How to become a Financial Examiner

Financial examiners make sure that the financial institutions are in line with the laws and regulations. They are also hired to make sure that the transactions, both financial and real estate, are done in accordance with the rules governing them. They assess the risk involved with the loans, the probabilities of losses, account management and balance sheet maintenance etc. the work nature of the financial examiners may vary. Those who work in the risk assessment area are more concerned about the financial institution, profit, and stability. In contrast, consumer compliance work officials work to ensure that the borrowers do not face any form of injustice.

• One of the main functions of the examiner is to monitor the financial condition of institutions. Through inspection of the balance sheets and documents, the assets, liabilities, income, and expenditure of the institution is evaluated. 
• To make sure the resources are not dangerously low enough to threaten the existence of the institution under a crisis or loss
• The internal control procedures such as cash reserves, assigned, collateral and bank owned securities are checked. 
• To review lending, deposit and other transactions 
• To identify any malpractices, involving risky services, transactions that may prove disadvantageous for both the institution and consumers are identified and reported.
• To provide accurate information and guidance regarding the rules and regulations governing them.
• To assess the minutes of the manager and director board meetings to ensure the compliance.
• To create reports on the evaluation conclusions and to communicate them with the institution in a crisp and clear manner.
• Upon discrepancies in compliance to the laws, appropriate corrective actions has to be kept forward.
• To review the impact of the new rules and regulations as well as to establish guidelines to adhere to the new ones.
• To help the consumers avoid falling pray for unethical loan schemes and not to face discrimination.
• To train the new employees

• The soft skills required for a financial examiner are interpersonal and communication skills. The employees usually have to work with teams in analyzing the financial status and security of an institution. Therefore, interpersonal and communication skills would enhance teamwork.
• They also have to communicate the conclusions made by the evaluation to the employers of the institution in a crisp and precise manner. The requirement for a report at the end of the evaluation would make writing skills handy. The technical information has to be mentioned in the report too.
• A financial examiner must possess analytical skills to identify whether the services provided by the institutions are safe for them as well as the consumers. The ability of the managers to handle the risk, if at all it arises, is possible only with a sharp analytical mind.
• Attention to detail and mathematical skills are required to cross-check the balance sheets, evaluate the presence of minimum cash reserve required, and identify risky assets.
• Along with identifying the problem, the employees are also entitled to suggest solutions, and this would require them to have creative thinking and problem-solving skills. The additional technical knowledge, such as the softwares Hyperion, SAP, and QuickBooks, would enable easy operation of these accounting programs maintained by most officials.