WHAT DOES A FINANCE DO?

Published: Jun 06, 2025 - The Finance Professional manages money, investments, and financial planning to support strategic organizational objectives. This role ensures accurate reporting, budgeting, and forecasting to guide decision-making and maintain regulatory compliance. The individual plays a key role in optimizing resources, controlling financial risks, and driving sustainable business growth.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Finance

1. Finance Accountant Duties

  • Cash Flow Management: Prepare daily cash flow position
  • Cash Flow Analysis: Determine the impact and timing of cash inflows and outflows
  • Forecast Accuracy: Maintain accurate forecasts of upcoming days and weeks to identify where likely shortfalls will occur
  • FX Recordkeeping: Maintain accurate records of all FX contracts
  • Bank Reconciliation: Daily bank reconciliations including resolution of identified variances
  • Deposit Tracking: Track and review amounts deposited by stores
  • Banking Operations: Upload payment files from SAP to the banking platform
  • Month-End Journals: Prepare month-end journals to ensure all costs are accurately captured
  • Board Reporting: Participate in the preparation of Board reports
  • Account Reconciliation: Perform general ledger balance sheet account reconciliations monthly

2. Finance Analyst Details

  • Month-End Closing: Carry out month-end closing processes in a timely and accurate manner for complex accounting areas
  • Cost Review: Review and assure the actual cost or value of work done with the relevant business stakeholders and ensure this is correctly reflected in the accounting system
  • Variance Analysis: Assure actuals, accruals and explain balances or variances to relevant stakeholders
  • Forecast Reporting: Prepare monthly and quarterly reports and provide commentary on any changes related to forecasts
  • Forecast Monitoring: Work closely with budget holders to manage forecast changes, monitor risks and opportunities
  • Cost Allocation: Manage overhead cost, time writing, or other allocation processes
  • Process Improvement: Look for opportunities to drive process improvements

3. Finance Assistant Responsibilities

  • Purchase Order Management: Raising purchase orders and following up on invoices
  • Invoice Processing: Timely and accurate processing of supplier invoices and credit notes
  • Ledger Maintenance: Maintaining purchase ledger accounts
  • Supplier Information Update: Update the supplier accounts information
  • Supplier Relations: Develop relationships with suppliers and budget holders
  • Receipt Recording: Ensure all receipts are recorded
  • Receipt Reconciliation: Reconcile and apply receipts to customer accounts
  • Journal Processing: Month-end processing of all journals and reallocation of costs
  • Audit Support: Assist with the annual audit
  • Process Review: Reviewing systems and processes and making improvements

4. Finance Associate Job Summary

  • Budget Forecasting: Compile budget, forecasts and other financial reports for the Company and funds managed by the Company
  • Financial Planning: Responsible for financial planning, analysis and projection of projects under the direction of the SVP Finance and Structuring
  • Capital Budgeting: Forecast financial pro forma to determine capital budgeting and return profiles for project investment decision making by Company leadership
  • Feasibility Analysis: Develop and manage financial analysis with product and strategy teams to determine the feasibility of product offerings
  • Market Research: Be responsible for market research analysis, including staying up to date on financial market developments and deal structures
  • Incentive Management: Research, manage and communicate federal, state, and local incentives for EV charging and other energy assets
  • Financial Communication: Explain complex financial information to non-financial personnel
  • Deal Support: Assist with negotiations with fleet customers on partnership deals
  • Capital Raising: Assist in capital raising activities to support corporate activities and project investments, including model generation, due diligence management and documentation review
  • Data Analysis: Generate ad hoc analysis and reports from quantified data to assist Company leadership

5. Finance Controller Accountabilities

  • Strategy Support: Supporting the development of the Factory strategy to optimise the conversion cost per ton
  • Cost Improvement: Cash flow and continuous improvement, identifying and driving cost-improving opportunities
  • Factory Reporting: Reporting, analytics and managing factory reporting of forecast and actuals
  • Strategic Analysis: Leading strategic financial analysis relating to major or strategic decisions
  • Budget Management: Driving business planning and managing the overall factory budget
  • Capital Evaluation: Develop, control and ensure robust evaluations of capital investment plans and requests
  • Data Management: Master data management and labour planning
  • Staff Development: Develop and coach factory personnel on functional topics

