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Finance officer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted experts

Carol Sullivan,

Thomas King

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical finance officer skills. We ranked the top skills for finance officers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 28.7% of finance officer resumes contained real estate as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a finance officer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 finance officer skills for your resume and career

1. Real Estate

Real estate is land that has buildings on it. This kind of property consists of permanent improvements either natural or man-made, which include, houses, fences, bridges, water trees, and minerals. There are 4 types of real estate namely; residential real estate, commercial real estate, industrial real estate, and vacant land.

Here's how finance officers use real estate:

Performed accounting for real estate loans, commercial loans, consumer loans, auto loans and home equity lines of credit.
Provided all accounting services for real estate subsidiary below, from A/P through consolidated financial statements.

2. Financial Data

Here's how finance officers use financial data:

Comply and report financial data and statistical, demographic reports in accordance with government and accrediting agency guidelines.
Analyzed and reconciled program execution to various financial databases; recommended and implemented strategies to improve performance.

3. Origination

Here's how finance officers use origination:

Direct origination of transportation equipment * Establish vendor programs * Work directly with funding sources to analyze credit and maximize deal profitability
Supported Bank Branch Manager by performing audits for compliance with federal regulations governing loan solicitation, origination, and servicing.

4. Financial Procedures

Here's how finance officers use financial procedures:

Established & maintained Financial Procedures Manual.
Developed a financial procedures manual.

5. Financial Management

Here's how finance officers use financial management:

Provided ongoing financial management services including monitoring expenditures, reviewing budget changes, proposed expenditure amendments, and revenue revisions.
Experience included operating as the Deputy Detachment Commander for the Financial Management Support Unit under the Financial Management Command.

6. Financial Analysis

Here's how finance officers use financial analysis:

Directed and coordinated the corporate-level budgeting, financial analysis and reporting systems ensuring compliance with appropriate GAAP standards and regulatory requirements.
Provide financial analysis and reporting for decision making, including financial statements, Deposit, Delinquency and Production Reports.

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7. CPA

Here's how finance officers use cpa:

Managed staff of five professionals consisting of CPA's, MBA's and financial analysts.
Network with City's CPA, bank and other city officials regarding financial matters.

8. PowerPoint

Here's how finance officers use powerpoint:

Assist Executive Director and Director of Finance with supplementary quarterly board meeting materials (PowerPoint slides, ad hoc reports).
Prepared weekly PowerPoint presentations Ran weekly financial reports, make bank deposits and pay monthly expenditures.

9. Financial Performance

Here's how finance officers use financial performance:

Job description: Exploring investment opportunities Establishing and evaluating profit plans Identifying trends in financial performance and providing recommendations for improvements
Monitored financial performance by measuring and analyzing results; initiated corrective actions; minimized the impact of variances.

10. General Ledger Accounts

A general ledger account is a practice to keep a record of a company's total financial accounts. The accounts included in a general ledger lists the assets, liabilities, owners' equity, expenses, and income or revenue. It forms the basis of reporting a business's financial statements.

Here's how finance officers use general ledger accounts:

Performed bank and general ledger accounts analysis, reconciliation and prepared necessary adjusting journal entries;.
Performed annual and quarterly bank-wide audits of all general ledger accounts and supporting documentation.

11. Internal Controls

Here's how finance officers use internal controls:

Developed and implemented internal controls, accounting policies and procedures to safeguard organization's assets.
Developed, implemented internal controls and measures, gave recommendations to management for improvement;.

12. Financial Policies

Here's how finance officers use financial policies:

Developed annual budgets and financial systems, project revenue and monitored financial policies and procedures.
Provide interpretation of financial policies, governmental legislation, accounting theory and financial regulations.

13. Human Resources

Human resources is a set of people in a business or a corporation that are designated to locate, interview, and recruit new employees into the company. They are also responsible to maintain the integrity of the employees and help them sort their problems out. They try to introduce and manage employee-benefit programs.

Here's how finance officers use human resources:

Collaborated with human resources on the design, development and administration of numerous incentive and compensation programs.
Supervised administrative staff and managed all aspects of human resources.

14. Financial Transactions

The type of agreement held between two parties (buyer and seller) regarding an exchange of funds for an asset, is termed as a financial transaction. The financial transaction is the exchange of products, services, cash or credit, information, and other things of value among two separate entities for a common goal.

Here's how finance officers use financial transactions:

Monitor grants and project financial transactions including sub-contractors activities, ensuring USAID regulations and proper backup/audit documentation.
Reviewed and evaluated ongoing corporate-wide financial transaction requests subsequently formulating appropriate recommendations for processing by Accounting department.

