, Financial Analysis, and Payroll. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Detail oriented, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Finance Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- CPA, 7%
Provided preliminary Cost Report information to CPA for compilation and formulation of annual report.
- Financial Analysis, 6%
Developed and built a finance / business partnership that vastly increased financial analysis and expertise into the organization's decision-making process.
- Payroll, 4%
Transitioned internal processing of payroll to external vendor providing for more timely tax reporting, accuracy and substantial cost savings.
- Work Ethic, 4%
Exhibited strong work ethics, great attitude and adhered to a strong code of personal ethics.
- Oversight, 4%
Developed, enhanced, and implemented financial policies that realigned resource management, improved contract accounting, and strengthened compliance oversight.
- Financial Management, 4%
Converted the planning process from Excel to Hyperion Financial Management consolidation solution which eliminated redundant activities and optimized the consolidation process.
"cpa," "financial analysis," and "payroll" are among the most common skills that finance directors use at work. You can find even more finance director responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a finance director to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what finance directors do because "to assist executives in making decisions, financial managers need to evaluate data and information that affects their organization." Additionally, a finance director resume shows how finance directors use analytical skills: "resolved complex financial consolidation effort by extending integration of sap r/3 erp system into consolidation software with best-practice data-mapping. "
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform finance director duties is detail oriented. Finance directors responsibilities require that "in preparing and analyzing reports, such as balance sheets and income statements, financial managers must be precise and attentive to their work in order to avoid errors." Finance directors also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "utilize ajera by deltek erp solution to implement more efficient, detailed and timely reporting on a project by project basis. "
Math skills. This is an important skill for finance directors to perform their duties. For an example of how finance director responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "financial managers need strong skills in certain branches of mathematics, including algebra." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a finance director: "led financial management and accounting functions utilizing superior quantitative skills. ".
Organizational skills. finance director responsibilities often require "organizational skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "because financial managers deal with a range of information and documents, they must have structures in place to be effective in their work." This resume example shows what finance directors do with organizational skills on a typical day: "led due diligence, integration and organizational efforts for a +$500 million dollar acquisition. "
Communication skills. Another common skill required for finance director responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of finance directors all the time, as "financial managers must be able to explain and justify complex financial transactions." An excerpt from a real finance director resume shows how this skill is central to what a finance director does: "directed the accounting, financial analysis, compensation, purchasing and accounts payable departments in a wireless telecommunications start-up environment. "
The three companies that hire the most finance directors are:
- CBRE Group200 finance directors jobs
- Great Wolf Resorts74 finance directors jobs
- Pwc70 finance directors jobs
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Compare different finance directors
Finance director vs. Director of administration & finance
A director of administration & finance oversees and directs an organization's administration and finance department, ensuring operations run smoothly and efficiently according to company standards and regulations. It is their duty to set goals and guidelines, lead the research and development efforts, establish procedures, manage the budgets and costs, review and evaluate financial reports, and implement the organizations' policies and standards. Moreover, a director of administration & finance leads staff and supervises all operations, solving issues and concerns if any would arise.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, finance director responsibilities require skills like "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "hyperion," and "customer service." Meanwhile a typical director of administration & finance has skills in areas such as "administrative functions," "human resource functions," "budget development," and "administrative policies." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Directors of administration & finance earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $117,977. On the other hand, finance directors are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $128,738.directors of administration & finance tend to reach similar levels of education than finance directors. In fact, directors of administration & finance are 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Finance director vs. Director of operations and finance
A director of operations and finance is in charge of overseeing and spearheading business and financial operations, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to identify the best practices to optimize operations, coordinating with different departments to gather data, conducting research and analysis to identify new business and investment opportunities, and monitoring the progress of various projects and programs. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that finance director responsibilities requires skills like "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "customer service," and "strong analytical." But a director of operations and finance might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "project management," "shared services," "business processes," and "lean six sigma."
Directors of operations and finance earn a lower average salary than finance directors. But directors of operations and finance earn the highest pay in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $126,734. Additionally, finance directors earn the highest salaries in the manufacturing with average pay of $128,738 annually.In general, directors of operations and finance achieve similar levels of education than finance directors. They're 2.3% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for finance directors in the next 3-5 years?
Nate Peach Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Economics, George Fox University
Finance director vs. Controller, vice president
A Controller, Vice President is focused on controlling and directing financial planning and budget management. They supervise the daily operations of the finance department, such as financial reporting, accounts payable, and payroll.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from finance director resumes include skills like "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "hyperion," and "customer service," whereas a controller, vice president is more likely to list skills in "nyse," "regulatory reports," "securities," and "close process. "
Controllers, vice president earn the highest salary when working in the manufacturing industry, where they receive an average salary of $162,621. Comparatively, finance directors have the highest earning potential in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $128,738.controllers, vice president typically earn similar educational levels compared to finance directors. Specifically, they're 2.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Finance director vs. Manager finance planning and analysis
A manager finance planning and analysis oversees the daily operations of a company's financial planning department. They typically have administrative duties such as setting goals and guidelines, establishing timelines and budgets, delegating tasks among teams and staff, and reviewing financial reports regularly. They also perform research and assessments, gather and analyze financial data from different departments, coordinate staff, and solve issues and concerns when any arise. Additionally, as a manager, they must lead and empower staff to reach goals while implementing company policies and regulations.
Types of finance director
Updated January 8, 2025
