Occupation
Financial analyst
Financial analysts pull together financial and operating information so an organisation can judge how it is performing and what a decision would cost. Much of the day is spent in models and reporting tools, but the output is usually a recommendation someone has to be able to follow and challenge.
Also known as: Corporate finance analyst · FP&A analyst · Business finance analyst · Planning and analysis analyst
Occupation content
Part of Finance, accounting and insurance
What the work involves
- Build and maintain models of revenue, cost, cash, and capital plans.
- Compare actual results with forecast and explain the drivers behind gaps.
- Prepare board, budget, or investment papers with clearly stated assumptions.
- Evaluate business cases and test how sensitive they are to key variables.
- Pull operational and market data together into a consistent reporting view.
- Present findings to finance and non-finance stakeholders.
How people commonly enter
- A degree in finance, accounting, economics, mathematics, or business.
- A graduate scheme or analyst programme in a corporate finance or FP&A team.
- A professional finance or accounting qualification taken alongside a finance role.
- Progression from accounting, business analysis, or data analysis into a finance analyst role.
Typical training: Bachelor's degree
Licensing: Certification common, not usually required
Typical work context
Desk based · Team based · Hybrid office · Fast paced
Related interests
Investigative (analytical) · Conventional (organizing) · Enterprising (leading)
Related aptitude preparation
These are preparation links only. They do not measure eligibility for this occupation and no score here qualifies or disqualifies anyone.
Skills to practise
Practice suites
Related learning
Family-level learning links for Finance, accounting and insurance.
Official sources
Labour-market facts such as pay and employment projections are not reproduced here. Open an official source below for figures, with its own geography and reference period.
- O*NET OnLine — Financial and Investment Analysts (13-2051.00) · United States
Link checked
- Canada Job Bank — Explore careers (occupation search) · Canada
Link checked
- UK National Careers Service — Explore careers · United Kingdom
Link checked
Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)
This is broad family-level context for Finance, accounting and insurance in Canada, not a figure for Financial analyst. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.
This is a broad Finance, accounting and insurance family. Explore the official profile for the chosen occupation; entry education and training can differ within the family.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Finance, accounting and insurance: education pathways
Some roles in Finance, accounting and insurance may be regulated. Confirm whether the specific role requires registration, certification, or a jurisdiction-specific licence.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Finance, accounting and insurance: licensing
Find jobs
These are live, user-controlled searches on each source's own site for “ Financial analyst”. Novus Learn does not fetch, store, or rank these results, and job availability never changes your exploration match score.
- Search Canada Job Bank · Canada
- Search USAJOBS · United States federal
- Search EURES · European Union / EEA
- Search Indeed · International (choose location on Indeed)