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

What is a project finance analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Nate Peach Ph.D.

A project finance analyst is responsible for setting up the financial aspects of a project. They supervise the financial aspects of a project, making sure that it stays within the budget while meeting deadlines.

As a project finance analyst, you will set up the financial aspects of a project. You will analyze possible financial impacts, research pricing, and costs, create budgets, and keep track of operations progress.

You will be responsible for strategic planning as well and making sure project goals are carried out appropriately. Management will expect reports from you on all of these fronts, and, of course, the duties listed here are far from inclusive.

What general advice would you give to a project 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.

ScoreProject Finance AnalystUS Average

Salary

6.0

Avg. Salary $77,005

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 51.15%

male 48.85%

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 project finance analyst

Explore project finance analyst education requirements

Most common project finance analyst degrees

Bachelor's

74.5 %

Master's

18.3 %

Associate

5.2 %

Start to develop specific project finance analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Financial Analysis	10.70%
Project Management	8.88%
Financial Data	4.45%
Strong Analytical	4.06%
Hyperion	3.20%

Complete relevant project finance analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New project 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 project finance analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real project finance analyst resumes.

Research project finance analyst duties and responsibilities

Lead a reconciliations project team responsible for the implementing new systemic reconciliations replacing manual and legacy processes.
Develop, maintain financial models/applications (VBA Excel/Access) to automate and streamline business processes and perform financial analysis.
Work with the accounting team to ensure revenue recognition rules where in compliance with GAAP and internal policy.
Ensure that budgets are loaded into ERP properly and tie to control totals

Prepare your project finance analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your project 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 project finance analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable project finance analyst resume templates

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