Financial Management Careers

Number of Jobs

46, 300

Median Salary

$112, 700

Unemployment Rate

4.1 percent

Financial managers have the responsibility of overseeing the finances of major companies, agencies and everything in between. Along with their teams, they coordinate accounting and produce financial reports, cash-flow statements and profit projections. To comply with various laws and regulations, they must pay attention to detail. Aside from working with numbers, financial managers must also help other members of their organization understand their complex reports, which requires significant communication skills.

Although financial managers face a competitive job market, it’s also a growing one. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the number of job openings for financial managers will grow at an 8.9 percent clip by 2022, which means 47, 100 new jobs. Those with specialized backgrounds (especially in accounting and finance) will have the easiest time landing a job. Financial managers, who can also handle international finance and the increasingly complicated world of financial instruments and securities, including derivatives, will be the most marketable.

Financial management jobs tend to pay well. The median salary for the profession was 2, 700 in 2013, with the lowest-paid managers earning less than , 320 and the highest-paid earning more than 7, 199. The best-paid in the profession work in the metropolitan areas of New York City, San Francisco and Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Training

Financial managers usually start by earning a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics or business administration. Many also earn a master’s degree (in business administration, finance or economics) and continue getting financial management training, both on the job and off. Certifications and licensures are common in the field; financial managers who work as accountants become certified public accountants, for example. Because many financial managers are also charged with overseeing others, organizations often require management training as well.