what is a senior financial analyst?
As a senior financial analyst, you take up a leadership position in a financial company. You manage a team of coworkers and work together to perform financial tasks. You carry out traditional team leadership duties and ensure the company's finances are managed.
As a senior financial analyst professional, your role encompasses a variety of responsibilities and duties. For instance, you oversee a team of investment managers and accountants who manage money for large hedge funds. You also work with bookkeepers and accountants to manage a company's cash flow.
A teamlead role is more hands-on than a managerial position. Your job focuses less on the company's big-picture goals. Instead, you prioritize the details, like breaking down company goals into small achievable targets. You delegate work to coworkers, schedule tasks and resolve disputes. Unlike a manager, you are not involved in hiring employees or deciding on business strategies.
Even though you aren't involved in developing business strategies, you require financial acumen to make decisions. Your interpersonal skills help you manage teams effectively by providing clear instructions and listening to your team members' ideas.
Would working as a senior financial analyst suit your analytical and leadership skills? Then read on to find out what competencies and qualifications you need to thrive in a senior financial analyst role.
view jobsaverage senior financial analyst salary
According to Job Bank, the median salary of a senior financial analyst professional in Canada is $84,731 per year. This translates to an hourly rate of $43.45. Junior finance team leaders start with a lower salary due to their minimal experience and expertise. Your salary of $59,799 annually increases gradually, and you can take home over $131,182 yearly when you have additional experience and qualifications.
how to increase your earnings as a senior financial analyst
Working in a large company has multiple perks, like additional benefits and higher salaries. In a big organization, you work with a large team, which increases your responsibilities and duties. With the complexity of your duties, you earn a higher salary. In a small company, you work with a small team and have minimal duties. Hence, you earn a lower salary due to the less complex duties.
Location can also influence your earnings. For instance, working in large cities improves your earnings due to the high demand for finance team leaders. Large cities also have high costs of living, and companies pay more. Working in small towns reduces your earning potential due to the low demand for the role.
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access our tooltypes of senior financial analysts
Companies hire different types of senior financial analysts in finance to perform various duties. Some of the types of senior financial analysts include:
- controllers: as a financial controller, you guide a team of accounting staff in preparing financial reports and keeping accurate accounting records. You oversee auditing, accounting and budgeting roles in the company.
- treasurers: a treasurer is a finance team leader in charge of managing all the company's financial affairs. You assist with budgeting and investing funds to support the company's growth. You prepare relevant documentation for business operations and investments.
- credit managers: credit managers are finance team leaders who oversee the credit granting process. You work with a team of collection officers to assess customers' creditworthiness and ensure customers pay on time.
- cash managers: cash managers are finance team leaders who work with a team of finance workers to control the cash flow in a company. You also ensure the company meets its financial obligations and prepare cash reports received.
working as a senior financial analyst
If you are interested in working as a senior financial analyst, read on to find out the duties, responsibilities and work environments associated with the role.
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what does a senior financial analyst do?
Some of the duties associated with the role:
- performance tracking: as a senior financial analyst, you set metrics and ensure team members meet the goals on time. You track the performance of the workers using computer software.
- scheduling tasks: as a senior financial analyst, the managers give you broad goals, such as preparing taxes, preparing financial reports or creating company policies. Your job is to break these goals into clearly defined tasks and assign them to different team members.
- facilitating communication: one of the key duties of any senior financial analyst role is to assist with communication. You relay messages between different members of the staff. Some senior financial analyst communicate with clients and other company stakeholders.
- preparing financial reports: your job is to document all the team's activities. You create reports to share with others in the workplace and monitor the progress of team activities. You keep track of what happens in your department.
- assisting with financial tasks: as a senior financial analyst, you spend a lot of time delegating, but you also do some financial work yourself. This position often requires you to be versatile and take on any other tasks team members need help with. For instance, you might make budgets, record income or draft documents.
- ensuring compliance: you study all government guidelines and make sure your team follows them. In fields like lending, this might involve properly servicing mortgages — and in fields like banking, it involves properly storing data.
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work environment of a senior financial analyst
Like many other jobs in the financial industry, being a senior financial analyst is mostly an office job. You spend most of your time indoors sitting at a desk. Since you oversee so many people, you may walk around the workplace and spend a lot of time in conference rooms. You travel if your job responsibilities include meeting with clients or other branches.
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who are your colleagues?