6. Finance Coordinator Functions

  • Payroll Management: Run and perform quality control on payroll
  • Benefits Administration: Update benefits and tax deductions for payroll
  • Commission Calculation: Calculate and quality control monthly commissions for the sales team
  • Month-End Support: Assist the accounting department with closing the books each month
  • Financial File Preparation: Provide all necessary month-end closing files
  • Error Resolution: Review P&L and Balance Sheet for potential errors and resolve
  • Billing Management: Administer and manage customer billing and collections
  • Tax Compliance: Keep the company compliant with State and Federal tax requirements
  • Executive Support: Assist the CEO by providing financials
  • Accounting Projects: Project manage and execute accounting tasks
  • Collections Duties: Perform billing and collections duties
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis: Create and review a cost-benefit analysis on expense items

7. Finance Director Job Description

  • Financial Strategy: Developing and implementing the financial strategy of the business plan and funding the operations
  • Budget Collaboration: Compiling the budget and forecasts in close collaboration with the R&D team
  • Accounting Close: Accounting close, financial reporting and audit in cooperation with the external accounting firm
  • Board Reporting: Reporting the financial results and plans for the board
  • Budget Control: Implementing an efficient and flexible budgeting and controlling system
  • Administration Management: Managing the company administration, including employee matters
  • Financing Proposals: Investigating and finalizing proposals for alternative financing options such as debt, grants, etc.
  • Regulatory Interaction: Interacting with auditors, regulatory bodies (tax authorities, etc.) and investment banks

8. Finance Executive Overview

  • Expenditure Tracking: Prepare payments and tracking of expenditures
  • Vendor Liaison: Liaising with vendors and handling inquiries regarding payments
  • Receivables Management: Ensure timely billing to clients and generate AR aging reports to follow up on outstanding receivables
  • Transaction Posting: Ensure timely and accurate posting of transactions by documented processes
  • Ledger Accuracy: Ensure that transactional accounting postings to the general ledgers are accurate for charging to the correct expense accounts
  • Accrual Management: Ensure prepayment, accruals and all liabilities are taken up in the books on a timely basis for effective and accurate financial reporting
  • GST Filing: Prepare quarterly GST returns and filing matters
  • Statutory Compliance: Liaise with external auditors, tax agents and external parties to ensure relevant statutory compliance
  • Control Support: Assist in administrative processes including internal control reviews and monthly stock take

9. Head of Finance Details and Accountabilities

  • Financial Reporting: Preparation of all financial reporting for internal and external stakeholders
  • Performance Tracking: Develop effective measures to track business performance
  • Data Analysis: Analysis of and identification of trends, and data to bring additional insights to the business
  • Payment Management: Implementation, facilitation and management of cross-border payments, settlements, and reconciliation
  • Vendor Program Management: Set up and manage vendor management programs including risk controls
  • Contract Negotiation: Effectively negotiate vendor contracts and support global operations
  • Audit Preparation: Create processes and systems that automate and reduce the effort to be able to respond to audits, and support regulatory and standardization audits

10. Finance Lead Tasks

  • Team Oversight: Oversee the Accounting team, including reviewing financial reporting, cost accounting and balance sheet management
  • Financial Forecasting: Build a quarterly and annual financial forecast and manage the cash conversion cycle
  • Transaction Evaluation: Evaluate and analyze complex financial and business transactions, reviewing contracts and applying accounting principles
  • Process Improvement: Drive change within finance and operational procedures to ensure scaling of operations through automation, systems implementation, work assessment and process improvement
  • Audit Management: Manage all external audit efforts
  • Audit Liaison: Act as the liaison between the Accounting team and the external auditor for the preparation of the annual audit
  • Tax Management: Manage tax filings and sales tax processes alongside tax advisors
  • GAAP Compliance: Partner with the accounts payable and accounts receivable team to ensure transactions are recorded by GAAP on a timely basis
  • Invoice Ownership: Ownership of all invoices and weekly payment processing
  • External Coordination: Interface with outside third parties to obtain information required for accounting analysis and corporate allocations

