The function of a Finance Manager is to provide financial information and advice in order to facilitate the process of making effective business decisions. This essentially involves conducting detailed research and analysis, implementing clear budgetary planning and ensuring the existence of proper and sound financial procedures, along with mechanisms of control, that are in line with statutory regulations. The role and responsibilities of a finance manager can vary greatly with the size and nature of a company, public or private. In larger organizations the focus may be on strategic analysis, whereas in smaller companies it might be solely concerned with the management of accounts. Whatever the business circumstances ongoing personal development and finance training is vital in honing skills fundamental to performing the task.
A Finance Manager should be the master all the financial tools at his disposal. Not only knowing how to, but more importantly when to, utilize databases and spreadsheets thereby realizing their maximum potential. In practice, it is the ability to apply these tools and synthesize an enormous amount of data, in order to solve problems and present information in a relevant and coherent manner. Given such a context it is critical to consider the personal style of colleagues, in essence, transforming data into meaningful conclusions.
A Finance Manager must have a thorough understanding of the company’s goods, markets and technical processes. This creates extra value feeding directly into financial analyses and ultimately business decisions. An in depth knowledge of its sources of revenue, computer network, manpower and distribution system will facilitate perceptions of revenue components and costs. For example if 40% of a company’s revenue is derived from one product this will have a huge bearing upon financial projections.
A Finance Manager has to demonstrate an ability to manage change. It involves developing an understanding of external factors such as the actions of competitors and government activities. The skill here is in the ability to anticipate changes and developments in industry and the economy generally determining their impact both at the macro and micro level. This in turn enables models to be created outlining the possible determinations arising from such factors and sharing them with colleagues.
A Finance Manager needs to be an effective communicator to obtain customer feedback and to interact well with co workers. There is implicit in this a requirement to know the customer as well as fellow managers and other staff. The purpose is to determine how the service can be improved interacting frequently with customers clarifies their demands. In addition, making suggestions on how financial information should be received such as tables or graphs and giving recommendations for beneficial procedural changes.
A Financial Manager must be able to unlock the truth contained within data. The ability to take a sheet of statistics crammed full of numbers and quickly and efficiently provide meaningful conclusions about critical facts and details in a clear and succinct fashion, is essential. This is a hugely important skill and has to be fine tuned and developed more so than any other.