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Finance Manager: What is the cost of hiring?
2025-10-0126000.00118238.96278000.00YEARLY
Finance Manager: What is the cost of hiring?
Why hire a finance manager?
Hiring a skillful finance manager will ensure strong preservation and less slippage of financial resources within the organization. They start from financial planning, budgeting, allocation, disbursement and review, and evaluates every possible option of cost reduction.
- Thorough financial planning and interpretation of financial information and trends to suggest a future course of action
- Compare budgeted vis-à-vis actual costs and implement different cost reduction strategies
- Set financial goals of the finance department and design robust framework that aligns with organizational mission and deliverables
Deciding between a full-time vs freelance finance manager
Before writing a finance manager job description or interviewing candidates, decide if you need a full-time or freelance finance manager.
A full-time finance manager typically oversees most or all financial activities of an organization, including bookkeeping, accounting and payroll. That being said, a finance manager’s role depends on the size of the company. For example, a finance manager working for a small company may be responsible for all financial tasks, while one at a larger company could be in charge of financial planning and strategy.
Freelance finance managers may work for smaller organizations that require someone to work less that 40 hours per week. Other times, they may be hired for a short-term project.
What are the ranks of finance managers?
When you want to hire a finance manager, it’s important to understand what type of finance manager will best suit your company and industry. While finance managers are generally responsible for the financial health of an organization, their responsibilities can vary depending on company size and the finance function they’re responsible for. Starting from the highest level to the lowest level, here are the common ranks of finance managers:
- Chief financial officer (or CFO): Oversees all company finances and financial actions, including planning, reporting, projections and risk management.
- Financial controller: Manages accounting functions, prepares financial reports (e.g., balance sheets, income statements) and may also have budgeting and
payroll
duties.
- Director of finance: Manages financial departments within a company and supervises team members. Involved with auditing, financial strategy for long-term growth, forecasting and conducting financial assessments.
- Accounting manager: Oversees the accounting department and functions (e.g., taxes,
payroll
, accounts receivable/payable) with a goal of improving team performance, setting goals and producing accurate financial reports.
Where to find finance managers
To find the right finance manager for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
- Promote from within: Consider hiring from within if you have an
employee
with the right skills. Hiring internal candidates typically means less training and greater employee engagement.
- Employee referrals:
Employee
referrals often result in quality hires that have higher job satisfaction (and generate the best return on investment ROI for your company).
- Networking: Use finance industry events, conferences and tradeshows to meet finance professionals in person who are looking for a new job opportunity.
- Spread the word on social media: Does your company have a social media presence? Promote your open finance manager role on your social media pages to reach a wider audience.
- Post your job online: Try posting your finance manager job on Indeed to find and attract quality finance manager candidates.
Skills to look for in a great finance manager
A finance manager acts as a financial health checker of a company by using their knowledge and experience to align every cost with the organizational budget. To hire an efficient finance manager, having relevant experience and requisite skill set are of prime importance.
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance or Accounting, having Masters is a plus
- Over 5 years of experience in a finance manager or related position
- Professional qualifications like CPA/CFA is an absolute advantage
- Thorough understanding of financial and accounting principles along with relevant statutory legislation
- Proven communication and presentation skills
- Sharp analytical mind with attention to minute details
Writing a finance manager job description
A thorough job description will help in finding a suitable finance manager candidate. The job description should have clearly outlined job roles with detailed job duties and expected skill set.
When writing your finance manager job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on finance manager jobs, according to Indeed data:
- Finance manager
- Finance
- Automotive finance manager
- Accounting
- Manager
- Finance manager automotive
- Accounting manager
- Banking
- Management
Interviewing finance manager candidates
Strong candidates for finance manager positions will be confident answering questions regarding:
- Financial planning and budgeting
- Financial concepts and accounting principles
- How have they filled the gap between budgeted and actual organizational expenditure
Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of finance manager interview questions for examples (with sample answers).
*Indeed provides this information as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your recruiting or legal advisor, we are not responsible for the content of your job descriptions, and none of the information provided herein guarantees performance.