15. Journal Entries

Journal entries can be defined as an act of keeping or making records of any transactions either economic or non-economic. The journal entries are made in the accounting systems of an organization. The entries are filled with two main fields; debit and credit. The debit and credit must be equal at the end of a journal entry else it is not considered correct. The journal entries also keep the date of transactions and the names of the accounts that were affected by the transactions.

Here's how finance officers use journal entries:

Generated appropriate accrual journal entries for any material expected expenditure and eliminated double-book entries.
Processed and approved journal entries, purchase requested and interdepartmental invoices.

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What skills help Finance Officers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on finance officer resumes?

Carol Sullivan

Associate Professor, The University of Texas Permian Basin

Microsoft Office is most important in my professional opinion, but also Accounting software like QuickBooks is important. Computer literacy is really important, especially if employees continue to work remotely.

What soft skills should all finance officers possess?

Thomas King

Department Chair, Director, Master of Accountancy Program, Professor, Accountancy, Case Western Reserve University

The ability to develop working relationships with a wide range of colleagues who have diverse skills.

What hard/technical skills are most important for finance officers?

Thomas King

Department Chair, Director, Master of Accountancy Program, Professor, Accountancy, Case Western Reserve University

The ability to extract information from unfamiliar data sets and then explain conclusions reached in a clear, persuasive manner.

What finance officer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Stephen Moehrle Ph.D.

Professor and Chairman of Accounting, University of Missouri - St. Louis

In the spirit of continuing education I would recommend the following: First and foremost, successfully complete the cpa exam. This is a huge difference-maker in the marketplace. If the young professional has already accomplished that, I would consider developing expertise consistent with their long-term career goals. Potential areas of expertise include data analytics, information systems controls and security, taxation, SEC reporting, or management accounting. There are certificate programs in each of these skills at universities across the country. The internet is also replete with free or relatively inexpensive materials for self-starters.

What type of skills will young finance officers need?

Jeff Bogan

Adjunct Professor, California State University - Fullerton

The skills required for young accounting and tax graduates are evolving. Young accounting professionals must be more skilled in working with various types of technologies and applications. Young graduates should have experiences working with data integration tools, such as Microsoft getting & Transform, Alteryx, data visualization tools, cloud-based platforms such as Microsoft Azure, and robotic processes automation applications such as UiPath and Blue Prism.

Over the last decade, we have seen global transparency initiatives such as OECD's BEPS initiative, complex tax law, and numerous complex accounting guidance. Also, the business has become much more complicated with global footprints and digital platforms. These changes now require accounting professionals to have the well-developed critical thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills. Accounting professionals must now also have a "continuous learning" mindset. Technology is changing rapidly, and accounting professionals will need to adapt and learn new technologies.

What technical skills for a finance officer stand out to employers?

Dr. JP Krahel Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Accounting, Accounting Department Chair, Loyola University Maryland

First, Excel. It's the most basic, essential tool for the accounting professional. If you can come in on Day 1 knowing essential keyboard shortcuts, proper formula and reference use, and how to format a spreadsheet properly, you'll have an immediate advantage over your peers.

Second, believe it or not, is writing. People think that accounting is all about numbers, but really, it's less about the math (which Excel does for you) and more about being able to explain the deeper meaning behind the results. Can you explain complex depreciation methods to an audit client? Give bad news to a tax client in an understandable way? These are big deals.

Third is data analytics. Given the immense volume of data now available to firms, someone who can extract, clean, and present that data using modern software tools will have an edge. It's really another form of communication, and one that early-career accounting professionals would do well to familiarize themselves with before entering the workforce.

Do you want to know more?

List of finance officer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a finance officer resume and required skills for a finance officer to have include:

Real Estate
Financial Data
Origination
Financial Procedures
Financial Management
Financial Analysis
CPA
PowerPoint
Financial Performance
General Ledger Accounts
Internal Controls
Financial Policies
Human Resources
Financial Transactions
Journal Entries
GAAP

Balance Sheet
Grants Management
Income Statement
Financial Operations
Financial Systems
Budget Preparation
Financial Aid
External Auditors
QuickBooks
Financial Aspects
Bank Statements
Fixed Assets
Bank Reconciliations
Tax Returns
Due Diligence
Cost Analysis

Bank Accounts
Variance Analysis
Accounts Receivables
Accounts Payables
Financial Issues
Financial Results
Financial Support
Financial Institutions
Loan Applications
Bank Deposits
Financial Reports
Expense Reports
Commercial Banking
Payment Vouchers
Ministry
Cash Flow Analysis

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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