How Do I Become a Financial Officer?

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Financial officers are professionals highly trained in the field of finance. They are also entitled to oversee financial tasks in an organization. Have you ever thought of becoming one? If you want to be a financial officer, take time and look at yourself to see if you have these important skills.

For example, are you a leader? Are you capable of motivating individuals in your organization and making decisions that will benefit the organization? Are you a facilitator? Are you in a position to help individuals and groups realize their objectives? Are you in a position to help individuals identify their mistakes and help them come up with appropriate solution?

Are you a translator? Can you come up with a strategy and translate it into an actionable plan for an organization or a group of individuals? Are you a strategist? Are you a technical generalist where you know a little bit about a lot of things? Are you able to speak to people of different cultures and social standards with ease? Do you have analytical skills? If your answer is yes, then you’re a great candidate to become a financial officer.

What Do Financial Officers Do?

As a financial officer, you are entitled to manage the financial goals of an organization and all the budgets of the organization. Management of funds, expenditure investments, and risks involved are some of the tasks to look forward to. Also, included in the job description, they supervise the way the organization spends funds.

Financial officers are up to the task of approving transactions, handling employee’s payrolls, approving invoices, developing budget projections and also distributing receipts. In some government organizations, financial officers are responsible for maintaining documentation. Financial officers are responsible for presenting accurate and timely financial reports for any organization. The report should be accurate because decisions about the organization are based upon records and precedents reported. Financial officers also have the mandate of investing organizational funds and all the while bearing in mind the liquidity and risks involved.

Education for Financial Officer

A Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Business Administration, Accounting and any other related field qualifies you to become a financial officer. However, having a Master’s Degree puts you in a prime position since many employers prefer candidates who have Master’s training. You can start your career at an entry level and slowly proceed to that of the financial officer if you truly understand the math.

As a finance officer, you ought to have a professional certificate like the Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO). This certificate will help you remain competitive. You also have to keep up with regular studies in the field or the education that employers provide. This will help you stay up to date with any changes.

The employment rate in this field is increasing at the rate of 9%. The annual salary for a financial officer and manager is $109,740 per year according to the BLS. However, this salary may vary depending on education, location, experience and employer.

This career requires you to have an interest in finance and be in a position to direct financial operations in any organizations. Have a solid understanding of policies and procedures involved in finance, even if it’s out of state or out of country, can only help.

Tips of Becoming a Financial Officer

•Always strive for integrity – Morals, ethic and integrity are some of the key values that you have to observe if you want to excel.

•Be Organized – this goes hand in hand with being flexible whereby financial officers have to be responsible for all financial undertakings in an organization.

•Be ready to face challenges – this is where you have to work under tight time schedule and also under pressure. You have to be adaptable.

•Practice communication skills – A financial officer will always have to reach out to stakeholders, employees and investors.

Simply put, the financial officer handles people from all over the company and beyond, making sure that everyone understands protocol and what should be done to ensure long-term success.