Finance manager CV

"Finance manager" covers a wide range of jobs. In a small business it can mean running the whole finance function single-handed; in a large group it usually means owning one part of it, such as management reporting for a division, under a financial controller or finance director. Read the advert closely before you write anything: the CV that wins one finance manager role can look under-qualified for another.

What employers look for

Most finance manager adverts are testing four things:

• Control of the numbers. You can run or oversee a month-end close to a deadline, produce accurate management accounts and keep the balance sheet clean.
• Leadership. Many roles manage a small team: assistant accountants, ledger clerks, sometimes a payroll officer. Hiring managers want evidence that you've developed people, not just supervised them.
• Business partnering. Explaining variances to budget holders, challenging spend and supporting decisions with analysis.
• Improvement. Faster closes, better systems, tighter controls. A finance manager who has only maintained the status quo is a harder sell.

A professional qualification (ACA, ACCA or CIMA), or being part-qualified with experience, is expected for most roles. Put it next to your name and in your profile, not only in an education section at the bottom.

Keywords from finance manager adverts

Use the words the advert uses, where they're true for you. Common ones include:

• Month-end close, management accounts, year-end, statutory accounts
• Budgeting, forecasting, reforecasting, variance analysis
• Balance sheet reconciliations, accruals and prepayments, fixed assets
• Cash flow forecasting, working capital
• VAT returns, liaison with external auditors, audit files
• Financial controls, process improvement, systems implementation
• Team management, business partnering, stakeholder management
• Systems: Sage, Xero, SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, advanced Excel, Power BI

If the advert names a system you've used, say so in plain words. "Experienced user of NetSuite" is far easier to match than "various ERPs".

A typical advert, decoded

A paraphrased example of what finance manager adverts usually say, and what each line is really asking for.

The advert says	What it really means
"Reporting to the Financial Controller"	You'll own a slice of the function, not all of it. Expect someone above you to sign off the accounts.
"Hands-on role"	You'll still post journals and do reconciliations yourself, not just review the team's work.
"Deliver timely and accurate month-end"	They have a close timetable and it may be slipping. Lead with how fast and reliably you've closed.
"Partner with budget holders"	You'll present to non-finance managers. Show an example of a decision your numbers changed.
"Drive continuous improvement"	Their processes are probably manual. Mention a system or automation you've introduced.

Example CV profile

ACCA-qualified finance manager with seven years' experience in manufacturing and distribution. I run the monthly close for a £40m-turnover business and lead a team of three, and I've cut the close from eight working days to five. I partner with operations and sales leaders on budgets and forecasts, and I'm comfortable owning the audit and statutory accounts from start to finish.

Keep it to three or four sentences. Name your qualification, your sector, the size of what you manage and one result.

Example achievements

Replace the figures with your own. A number the interviewer can ask about is worth more than an adjective.

• Reduced the month-end close from eight to five working days by introducing a close calendar, standardised reconciliations and automated accruals in NetSuite.
• Built a rolling 13-week cash flow forecast that the board used to manage a £2m overdraft facility through a seasonal peak.
• Led the year-end audit for two consecutive years with no material adjustments and no management letter points on controls.
• Recruited and trained two assistant accountants, one of whom has since qualified with AAT support from the business.
• Identified £180k of annual savings by reviewing supplier contracts with the procurement lead.
• Implemented Power BI reporting for department heads, replacing 14 manually updated spreadsheets.

Common mistakes

• Listing duties instead of results. "Responsible for month-end" tells the reader nothing. How fast, how accurate, what changed?
• Hiding the scale. Turnover, number of entities, team size and budget size let a reader place you quickly.
• Ignoring the business-partnering side. If the advert mentions stakeholders, give an example of a decision your analysis changed.
• One CV for every application. A finance manager role in a charity and one in a private-equity-backed SME want different things.

Interview questions to prepare for

• Talk me through how you run a month-end close. Where do things usually go wrong?
• Tell me about a time you found an error in the accounts after they'd been reported.
• How have you improved a finance process? What was the result?

See all 12 finance manager interview questions, with why interviewers ask each one and what a strong answer covers.