The position of Director of Finance is a senior position in the administrative field. In order to be hired for such a position, you should have a Bachelor's degree or higher in Accounting, Business or a related field. Since this is a high raking position, you will also need to have extensive experience working as a financial officer either at a bank, with the government or in a private firm. The usual experience requirement is seven to ten years for this position. During this experience, you will have to demonstrate that you can effectively use various types of computer software, such as QuickBooks, which seems to be the standard accounting software used in business.
Experience needed for the position of Director of Finance also include demonstrated ability to work with various groups of people in all levels of the business. Dealing with customers efficiently and pleasantly is another requirement of this job. Management skills that you need to bring to this role include an ability to manage and supervise a staff and to be able to prioritize the various tasks that need to be completed. Multitasking ability is also essential because in this type of position, you will have to manage several projects simultaneously.
Take a look at the duties you will have to perform in the position of Director of Finance. Depending on the size of the company, you may have more or less duties than a person working in a similar position at another location. You do have to ensure that you can take on these duties and perform them well. The duties usually expected of a person in this position include:
- Recommending and establishing economic policies, strategies and objectives for the company.
- Providing financial reports
- Preparing forecasting reports related to the projected earnings and profits of the business, as well as projected expenditures
- Preparing and reviewing budgets for the company as a whole and for various departments
- Participating in the hiring process of the company
- Handling day-to-day bookkeeping activities
- Preparing financial statements on a regular basis
A love of working with numbers and the ability to determine the growth of a company are helpful when you want to obtain a position as a Director of Finance. In your previous experience, whether you worked with the same firm or another, you must have exceptional performance evaluations that prove you will be an asset to the company in this position. Attending and directing staff meetings is a necessary part of the position and you will be called upon to make presentations to the administration and other directors in the company. Therefore you should have excellent communication skills and the ability to develop Power Point presentations. In order to be able to direct the finances of the company, you will have to make sure that all the employees understand the process.
