Finance Manager Introduction As a Finance Manager, it is your responsibility to provide accurate financial advice and support to your management team, helping them to make sensible, informed business decisions. You may manage a finance team consisting of several people.
Also known as Finance Director
Work Activities As a Finance Manager, it is your responsibility to provide accurate financial advice and support to your management team, helping them to make sensible, informed business decisions. You may manage a finance team consisting of several people, including Accountants, Accounting Technicians and Accounts Assistants. Finance Managers are employed in many different areas and organisations, including: shops and other retail outlets manufacturing companies charities universities political parties banks Your main duties as a Finance Manager include: providing financial advice to management and top executives financial planning producing financial reports carrying out internal and external audits monitoring, interpreting and challenging financial results target setting preparing payroll reports analysing market trends to identify potential opportunities for your business Being able to read, write and speak Welsh may be an advantage when you’re looking for work in Wales.
Personal Qualities and Skills To become a Finance Manager, you should have: good written and spoken communication skills great number skills an interest in how organisations work great managerial and leadership skills IT skills
Pay and Opportunities Pay The pay rates given below are approximate. Starting: £40,000 - £48,000 With experience: £56,000 - £72,000
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Senior Finance Managers earn £82,500 - £97,000
Hours of work Finance Managers usually work 35-40 hours Monday to Friday. However, you might need to work late or at weekends at peak times, for example, at the end of the financial year. Where could I work? Finance Managers are employed in many different areas and organisations, including: shops and other retail outlets manufacturing companies charities universities political parties banks
Opportunities for Finance Managers occur in towns and cities throughout the UK. Where are vacancies advertised? Vacancies are advertised in local/national newspapers and professional magazines, on accountancy job boards and employers' websites, on WorkTrack, Universal Jobmatch and at Jobcentre Plus.
Entry Routes and Training Entry routes To become a Finance Manager you will normally train and qualify as an Accountant and/or have a degree in accountancy, finance or business studies. A good place to start is studying for an Institute of Financial Services (IFS) level 3 diploma in financial studies. You will need to find a college that offers this subject. However, it is also possible to work your way up through the different roles in a finance department, studying as you go and gaining vital work experience. You might be able to follow the progression route below: Accounts Assistant Accounting Technician Accountant Finance Manager
To qualify as an Accountant, you need to register with one of the appropriate professional bodies. You then combine on-the-job training with part-time study and written exams. The relevant bodies are: Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)
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If you have completed at least two A levels, including one in a relevant subject, then you might be able to begin training as an Accounting Technician. As an Accounting Technician you will be trained and study for professional exams.Then once you are fully qualified, you might be able to train further and become a fully qualified Accountant. Once you have gained plenty of relevant work experience you can then move into a Finance Manager position. Or you could choose to go onto university, to study a relevant degree. Some employers require you to have a degree before you become a Finance Manager. Degrees in relevant subjects are available at many universities. In order to get onto a degree course you will usually need at least two A levels. A great way to get into this career is through an internship. Take a look at our information article ' Internships', for more details. Work Experience Some applicants have relevant skills in, for example, numerical work and/or office administration which would be really useful for this career.
Qualifications For entry to a degree course or Degree Apprenticeship, the usual minimum requirement is: 2/3 A levels GCSEs at grade C/4 or above in 2/3 other subjects
Alternatives to A levels include: BTEC level 3 qualification in 'business (specialist - finance)' or 'business with accounts and finance' City and Guilds level 2 and 3 qualifications in 'providing financial services' and 'business finance' the International Baccalaureate Diploma
To get onto an Advanced Level Apprenticeship, you will usually need at least five GCSEs at A* -C or 9-4, including English and Maths. For registration with a chartered accountancy body, the usual minimum requirement is: 2 A levels GCSEs at grade C/4 or above in 3 other subjects English and maths at either level
Some universities accept the Welsh Baccalaureate as equivalent to 1 A-level.
Adult Opportunities Age limits It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits. Entry The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) offers a Certificate in Business Accounting. This course is aimed at people with little or no accounting background and can provide entry to higher level professional
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qualifications. Candidates without relevant qualifications can study with ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). However, your entry point and exemptions from certain parts of their qualifications depend on the qualifications or relevant skills you have already gained. The Open University offers a Certificate in Accounting, which also provides entry to higher level professional qualifications. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) offers a route to qualification for people without the usual entry requirements if they have three years' experience and support from their employer. Courses If you don't have the qualifications needed to enter your chosen degree or HND course, a college or university Access course (for example, Access to Business) could be the way in. These courses are designed for people who have not followed the usual routes into higher education. No formal qualifications are usually needed, but you should check this with individual colleges. Some local colleges of further education offer professional courses, for example, ACCA qualifications, on a part-time basis, either day, evening or weekends. Funding Sponsorships from some of the larger accounting or professional services firms can be available for those studying degree-level courses. Distance learning Distance learning is available from CIMA, ACCA and CIPFA. Postgraduate qualifications are available by distance learning from a number of universities.
Further Information Contacts Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Address: 26 Chapter Street, London SW1P 4NP Tel: 020 8849 2251 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.cimaglobal.com Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Address: 3 Robert Street, London WC2N 6RL Tel: 020 7543 5600 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.cipfa.org Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Tel: 01908 248250 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.icaew.com Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Enquiries Address: 3rd Floor, Lesley Exchange 2, 22 East Bridge Street, Belfast BT1 3NR Tel: 028 9026 6770 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.cipfa.org/Regions/Northern-Ireland Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Scotland Scottish enquiries Address: Beaverbank Business Park, 22 Logie Mill, Edinburgh EH7 4HG
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Tel: 0131 5507530 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.cipfa.org/Regions/Scotland ACCA Careers Job Board Tel: 0141 534 4774 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.accacareers.com Financial Skills Partnership (FSP) Skills for the financial, finance and accountancy sectors Address: 51 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HQ Tel: 0845 2573772 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.financialskillspartnership.org.uk Careers Wales - Welsh Apprenticeships Tel: 0800 028 4844 Website: ams.careerswales.com/ People Exchange Cymru (PEC) Public sector recruitment portal for Wales Email:
[email protected] Website: www.peopleexchangecymru.org.uk/home
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