Job description

Finance Directors are very often the senior finance figure in a company or organisation, with overall responsibility for all financial activities, including the preparation of all finance reports and forecasts for future business performance.

Finance Directors often operate at board level and retain additional responsibilities (alongside fellow directors) for business strategy and growth. Finance Directors who do not sit on the board will be required to report regularly at board level. In larger organisations, separate divisions may have their own Finance Directors who report to a Chief Financial Officer.

Finance Directors in smaller organisations may also be responsible for day to day accounting tasks as well as taking a strategic view of the business and its finances.

Typical duties include:

• Using financial experience and expertise to directly influence business strategy and decision making at board level.
• Managing the overall finance function within an organisation.
• Signing off on all financial reports and reviews.
• Overall responsibility for budgeting, forecasting and expenditure.
• Responsibility for ensuring that all legal and statutory obligations are fulfilled from a finance perspective.
• Preparing and issuing business performance updates for internal and external parties.
• Future planning.
• Competitor analysis.
• Day to day accounting tasks where required.

The role of Finance Director is a particularly demanding role which requires many skills and attributes, along with (usually) specific financial qualifications. Finance Directors must be commercially aware, possess plenty of business acumen, be competent communicators, excellent people managers and must also be capable of making (sometimes quick) sound business decisions in a pressurised business environment.

Qualifications

Given the importance of understanding and fulfilling statutory requirements and the general need for excellent corporate governance, Finance Directors are usually fully qualified accountants who have qualified with a recognised accounting institution. They will have worked in many financial roles during their training and possess excellent all round knowledge of the finance function.

Salary snapshot

Recent salaries advertised on TopFinancialJobs (November 2009) include:

• £75-85,000 per annum for a qualified (ACA, ACCA) Finance Director working for a business services group in Essex.
• £110-140,000 per annum for a qualified (ACA) Chief Financial Officer working for a European investment bank in the City of London.
• £500 per day for a qualified interim Group Finance Director working for a blue chip organisation in London.
• £80-100,000 per annum for a qualified (ACA) Finance Director for a FTSE listed retail company in London.

Are you a Finance Director? Would you like to contribute to our "Day in the Life of..." series? Email us at info@topfinancialjobs.co.uk for more details.