A job description provides a clear, brief, representation of the duties and requirements for a job. My dream job is being a Financial Analyst with the following jobs description (Mader-Clark, 2013, p. 3).
Financial Analyst Job Description
Job Summary
The job will involve analyzing financial data, forecasting future performance, giving advice to the management on how to drive performance and improve policies (Parker+Lynch, 2015).
Key Responsibilities
The day-to-day responsibilities of the jobholder will include:
Analyzing past and current financial data and performance (Parker+Lynch, 2015)
Preparing reports based on the analysis to support key decision making
Appraising new investment opportunities and giving recommendations to the Board
Exploring various sources of finance and making recommendations on the suitability of each source of finance
Evaluating the profitability of various profit centers
Evaluating the cost structure of various cost centers and exploring ways of reducing on costs
Developing financial models, analyzing processes and conduct benchmarking
Coordinating with other members of the finance and accounting team to prepare and review budgets
Conduct variance analysis and provide possible reasons for the variances
Project the cash position of the business and optimize the bank balances
Requirements
The ideal candidate will possess the following traits:
Critical thinking, able to think on your feet and provide solutions promptly
Proficiency in data analysis, and use of statistical packages such as SPSS, Ms. Excel, and STATA
Well knowledgeable in tax law, financial markets, accounting standards and general business environment
on financial forecasting and modeling
Great presentation and report writing skills
Experience in use of ERP and other related systems
Ability to work and pressure and meet tight deadlines
Willingness to occasionally work long hours
Ability to prioritize tasks, and excellent time management skills
Possess a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or Economics
CFA holders will have an added advantage
Compensation Package
The jobholder will receive an annual salary of $63,000 subject to an annual salary review based on individual performance drawn for the Balanced Score Card
The jobholder will be entitled to a performance bonus of up to 20% of the total annual salary depending on the organization financial performance or discretionary pool of funds allotted for bonus payout to employees. Performance will be measured using the Balanced Score Card methodology.
Retirement savings plan employee to contribute 5% of the monthly salary and employer to match with 5%.
A medical insurance package for the jobholder based on the organization’s job grade
Rationale for the Compensation Package
The median salary of a financial analyst according to Salary.com (2016) is $57,000 and therefore, an annual salary of $63,000 is about 10% above the median salary of a financial analyst. The annual salary will enable the jobholder to meet their obligations, cater for their upkeep and personal development plans.
Bonus payouts are meant to reward individual effort and performance but should also be tied to the overall company performance as measured against its financial objectives. The annual bonus is meant to serve as an incentive of encouraging goal congruence between the employees’ objectives and the organizational objectives. However, the Bonus is capped at 20% in order to discourage mangers from engaging in short termism where they push for short-term profits at the expense of the long-term profitability. For instance, managers may decide to lay off workers in order to boost short-term profitability through lower labor costs, only to hire more staff a few months later at much higher costs.
The non-monetary benefits are additional to the monetary compensation and are meant to attract, retain, and motivate employees. Non-monetary benefits are non-cash rewards but have monetary value to the employees. The jobholder will enjoy two types of the non-monetary benefits, Retirement benefits, and Health Insurance Cover. During productive years, the jobholder should be able to save for their retirement. The company will offer a defined contribution pension plan with the company matching the employee pension contribution of 5% of the basic salary. Retirement savings plan provided by the employer will enable the jobholder to start planning early for their retirement. Health benefits are also a great incentive to employees given the spiraling cost of medical care. The Health Insurance cover will cover the jobholder, spouse, and two children.
Performance Appraisal Program
The Jobholder will be appraised using a Balanced Score Card (BSC). A Balanced Score card appraises employees under four key perspectives: Financial Perspective, internal processes, customer perspective, and learning and growth. The jobholder will set objectives at the beginning of the year based on the objectives cascaded from their supervisor. The jobholder and their immediate supervisor will jointly discuss and agree on the objectives. Appraisal will be carried out in mid-year to review progress and at the end of the year to evaluate the achievements.
Financial Perspective
The Financial analyst is expected to achieve the following financial objectives:
Save the company finance costs by recommending cheaper sources of finance. The savings on finance costs should be at least 2% than the current cost of finance
Optimizing the business processes to generate cost savings of at least 10% of the current costs
Optimize cash balances in the banks to reduce overdraft expenses by 30% and grow interest income by 5%.
Internal processes
Prepare and submit Variance reports and profitability to the management by the 10th day of every month.
Review financial business process with the relevant stakeholders to optimize operations by the end of the year 2016
Appraise investment opportunities on a quarterly basis and give recommendations to the Board
Evaluating all cost structure of various cost centers and recommending ways of reducing on costs to the board by mid-year.
Customer perspective
Provide various business units with all the relevant analysis, forecasting, and models that they may require in order to optimize their operations
Maintain a comprehensive database of all financial information in the company and ensure that the information so contained is accurate and complete
Helping new board members to understand the company budgets and the budget process
Exploring new ways of collaborations in the budget process and ensuring the participation of every department
Learning and growth
Obtain from the industry benchmarking data, identify the performance gaps and develop recommendations of closing the cost gaps
Collect information on potential targets for acquisition and conduct a preliminary due diligence on the targets
Track the performance of the company share price and monitor the market for any developments that may adversely affect the value of the company
Enroll and pass Certified Financial Analyst (CFA) stage 1 by end of the year 2016
Rationale for Performance Appraisal Program
The use of the Balanced Score Card for performance measurement allows an organization to align its strategic activities to its strategic plan (BSC Designer, 2011). An organization goals and objectives are set at the top management and cascaded down for adoption and implementation by the various sections. Cascading ensures that key performance measures are aligned with strategy at all levels in an organization. Using the BSC enable managers and supervisors to objectively evaluate the employees’ contribution towards the achievement of the organizations objectives (BSC Designer, 2011).
Unlike the traditional financial metrics, the BSC adds the non- financial metrics to measure performance. Use of the Balance Score Card helps an organization to focus on other perspectives such as the quality of customer service, efficiency of internal processes and growth and development of its human resources. This brings out successful all-round organization and individuals.
The BSC as a performance measure also facilitates communication and clear understanding of the business goals thus maximizes corporation among staff to help one another to prosper. The BSC is thus a holistic approach of appraising the performance of the jobholder not just in how well they achieve the numbers, but also how well they perform in other important non-financial perspectives of the business.
Reference list
BSC Designer. (2011). Employees Appraisal with Balanced Scorecard. Retrieved March 12,
2016, from
http://www.bscdesigner.com/employees-appraisal-with-balanced-scorecard.htm
Mader-Clark, M. (2013). The job description handbook. Berkeley, CA: Nolo.
Parker Lynch. (2015). What is a financial analyst? Retrieved March 12, 2016, from
http://www.parkerlynch.com/jobs/job-descriptions/Pages/financial-analyst.aspx
Salary.Com. (2016). Financial Analyst I Salaries. Retrieved March 12, 2016, from
http://www1.salary.com/Financial-Analyst-I-Salary.html
