What does a finance planning manager do?
A finance planning manager oversees the budget and finance development processes within a company. Their responsibilities revolve around analyzing financial records, participating in auditing processes, producing reports and forecasts, and coordinating with different company personnel to obtain accurate data. A finance planning manager must also utilize fiscal tools, devise new business strategies and opportunities, and keep abreast of all the company's upcoming projects. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the team, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Finance planning manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real finance planning manager resumes:
- Manage international income tax, insurance and treasury functions.
- Conduct evaluations of budgeting and forecasting tools and integration with PeopleSoft ERP system achieving more efficiency in the budgeting process.
- Prepare payroll and manage all human resource functions including recruitment, training and performance reviews for all administrative and financial personnel.
- Develop and assess profitability of product lines through interpretation of financial statements and KPIs.
- report requirements collection/analysis, reporting system design, writing SQL, building reports . )
- Partner with other developers and analysts on best practices in Essbase and QlikView design and development.
- Improve the purchasing process by eliminating the manual process and converting all purchases to the local ERP system.
- Recruit by the CFO to lead the financial reporting conversion from GAAP to IFRS during a plan international IPO.
- Assemble data for and prepare monthly internal and quarterly external financial reporting statements in compliance with GAAP and internal standards.
- Create operations and financial packages detailing core KPIs to identify core operational issues.
- Develop key systems and processes for global consolidation and reporting financial information using Hyperion.
- Define requirements to develop product level profit/loss statements and support the implementation project for Hyperion planning.
- Develop and implement ROI standards for commercial and residential properties as well as individual business segments.
- Develop models to measure investment and analyze ROI for various marketing communication initiatives and staff additions.
- Identify several ongoing reporting mistakes and leverage accounting experience to determine and implement solutions to align with the standard accounting policy.
Finance planning manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Finance Planning Managers are proficient in Financial Analysis, Financial Planning Analysis, and Financial Models. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Analytical skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Finance Planning Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Financial Analysis, 10%
Managed the financial analysis of monthly operating results, capital project investments and financial analysis for nine manufacturing locations.
- Financial Planning Analysis, 8%
Provide leadership to the Financial Planning Analysis/Management Reporting department for business activities.
- Financial Models, 7%
Designed detailed financial models providing significant contributions in the development of market strategies for the company's retail site portfolio.
- Financial Performance, 6%
Provide budget/forecast, business analysis, financial performance and profitability modeling and reporting for key areas of cost and revenue achievement.
- Hyperion, 6%
Defined requirements to develop product level profit/loss statements and supported the implementation project for Hyperion planning.
- Financial Data, 5%
Administer business partnering support to Cost Center Owners by adding insight via analysis and interpretation of financial data.
"financial analysis," "financial planning analysis," and "financial models" are among the most common skills that finance planning managers use at work. You can find even more finance planning manager responsibilities below, including:
Organizational skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a finance planning manager to have is organizational skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "because financial managers deal with a range of information and documents, they must have structures in place to be effective in their work." Finance planning managers often use organizational skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "led a cross-organizational team that developed the statistical correlation model between customer loyalty with market share and gross margin for hp. "
Analytical skills. Many finance planning manager duties rely on analytical skills. "to assist executives in making decisions, financial managers need to evaluate data and information that affects their organization.," so a finance planning manager will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways finance planning manager responsibilities rely on analytical skills: "analyzed product gross margin and contribution to make recommendations for rationalization. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of finance planning managers is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday finance planning manager duties, as "financial managers must be able to explain and justify complex financial transactions." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "facilitated communication with accounting and financial planning functions and directed staff of two financial analysts. "
Detail oriented. A big part of what finance planning managers do relies on "detail oriented." You can see how essential it is to finance planning manager responsibilities because "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." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical finance planning manager tasks: "create detailed internal financial reports to facilitate monthly analysis for the company s senior and regional management. "