Depending on your employer, you work with accountants, VP Finance (large enterprise) and controllers. You are likely to collaborate with finance assistants, accounting technicians and business analysts F&A. Sometimes, you interact with professionals in the administration department, such as office managers, administrators and administrative assistants.
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senior financial analyst work schedule
Finance team leaders usually follow traditional office hours. You typically work weekdays from 9 am to 6 pm. The job often includes regularly scheduled lunch breaks and gives you time off for traditional vacations.
This position is a full-time, permanent role for most team leaders. You're often in the workplace as long as your team is there. During times when your company is especially busy, you'll find yourself working longer hours. When doing things like preparing quarterly reports, you might find yourself working nights or weekends.
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career opportunities as a senior financial analyst
Being a senior financial analyst comes with a lot of exciting growth potential. For many people, it's the stepping stone from an entry-level finance career to an executive one. This position allows you to refine your management skills and get experience leading others. Professional certifications like Certified Management Accountant, Chartered Financial Analyst, and Chartered Professional Accountant can help you improve your skills and find even better job opportunities.
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advantages of finding a job as a senior financial analyst through randstad
Working with Randstad offers you a range of benefits:
- always a contact person you can fall back on and ask for help from
- many training opportunities
- a range of jobs in your area
senior financial analyst skills and education
Some of the educational requirements for becoming a senior financial analyst include:
- bachelor’s degree: pursue a degree in finance or business administration to gain financial planning and management knowledge. Advance your career with a master of business administration to boost your leadership experience.
- work experience: you require a strong background in finance or accounting to excel in the role. Gain experience through accounting and finance roles and improve your leadership skills through supervisory positions. Some senior financial analyst jobs require accounting or finance designations. For instance, to lead a team of investment brokers, you may need Chartered Financial Analyst certification.
competencies and characteristics of senior financial analysts
These skills and technical proficiencies will help you succeed as a finance team leader:
- leadership abilities: as a senior financial analyst, you should be comfortable delegating tasks to others and speaking from a position of authority. Your leadership skills help you motivate and inspire team members.
- technological skills: senior financial analyst usually perform their work from computers. Knowledge of software like Microsoft Excel and Quickbooks is important for your role.
- technical skills: you need industry-specific knowledge, such as understanding loans, tax preparation or investing. If you work in healthcare, knowledge in processing insurance claims and reporting expenses in healthcare is important.
- organizational abilities: it is important to be highly organized to keep your team running smoothly. In addition to organizational skills, you should pay attention to details and have data entry skills to keep accurate records.
- critical thinking skills: your job requires you to be both logical and flexible. Good senior financial analysts can easily solve problems and analyze tasks to find the most efficient way of addressing the situation.
- mathematical skills: anyone in the finance industry needs to be good with numbers. Though you probably don't need knowledge of advanced calculus, you should at least know standard algebra.
- communication skills: explaining financial concepts is an essential skill for this job. Great senior financial analysts speak professionally to clients and create a great rapport with their team.
FAQs about senior financial analyst
Here, you will find the answers to the most frequently asked questions about the profession of a senior financial analyst professional.
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what does a senior financial analyst manager do?
As a senior financial analyst, you are in charge of a team of financial accountants or analysts. Your job is to assign tasks and define the goals of your team. For instance, if your role is to prepare financial reports, you assign tasks to accountants and supervise the preparation of financial statements. You guide workers in financial planning, budgeting and financial management.
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how much does a senior financial analyst worker make in Canada?
As a senior financial analyst, you take home an average salary of $84,731 per year. When you are new to the role, you start with a low salary of $59,799 annually. With experience, your earnings increase to over $131,182 per year. The earnings fluctuate based on experience and the size of the company. When you have additional expertise, your earnings are higher since you can handle complex duties in the company.
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is working as a senior financial analyst a good job?
Working as a finance team leader is an exciting job. It is also a good step in advancing your career. If you want to improve your leadership skills, working as a senior financial analyst advances your career and builds your experience.
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what is the difference between a senior financial analyst and a manager?
Managers and senior financial analyst are responsible for leading teams of people in the company. However, a senior financial analyst is more technically oriented and helps workers develop hard skills. Managers, on the other hand, are involved in developing strategies and guiding larger teams.
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is senior financial analyst a stressful job?
As a senior financial analyst, you supervise the technical aspects of duties, which requires attentiveness to details. The complexity of your duties increases your stress levels. You need good organizational skills to manage your duties.
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how do I find a job as a senior financial analyst?
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