Finance Manager: Facts, Skills, and Next Paths

A Finance Manager oversees financial planning, reporting, and analysis to guide business decisions. Day-to-day work includes preparing budgets, forecasting revenue and expenses, and analyzing variances between actual and planned results. Managers also ensure compliance with regulations and improve financial processes using tools like ERP systems and spreadsheet models.

Core responsibilities include managing cost accounting systems, publishing profit-and-loss statements by service line or product, and supporting capital investment decisions through ROI and NPV analysis. For example, at Amazon, Finance Managers partner with operations teams to influence strategic direction and drive investment decisions for high-growth businesses like Sub Same Day delivery. At Northrop Grumman, they work on financial systems that support revolutionary defense technologies.

The median salary for Finance Managers is approximately $138,302. The most frequently requested skills in current job postings are Analytics & Reporting (80%), Forecasting (70%), and ERP Systems (50%).