How To Become A Lead Finance Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a lead finance analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Nate Peach Ph.D.

The principal duty of a lead financial analyst is to lead the financial and business analytical processes. He/She defines finance requirements for key corporate finance projects. He/She leads the analysis of payroll and other financial activities. Asides from that, he/she ensures proper documentation of all transactions across departments. Similarly, he/she defines the processes for financial documentation and compiles and submits financial reports to management. Additionally, he/she assists in creating new processes and improving existing ones. Also, he/she performs other duties as assigned.

For this role, you need a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, or a related discipline with a minimum of five years of relevant work experience. Having an MBA or CPA license is preferable. You must be familiar with financial processes. You must possess communication, organization, analytical, multitasking, maths, and problem-solving skills. The annual salary of a lead financial analyst ranges from $82,849 to $100,235, with an average of $90,878.

What general advice would you give to a lead finance analyst?

Nate Peach Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Economics, George Fox University

Try to stay optimistic. You've invested your time, energy, and money on a precious degree. The pandemic has not changed the value of the skills you've acquired. What it has done is to make it challenging to find a job for the moment. Things are weird right now. Many companies are redesigning their hiring practices, which is bound to cause challenges for job seekers. The skills that you developed as an economist are precious to employers, be diligent in your job search, and you will be rewarded with a great career.

ScoreLead Finance AnalystUS Average

Salary

6.7

Avg. Salary $85,672

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.8

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.10%

Asian 14.09%

Black or African American 5.64%

Hispanic or Latino 7.67%

Unknown 4.50%

White 68.00%

Gender

female 43.04%

male 56.96%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

5.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead finance analyst

Explore lead finance analyst education requirements

Most common lead finance analyst degrees

Bachelor's

71.4 %

Master's

21.8 %

Associate

4.9 %

Start to develop specific lead finance analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Financial Analysis	8.98%
Hyperion	8.14%
Financial Planning Analysis	5.70%
Ad-Hoc Analysis	3.87%
Balance Sheet	3.48%

Complete relevant lead finance analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead finance analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a lead finance analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead finance analyst resumes.

Research lead finance analyst duties and responsibilities

Manage and train a team of twelve employees to create SQL audits to identify errors in electronic billing.
Develop, maintain financial models/applications (VBA Excel/Access) to automate and streamline business processes and perform financial analysis.
Point of contact for external audit engagements relate to preparation of GAAP audit financial statements.
Complete bank reconciliations on a monthly basis.

Get lead finance analyst experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a lead finance analyst. The most common roles before becoming a lead finance analyst include finance analyst, senior finance analyst team lead and senior accountant.

Prepare your lead finance analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your lead finance analyst resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a lead finance analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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