Finance & Accounting
A financial analyst studies company results, builds forecasts and models, and explains what the numbers mean. The role gives managers the analysis behind budgets, pricing, investments and performance reviews, and helps leaders choose between competing priorities.
Median pay
$103,570a year
Financial analysts, U.S. BLS, May 2025
The role
Companies hire one when leaders are making decisions from raw reports, or when forecasting and reporting overwhelm the controller or finance manager.
Typical responsibilities
Core skills
Tools and systems
Related titles
Typical background
Usually a bachelor's degree in finance, accounting or economics and two to four years of analysis experience.
At a glance
The essentials for planning the hire: level, background, how you can hire and what the role typically pays.
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FAQ
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A financial analyst studies company results, builds forecasts and models, and explains what the numbers mean. The role gives managers the analysis behind budgets, pricing, investments and performance reviews, and helps leaders choose between competing priorities. Typical responsibilities include: build and maintain financial models and forecasts; analyze monthly results and explain variances to managers; prepare business cases for investments and new initiatives.
Look for financial modeling, forecasting, variance analysis, data analysis, excel and presentation skills. Experience with Excel, Power BI, Tableau, NetSuite and Adaptive Planning is common in this role.
Yes. A financial analyst is one of the roles employers most often hire on contract, for projects, busy periods, leave cover and vacancies. Contract-to-hire is also an option if you want to work together before making a permanent offer.
A financial analyst usually builds models and reports under direction. A senior analyst owns a business area, challenges assumptions and presents to leaders without much oversight. Choose senior if no one on your team can review or guide the analysis.
Ask how they built a forecast, what drove the variance and what decision resulted. Strong analysts explain assumptions plainly and can walk through the model’s logic. Complex formulas matter less than whether the output changed what the business did.
Related roles
Every role in the practice is recruited by the same specialist team.
