What does a Finance Supervisor do?

A finance supervisor is typically in charge of overseeing the budgets and financial activities of a company. Among their responsibilities include coordinating with different departments to gather and analyze financial data, performing audits and assessments, preparing and presenting financial reports and budget plans, updating databases, and developing strategies to optimize the finance department's operations. Moreover, as a supervisor, it is essential to lead and encourage the finance staff to reach goals, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
Finance supervisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real finance supervisor resumes:
- Lead financial planning & analysis, accounting/general ledger operations and GAAP financial reporting for multiple locations.
- Supervise month-end close activities, including reviewing journal entries, account reconciliations, financial statement preparation, inventory and capital.
- Create and update Hyperion reports for various departmental needs.
- Prepare and update SOX and internal policies and procedures quarterly for the accounting department.
- Conduct audits of processes to determine compliance with prescribe procedures, accuracy of records and SOX.
- Team leader for the accounting department during the upgrade of the company's ERP system from FP2 to FP7.
- Finance lead for the implementation of QAD (ERP system), consisting of core business process development and testing.
- Adjust monthly financial statements to comply with U.S. GAAP, and report the statements and analyses to U.S. headquarter for consolidation.
- Import and reconcile monthly payroll batch activity into general ledger database.
- Review and approve subcontractor and material supplier waivers and subcontractor certify payroll.
- Supervise inter-company reconciliations and negotiate offsets.
- Reconcile bank statements and cash management (wire transfers, ACH s, deposits, transfer funds, etc . )
- Retain full bank and check signature authority for both business units including wire remittance, EFT, and ACH approval authority.
- Supervise inter-company reconciliations and negotiate offsets.
Finance supervisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Finance Supervisors are proficient in Customer Service, Patients, and Reconciliations. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Analytical skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Finance Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 13%
Work with management to implement department policies/procedures to maximize efficiency and customer service and ensure compliance with government regulations.
- Patients, 6%
Collect patient co-pays and recorded payment transactions and communicated outstanding balance to patients.
- Reconciliations, 6%
Supervised inter-company reconciliations and negotiated offsets.
- Internal Controls, 6%
Worked independently in evaluating internal controls, validating financial transactions and reviewing overall operations of life insurance sales offices.
- Strong Analytical, 6%
Demonstrated strong analytical skills including trend analysis and the ability to develop innovative tactics to resolve automobile investment issues.
- Payroll, 5%
Identified and corrected operational problems undermining efficiency for the Military Payroll and Cash Disbursement/Collection Departments.
Common skills that a finance supervisor uses to do their job include "customer service," "patients," and "reconciliations." You can find details on the most important finance supervisor responsibilities below.
Organizational skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a finance supervisor to have is organizational skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "strong organizational skills are important for accountants and auditors, who often work with a range of financial documents for a variety of clients." Finance supervisors often use organizational skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "worked with internal business partners to effectively and efficiently operationalize regulatory changes and process improvements to ensure organizational cohesiveness. "
Communication skills. finance supervisors are also known for communication skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to finance supervisor responsibilities, because "accountants and auditors must be able to listen to and discuss facts and concerns from clients, managers, and other stakeholders." A finance supervisor resume example shows how communication skills is used in the workplace: "maintained direct communication and negotiated with suppliers and external auditors. "
Detail oriented. finance supervisor responsibilities often require "detail oriented." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "accountants and auditors must pay attention to detail when compiling and examining documents." This resume example shows what finance supervisors do with detail oriented on a typical day: "reviewed bank reconciliations to confirm cash transactions match general ledger detail. "
Math skills. A commonly-found skill in finance supervisor job descriptions, "math skills" is essential to what finance supervisors do. Finance supervisor responsibilities rely on this skill because "accountants and auditors must be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures." You can also see how finance supervisor duties rely on math skills in this resume example: "designed and implemented process improvements, performance management initiatives and pricing strategies through quantitative and qualitative procedures and analysis. "
The three companies that hire the most finance supervisors are:
- Sysco7 finance supervisors jobs
- Abbott6 finance supervisors jobs
- Koch Industries6 finance supervisors jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable finance supervisor resume templates
Build a professional finance supervisor resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your finance supervisor resume.Compare different finance supervisors
Finance supervisor vs. Senior accountant analyst
As a senior accountant analyst, your main role is to provide professional guidance to a company. You need to have excellent preparation skills to create financial reports that clearly state the expenses and forecast the company's financial future. You should always aim for accuracy and compliance. Moreover, as a senior accountant analyst, you are supposed to give general operational assistance to the company's management.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a finance supervisor are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "patients," "balance sheet," and "journal entries." On the other hand, a job as a senior accountant analyst requires skills like "balance sheet accounts," "accruals," "income statement," and "treasury." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Senior accountant analysts earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $89,199. On the other hand, finance supervisors are paid more in the automotive industry with an average salary of $94,318.senior accountant analysts tend to reach similar levels of education than finance supervisors. In fact, senior accountant analysts are 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Finance supervisor vs. Account leader
Account leaders are assigned to work on specific client accounts and assist these clients with their needs. They should treat their clients as partners. This would help them forge a better working relationship with clients. Account leaders should have high business acumen and a strong grasp of the current industry landscape. They should be familiar with the company's products and services and which product or service best fits the clients' needs. Account leaders should also know how to retain clients and maintain the client base. They may do this by regularly checking up on clients, making clients feel valued, and mitigating any challenges that may arise.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, finance supervisor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "patients," "balance sheet," "journal entries," and "work ethic." Meanwhile, an account leader has duties that require skills in areas such as "account management," "client facing," "business development," and "project management." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Account leaders earn a higher average salary than finance supervisors. But account leaders earn the highest pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $124,638. Additionally, finance supervisors earn the highest salaries in the automotive with average pay of $94,318 annually.account leaders earn similar levels of education than finance supervisors in general. They're 2.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Finance Supervisors in the next 3-5 years?
Nate Peach Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Economics, George Fox University
Finance supervisor vs. Accounting manager/controller
An accounting manager/controller is responsible for spearheading and overseeing the daily operations in a company's accounting department. They monitor the company's budgets, including its costs and expenditures, and produce financial reports. It is also their duty to establish objectives and guidelines, manage accounting staff, monitor financial activities, review and assess financial statements, approve expenditures, and resolve issues promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, as an accounting manager/controller, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, 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 supervisor resumes include skills like "customer service," "patients," "strong analytical," and "payroll," whereas an accounting manager/controller is more likely to list skills in "cpa," "cash management," "payroll taxes," and "financial reports. "
Accounting managers/controller earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $89,839. Comparatively, finance supervisors have the highest earning potential in the automotive industry, with an average salary of $94,318.When it comes to education, accounting managers/controller tend to earn similar degree levels compared to finance supervisors. In fact, they're 0.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Finance supervisor 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 supervisor
Updated January 8, 2025