Management Accounting Careers

List of Top 4 Careers in Management Accounting

Below are some of the top management accounting jobs that you can look for in your career.

Financial Analyst/Senior Financial Analyst
Finance & Accounts Manager
Budget Analyst
Treasury & Payroll Manager

Overview of Management Accounting Careers Opportunities

Management Accounting also termed as Corporate Accounting involves responsibilities that focus more on internal development and awareness, budget preparation, risk assessment, financial analysis, etc. Management accounting often confused with financial accounting has the basic difference that, where financial accounting is more historical in nature the management accounting is a current and forward-looking approach that has more of a futuristic approach for the development of the organization. Management accountants work on processes such as revenue/cost analysis, reasons for increase/decrease, a budgetary process that helps senior managers in decision making, identifying the focus areas, and ensuring that things are under control and within set standards.

Career #1 – Financial Analyst

Who is the Financial Analyst/Senior Financial Analyst?

Financial Analyst works on the compilation of data, analysis, and provided variances analysis for any movement in assigned cost area, cost center, department, or entity.

Financial Analyst/Senior Financial Analyst
Responsibilities	Responsible for financial analysis and providing out which helps in decision making, budgeting and gives deep insight.
Designation	Finance Analyst/ Senior Financial Analyst
Actual Role	Actively manages the day to day financial processes, monitors revenue and related cost, analyses the trends of financial indicators and predicts the future, gives input for decision making.
Job Statistics	he Bureau of Labour Statistics of US displays that job growth for financial analysts is 11% from 2016-26, which is faster than average. A growing range of financial products and the need for in-depth knowledge of geographic regions are expected to lead to strong employment growth.
Top Companies	Boston Consulting Group, Travellers, Cisco, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, Edward Jones, Morgan Stanley, Citi.
Salary	The average salary for a financial analyst is $68k as per 2019 publish results and salary increases with years of experience.
Demand & Supply	There is going to be a good demand for financial analysts with a focus on cost analysis and big data being in focus nowadays.
Education Requirement	Bachelor’s degree in finance for entry-level jobs and CMA/CFA/ MBA for further progression.
Recommended Courses	Bachelor’s degree in finance for entry-level jobs and CMA/CFA/ MBA for further progression.
Positives	Extensive Knowledge of various finance functions and exposure to how exactly an organisation is run.
Negatives	Sometimes the role is too much scattered leaving a person exhausted and not focussed on one thing at a time.

Career #2 – Finance & Accounts Manager

Who is Finance & Accounts Manager?

Finance & Accounts Manager takes care of complete Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, preparation of financial statements, and other statutory reports for audits.

Finance & Accounts Manager
Responsibilities	Responsible for finance and accounting function for preparation of profit & loss and balance sheet.
Designation	Finance & Accounting Manager
Actual Role	Actively manage the daily operations of the payables and receivables and take calls on vendor/customer management for deals and negotiations.
Job Statistics	The bureau of labor statistics of US displays that job growth for accounting managers is 10% from 2016-26, which is faster than average.
Top Companies	USAA, Capital One Financial, One deck Capital, JP Morgan Chase, Ernst & Young, Deloitte & Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, Bank of New York Mellon, Automatic Data Processing Inc etc.
Salary	The base salary for accounting manager ranges from $91,835 to $116,722.
Demand & Supply	There will always be a good demand for this role as monthly books closing and reporting is widely accepted practice now.
Education Requirement	Bachelor’s degree in finance for entry-level jobs and CPA/CFA/CMA/MBA for further progression.
Recommended Courses	Bachelor’s degree in finance for entry-level jobs and CPA/CFA/CMA/MBA for further progression.
Positives	Extensive knowledge of the different accounting functions and exposure to statutory and internal accounting requirements.
Negatives	In the long run accounting function becomes a repetitive task.

Career #3 – Budget Analyst

Who is Budget Analyst?

Budget Analyst works closely with the board and higher management and falls under the Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) team. A budget analyst is involved in planning and controlling all the functions of an organization through budget preparation and comparison and analysis of budgeted numbers to actual results.

