WHAT DOES A FINANCE DO?
Reviewed under Editorial Standards by Lam Nguyen

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
Editorial Process

Lamwork content is developed through structured review of publicly available job postings and documented hiring trends.

Editorial operations are managed by Thanh Huyen, Managing Editor, with research direction and final oversight by Lam Nguyen, Founder & Editorial Lead. Content is periodically reviewed to reflect observable labor market changes.

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