Introduction
A financial analyst job requires the candidate to put into practice the fundamentals of financial analysis for the evaluation of the position of the company. Financial analysis is done from the point of view of the company. It determines the ability of the company to raise capital from equity and debt. In India, the financial analyst job is gaining importance in the financial service industry, especially in banks, KPOs, insurance companies, investment banks, and firms, as well as other companies. With this blog, let’s try to understand the role and the job description.
Who is a financial analyst
A financial analyst plays a critical role in evaluating the company’s overall position. You must use tools and techniques to determine a company’s performance, strength, and prospects to ascertain its overall position compared to its competitors. As a financial analyst, you must fulfill the company’s financial department’s daily functions, including maintaining the books of accounts, managing funds, and making financial investments. Among the assortment of roles performed, the financial analyst job requires an individual to analyse and manage portfolios for the company.
A financial analyst must deeply understand investments, finance, and growth plans. It allows the minimisation of business risk and maximisation of resource utilisation. You will be required to analyse a varied scenario, not only limited to the prevailing conditions of the market, but you also need to draw intelligent inferences about the situations that can appear in the future.
Primarily financial analyst job requires candidates to ensure continuous availability of funds. Hence in the position, you will have to concentrate on data reflecting fund planning, accumulating, administering, and controlling.
However, a financial analyst may also work outside the purview of dealing with investments for a company. On occasion, financial analysts are also hired to analyse the effectiveness of a task undertaken by the organization, such as measuring the efficacy of a marketing campaign relative to the cost input by firms. Here you will be required to calculate a strategy’s financial performance by analysing the specific performance based on market conditions and creating a forecast. In the financial analyst job, you will be assisting senior management in taking strategic and tactical decisions based on periodic reports you develop.
Job Description
The Financial Analyst’s job is extensively about gathering, crunching, and analyzing micro and macro data for the company to help the clients make the best strategic or investment decisions. This seekho blog will allow you to identify the overall job description of the role, starting with the duties of the analyst as below:
Financial analyst job duties
- Undertaking financial reporting, studying operational tracking metrics, and financial forecasting.
- Examining the micro and macro-financial data of the company to construct financial models to provide decision support for the management.
- Investigating and delivering monthly analysis on past company results, using tools such as variance analysis to identify trends for performance, and making recommendations for improvement of performance and optimisation of the company’s workings.
- Coordinating with all management and accounting team levels to support accurate financial reporting and creating annual budgets by comparing plans and company results.
- Supporting leadership in the company by providing regular reports on financial performance to prepare them for timely reviews.
- Undertaking cost and business intelligence analysis to recommend actions based on data interpretation and comparative studies.
- Assisting process improvements, such as by identifying strategies for driving productivity in the company by creating reports such as standard and ad-hoc.
- Ensuring compliance with internal policies, procedures, and the government’s regulations. Compliance would require putting knowledge into practice regarding laws and regulations that govern financial and non-financial decisions.
- Assisting in safeguarding financial information and protecting company operations by maintaining confidentiality.
Basic Qualification
- Bachelor’s degree in economics/finance/accounting.
- Starters or relevant experience in business finance of 0-3 years.
- Proficiency in financial expertise such as financial modelling techniques.
- Efficiency in working with software such as Excel and other financial tools.
Preferred Qualification
- Master’s degree in accounting and finance, MBA, or relevant Post Graduate Degree in Finance.
- Business Finance or relevant experience of 3 years and above.
- Experienced in communication and generation of financial statements.
- Experiential knowledge gained in the discipline of financial principles such as GAAP, among other international methods of accounting data reporting.
- Familiarity with MAS accounting system, ERP, and Salesforce, among other financial reporting software.
- Proficiency in the company’s forecasting, financial reporting, and budgeting.
- Familiarity with cost and variance analysis with previous work experience in the domain.
Preferred Interpersonal Skills
- Oral communication skills, providing comprehensive data and displaying interpersonal skills.
- Passion for learning and growth and ability to streamline organisational functions.
- Skills to work independently and comfort in dealing with changing market conditions.
- Presentation skills and ability to work across all verticals.
- Providing seamless interaction with all concerned stakeholders.
- Analytical mind with a bent on data gathering skills and business acumen.
Conclusion
The overview and the job description of the financial analyst job encompass candidates to go through strategic performances of the company through analysis of trends, variances, and financial results. The position requires a candidate to develop recommendations that help management make better decisions for the company’s growth. As a financial analyst, you must have the knowledge and ability to create economic models and support planning, valuation, and forecasting. You will be influential in aiding the company’s capital budgeting and guiding the expenditure process’s planning. These tasks need to be done while keeping in mind the laws and regulations that govern the company’s working and rules laid down by the government.
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