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The differences between finance managers and finance leaders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a finance manager and a finance leader. Additionally, a finance leader has an average salary of $117,284, which is higher than the $101,374 average annual salary of a finance manager.
The top three skills for a finance manager include financial analysis, CPA and customer service. The most important skills for a finance leader are financial analysis, financial management, and business development.
| Finance Manager | Finance Leader | |
| Yearly salary | $101,374 | $117,284 |
| Hourly rate | $48.74 | $56.39 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 125,345 | 93,582 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
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.
The duties of a finance leader depend on one's place or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around monitoring the sales and financial operations in a company, preparing financial reports and statements, finding new sales opportunities, identifying the market and client needs, and maintaining records of all financial transactions. There are also instances where a finance leader may set and allocate budgets, perform audits in costs and expenditures, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Finance managers and finance leaders have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Finance Manager | Finance Leader | |
| Average salary | $101,374 | $117,284 |
| Salary range | Between $71,000 And $144,000 | Between $78,000 And $174,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Oregon |
| Best paying company | Barclays | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a finance manager and a finance leader in terms of educational background:
| Finance Manager | Finance Leader | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Business | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between finance managers' and finance leaders' demographics:
| Finance Manager | Finance Leader | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 60.0% Female, 40.0% | Male, 60.0% Female, 40.0% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 10.0% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |