Corporate Finance Careers

What​ ​is​ ​a​ Corporate Finance Manager?

A Corporate Finance Manager oversees a business’s financial issues. They maximize the company’s bottom line, steering the financial direction of the business.

Corporate Finance Managers identify and secure merger acquisitions, manage and invest large corporate funds, and buy and sell other financial products such as stocks and bonds, company equity, and investment capital. They undertake all strategic financial planning and report to company stakeholders.

 

What is a Corporate Finance Manager Responsible For?

Corporate Finance Managers monitor company finances. They analyze data and advise senior management staff on ideas to maximize profits. They typically work with teams and act as business advisors to executive staff.

A Corporate Finance Manager is known as the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). They administer all of the business’s financial decisions, working with team members on the financial staff to identify and generate new revenue streams and identify potential fiscal opportunities. Corporate Finance Manager negotiate deals for mergers and acquisitions as well as negotiating business terms with banks and arranging monthly corporate services and terms for other financing.

Corporate Finance Managers can expect to work at any of the following tasks:

•        Provide investment advice and recommendations
•        Negotiate and structure financial deals
•        Generate finance from shares and loans
•        Advise how to meet targets and create investment capital
•        Work with all involved parties in negotiations and transactions
•        Provide technical accounting guidance to the accounting team
•        Prepare financial statements and business activity reports
•        Provide company financial forecast
•        Research strategic development and acquisition opportunities
•        Perform detailed financial review for potential new investments
•        Analyze market trends
•        Advise executive staff on company financial decisions
•        Review company financial activities for legal compliance
•        Assess financial risks and returns
•        Monitor business growth
•        Create financial models

To be successful as a Corporate Finance Manager, prospects will need to develop the following skills:

•        Exceptional Planning Skills. Corporate Finance Managers work with sales, human resources, and production managers to gauge revenue and expenses. To accomplish this, they must create budgets, cash-flow projections, debt-service management plans, and spending targets. They work with financial staff to calculate overhead and production costs, set price levels, and determine project credit needs. They perform risk assessments to protect the company’s assets, and they provide tax planning strategies to reduce tax liability.
•        Auditing Skills. Corporate Finance Managers involve a review of company’s financial performance and ensure accuracy, monitor legal compliance, prevent fraud, and identify ways to improve company performance. Evaluation of overhead expenses and budget variance ensures the company is performing at peak levels. Analysis of sales and production determine why cash flow has decreased and what steps will correct it.
•        Management Ability. Corporate Finance Managers supervise all financial activities for the company, including management of other financial personnel. Periodic financial tasks that require supervision include day-to-day accounting duties such as paying bills, sending invoices, following through with collection activities, performing bank reconciliation, overseeing purchasing processes, providing expense reimbursements, and other financial tasks.

 

Where Do Corporate Finance Managers Work?

Corporate Finance Manager jobs can be found in private and public companies, banks, government, healthcare entities, educational facilities, and for any business interested in mindfully managing their company’s assets.

  

What Other Career Options are Available to Corporate Finance Managers?

Careers available to Corporate Finance Managers include:

Treasurer

The Treasurer, also known as the Financial Officer, oversees the long-term and short-term budgetary goals of their organization. They ensure that the business stays in good financial health by producing financial statements and coordinating investment decisions. They supervise the investment of funds and carry out strategies to raise capital. They also oversee stocks and bonds investments and develop financial plans for acquisitions and mergers.

 

Credit Manager

Credit Managers oversee all credit policies and procedures, either within specific departments of a company or for the entire company. They analyze company standards to develop credit procedures that are profitable for the company. They determine underwriting processes that evaluate customer credit profiles, supervise the other analysts in the department, and report the department’s activities to the Treasurer or Chief Financial Officer.

 

Financial Controller

Controllers oversee the accounts department. They analyze the company’s books, monitor the performance of the department, audit the department procedures, supervise compliance issues, and manage tax issues. They report to senior management and executive staff.

 

Risk Manager

Risk Managers assess and identify potential risks that hinder the safety, security, reputation, and financial prosperity of their organization. Once identified, the Risk Manager implements processes to ensure that the company is able to address potential threats and prevent them before they occur. This position is an analytical one, reviewing documents, statistics, market trends, and company reports.

 

What Degree Do You Need to Become a Corporate Finance Manager? What Do They Study?

Corporate Finance Managers start their education with a Bachelor of Science in Finance, Accounting, or Business Administration. Other majors may be acceptable if they involve studies in finance, business, or management. An undergraduate student can expect to learn about financial planning, portfolio management, and securities. Accounting and business administration programs also cover finance principles and microeconomics.

A master’s degree in business administration, finance, or economics provides candidates with advanced analytical skills and also teaches financial analysis methods and software. While the Master of Business Administration degree provides students with a broader base of business skills transferable to multiple positions, the Master of Finance degree is highly specialized, focusing exclusively on finance-related subjects.

 

How Much Money Does a Corporate Finance Manager Earn?

Corporate Finance Manager jobs vary by industry, experience, and company size. Entry level positions in small to medium companies earn around $78,000 per year. Larger firms typically start in the six-figure range at approximately $102,000 per year. Finance supervisors earn an average salary of $89,500. Finance directors can earn upwards of $178,000 per year.

As with most positions in the field of finance, actual annual salary varies, depending on location, experience, and firm.