How to become a Financial Director

Finance directors are members of a senior management team who are in charge of the financial health of their organisation. They integrate operational and strategic responsibilities, oversee accounting and financial control tasks, and develop a financial plan for the company's successful long-term development. To accomplish the function, they must be adaptable and talented in order to deal with a constantly changing set of conditions. Finance directors are responsible for monitoring all financial operations, including revenue reporting, training accounting employees, budgeting, disbursing cash to departments, risk management, policy implementation, and financial process improvement.

• Leading the accounting and finance function.
• Supporting senior stakeholders on all business reviews.
• Managing the budgeting, forecasting and long-term planning process.
• Generating reports & analysis to assist in decision making.
• Managing banking relationships, cash management and other treasury related activities.
• Ensuring compliance with financial processes, systems and policies.
• Providing an oversight on tax, internal controls and audit related matters.

• The capacity to communicate vocally and nonverbally by active listening, observation, speaking, and empathising. Financial Directors must have strong verbal, nonverbal, and written communication skills in order to maintain positive relationships with their team, communicate and collaborate with internal departments and other C-level executives, and understandably communicate complex financial information.
• The ability to analyse information and apply logical thinking to break complex issues down into their individual components and find strategic solutions.
• The ability of an individual to use knowledge, facts, data and reasoning to provide solutions to problems. Financial Directors must be able to think critically and react effectively to complicated financial issues, which are often encountered in fast-paced and stressful workplaces.
• The capacity to balance and prioritise tasks in such a way that you can finish your job on time while still preserving a work-life balance.
• Financial Directors spend most of their day multitasking and need to prioritise responsibilities and delegate tasks when necessary.