Math skills. A commonly-found skill in finance planning manager job descriptions, "math skills" is essential to what finance planning managers do. Finance planning manager responsibilities rely on this skill because "financial managers need strong skills in certain branches of mathematics, including algebra." You can also see how finance planning manager duties rely on math skills in this resume example: "created a quantitative financial analysis dashboard using benchmarks, industry trends and cash flows. "
The three companies that hire the most finance planning managers are:
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Compare different finance planning managers
Finance planning manager vs. Finance analyst-operations finance
Financial analysts are professionals who are in charge of the financial operations of businesses. The analysts analyze results, monitor variances, determine trends, and suggest management-related actions to improve corporate finances. They reconcile transactions through data comparison and correction. It is their duty to maintain the database through data input, verification, and backup. They produce presentations restating fiscal information used by supervisors, administrators, and others. This position requires skills in financial reporting, management, communications skills, and accounting qualification.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between finance planning managers and finance analyst-operations finance. For instance, finance planning manager responsibilities require skills such as "business performance," "general ledger," "business plan," and "business cases." Whereas a finance analyst-operations finance is skilled in "financial operations," "data analysis," "customer service," and "strong analytical." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Finances analyst-operations finances tend to make the most money working in the pharmaceutical industry, where they earn an average salary of $93,042. In contrast, finance planning managers make the biggest average salary, $112,683, in the manufacturing industry.The education levels that finances analyst-operations finances earn slightly differ from finance planning managers. In particular, finances analyst-operations finances are 8.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a finance planning manager. Additionally, they're 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Finance planning manager vs. Senior finance analyst
A Senior Financial Analyst's role is to oversee the financial aspects and manage fellow analysts in a company. Among the tasks of a Senior Financial Analyst include conducting research and analysis, providing forecast in revenue and expenditures, creating financial models that would suit the company and project more sales, and take part in the planning of finances. Moreover, being a Senior Financial Analyst means leading a team of skilled professionals in the same field of expertise.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real finance planning manager resumes. While finance planning manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "balance sheet," "business performance," "business plan," and "financial statements," senior finance analysts use skills like "strong analytical," "ad-hoc analysis," "work ethic," and "power bi."
Senior finance analysts may earn a lower salary than finance planning managers, but senior finance analysts earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $90,805. On the other hand, finance planning managers receive higher pay in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $112,683.In general, senior finance analysts achieve similar levels of education than finance planning managers. They're 2.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for finance planning managers in the next 3-5 years?
Nate Peach Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Economics, George Fox University
Finance planning manager vs. Manager/finance accounting
A manager of finance accounting's role is to oversee the financial activities in a company or organization. Their responsibilities revolve around coordinating with other departments to gather financial data, analyze the revenues and expenditures, and develop written reports and presentations. A manager of finance accounting must also maintain accurate financial records, identify any errors or inconsistencies, and perform support tasks for staff when necessary. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the team, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
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 planning manager resumes include skills like "balance sheet," "business performance," "business plan," and "business cases," whereas a manager/finance accounting is more likely to list skills in "customer service," "cpa," "shared services," and "payroll processing. "
Managers/finance accounting earn the highest salary when working in the government industry, where they receive an average salary of $92,198. Comparatively, finance planning managers have the highest earning potential in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $112,683.When it comes to education, managers/finance accounting tend to earn lower degree levels compared to finance planning managers. In fact, they're 5.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Finance planning manager vs. Cash manager
A cash manager is responsible for monitoring cash flow, analyzing financial transactions, and allocating adequate budget and resources for every department's operations. Cash managers conduct data and statistical analysis to determine the company's expenses and financial loss and strategize techniques in minimizing those risks. They also help senior management in identifying business opportunities that would generate more revenue resources and increase profits for the business. A cash manager handles billing disputes, resolves account discrepancies, and submits accurate financial reports.
Types of finance planning manager
Updated January 8, 2025