Budget Analyst
Responsibilities	Responsible for coordination between investors and higher management and ensures that accurate data is provided for discussion and decision making.
Designation	Budget Manager/FP&A Manager
Actual Role	The person was involved in performance measurement of departments, individual and cost centers by identifying areas for cost reduction and efficiency improvement. The budget analysts in also involved in decision making whether a CAPEX expenditure should be incurred or not by doing the net present value and cost-benefit analysis.
Job Statistics	The bureau of labor statistics of US displays that job growth for budget personnel is 7% from 2016-26, which is equal to the national average.
Top Companies	Boston Consulting Group, Travellers, Cisco, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, Edward Jones, Morgan Stanley, Citi.
Salary	The average salary for a budget analyst is $74K which increases with years of experience and career progression.
Demand & Supply	There will always be a good demand for budget analysts as tracking expenses, comparing budget to actual has become an integral part of any organization nowadays.
Education Requirement	Bachelor’s degree in finance for entry-level jobs and CFA/MBA/CMA for further progression.
Recommended Courses	Bachelor’s degree in finance for entry-level jobs and CFA/MBA/CMA for further progression.
Positives	Extensive knowledge of planning and preparation of steps involved in the budget process and how to gauge in the future.
Negatives	It is not an easy task to gauge in the future and determine how the thing will look a few years down the line so sometimes the job becomes too demanding and stressful.

Career #4 – Treasury & Payroll Manager

Who is Treasury & Payroll Manager?

Treasury & Payroll Accounting Manager ensures that the funds of the organization are being used inappropriate manner, there is enough balance in accounts to pay the vendors, employees, and other statutory dues. The person is also involved in cash flow statement preparation, dealing with banks and other fund management functions.

Treasury & Payroll Manager
Responsibilities	Responsible for ensuring that working capital requirement is met and there is no deficiency of funds in case of payment dues.
Designation	Treasury/Payroll Manager
Actual Role	Treasury manager is the person who oversees the flow of actual cash. Treasury is a very important role in any organization as managing cash and making it available for all occasions is a tough task. The person remains in contact with all the banks to track the receipts, payment and other statutory dues.
Job Statistics	The Bureau of Labour statistics of US displays that job growth for treasury personnel is expected to be 14% from 2016-26, which is way faster than average.
Top Companies	Each and every company whether big or small need a person or team for its cash management functions.
Salary	The average salary for a treasury manager role is $ 91K.
Demand & Supply	As suggested by Bureau of Labour statistics of US display that job growth for treasury personnel is expected to be 14% from 2016-2026 which suggest a strong demand for professionals who specialize in cash management.
Education Requirement	Bachelor’s degree in finance for entry-level jobs and CFA/CMA/MBA for further progression.
Recommended Courses	Bachelor’s degree in finance for entry-level jobs and CFA/CMA/MBA for further progression.
Positives	Extensive knowledge of cash management and banking functions which is very helpful in career progression.
Negatives	It is a high-risk job as it involves cash and any mismanagement or error causes a great deal of loss to the organisation.

Others Careers in Management Accounting

There are various other options a management accountant can pursue as career options in today’s growing finance segment. They can work in the stock market as an analyst for equity, bonds, and other financial instruments. Then banking in another sector with lots of opportunities. In the United States, public limited companies are also one of the biggest recruiters for management accounts for various roles. Then there are non-banking financial companies that offer a lot of opportunities. They can work as controllers in various departments to monitor and exercise control over assigned cost centers. Apart from the previous traditional roles of forensic accounting, big data, data analytics, SOX compliance, increasing statutory compliances pose a great challenge and provide a lot of opportunities for budding professionals in the coming days.

Conclusion

Management accounting is a great career field as it plays a very crucial role in maintaining coordination between various internal and external stakeholders. Management accounting is all about how ell the organization is being handled and resources are being used in an optimum way. Management accounting is an effective tool for performance measurement of departments, individual and cost centers and it also helps in increasing efficiency and cost reduction which results in profit maximization. Also, management accounting is involved in identifying foreseeable revenue or expenses which gauges how the future of the organization looks like. So, this is one of the most exciting fields with great scope and future in the coming years. It also adds stability to one’s career and a rewarding field also. ultimately, there is so much to learn, work, and earn in the management accounting field.