11. Finance Manager Roles

  • Cost Analysis: Analyze costs, pricing, variable contributions, sales results and the company’s actual performance compared to the business plans
  • Cost Reduction: Conduct reviews and evaluations for cost-reduction opportunities
  • Financial Reporting: Develop and deliver financial reporting, forecasts, profitability analysis, pricing analysis, and other ad-hoc projects
  • Report Management: Responsible for any reports that are required by the company on a weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly basis
  • Budget Preparation: Prepare the budget and forecast as per the company schedule
  • Department Coordination: Correspond with various other departments, discussing company plans and agreeing on future paths to be taken
  • Vendor Payment Supervision: Supervise the finance assistant to prepare vouchers and payments to the vendors, tax returns related and cost sheets for all imported goods
  • Payroll Coordination: Liaise with the outsourced payroll vendor on monthly payroll management and registration/deregistration with the authority
  • HR Support: Assist with HR operations matters in local offices (i.e., new employee onboarding, work permit application)

12. Finance Officer Additional Details

  • Accounting Accuracy: Ensuring the accounting is correct and up to date for the TSI business and the NGO
  • Invoice Management: Ensuring all invoices are issued correctly
  • Record Maintenance: Ensure monthly accounting records are kept updated and accurate
  • Financial Reporting: Producing regular financial reports, including updating cash flow, budgets, expenditure reports, etc.
  • Donor Reporting: Financial budgeting and reporting to key donors and partners
  • Tax Compliance: Ensure financial and tax compliance
  • HR Oversight: Oversee HR, including staff monthly timesheets and annual leave
  • Document Filing: Filing of all TSI NGO-related documents

13. Finance Project Manager Essential Functions

  • Improvement Programs: Drive the implementation of group-wide operational improvement programs, especially IT enhancement projects
  • Requirement Coordination: Coordinate with countries in AP and work with IT on user requirements and testing
  • Report Analysis: Analytical review of monthly financial and operational reports from local companies
  • Regional Reporting: Prepare, consolidate and check regional management reports and send to Corporate in Germany
  • Budget Coordination: Coordinate the budget consolidation and meeting participation
  • System Maintenance: Ensure smooth tool system access and documentation management processes and maintenance
  • Project Controlling: Support the setup and maintenance of qualitative Project Controlling processes and ensure budget tracking
  • PMO Support: Responsible for professional project management office support

14. Senior Finance Manager Role Purpose

  • Month-End Closing: Oversee and ensure month-end closing and group reporting are completed on time
  • Budget Management: Manage the preparation of the annual local budget and monthly forecasts
  • Compliance Control: Ensure internal compliance, control the purchasing process and verify contracts
  • Audit Support: Align internal practices to Legal and Tax requirements, and provide annual audit support
  • Policy Documentation: Set up and maintain a documented system of accounting policies, regulations, operating policies and procedures
  • Performance Reporting: Provide periodic updates to local and group management on financial performance
  • Business Launch Support: Work with legal and tax on financial on finance matters relating to the launch of new business initiatives
  • Financial Planning: Lead and work together with HQ on Financial planning analysis and periodic budgeting for the Indonesian operations
  • Fundraising Support: Support any fundraising activities
  • Strategic Support: Support the Country CEO on finance and strategic matters
  • Team Development: Support the CFO in staff oversight and team career development

15. Finance Supervisor General Responsibilities

  • Sales Invoicing: Produce all sales invoices and sales orders promptly
  • Information Gathering: Work closely with colleagues in the wider business to gather the information required for invoicing and payment terms agreed
  • Receivables Management: Ensuring that customer balances are paid on time by generating monthly statements and chasing appropriately
  • Order Processing: Processing invoices through the sales ordering processing system and dispatching goods from stock
  • Debtor Analysis: Maintaining and reviewing of aged debtors listing by producing an analysis of outstanding money and categorising them by income source and outstanding periods
  • Customer Support: Be the first point of contact for the Finance team concerning answering customer telephone and email queries
  • Invoice Coding: Processing of purchase invoices and ensuring correct coding to cost centres
  • Query Resolution: Resolving queries resulting from invoices not matching POs
  • Payment Processing: Processing payment runs and ad hoc payments, ensuring payments are correct and timely
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