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I would ask a financial analyst what kind of data they analyze and what kind of company do they work for.
9th grader trying to learn more about this career for class #career #career-options #career-choice #job
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Terence’s Answer
There's a ton of resources you can use to start looking into this - I'd recommend Glassdoor as a starting point, with basic searches on the "financial analyst". You'll find job postings, resources around salaries and basic job responsibilities and requirements.
Overall, I'd say this, all modern companies make data driven decisions and have a ton of data at their fingertips. Financial Analysts (at least in the corporate world) work with the financial data (budget, revenue, expenses, costs) to help make teams and organizations make decisions based on this. I work with a few financial analysts in my day to day job and we look at headcount and staffing data (headcount are part of costs), performance data (this tells us what we're getting out of those resources), and we compare them against our budget and revenue projections (these give us a view of how much we can spend now and how much we have in our budget later). This is only 1 version of Financial Analysts. I think that there are a lot of variations on what a financial analyst could do, but in general, it's what I've described above - helping to make data driven decisions.
Overall, I'd say this, all modern companies make data driven decisions and have a ton of data at their fingertips. Financial Analysts (at least in the corporate world) work with the financial data (budget, revenue, expenses, costs) to help make teams and organizations make decisions based on this. I work with a few financial analysts in my day to day job and we look at headcount and staffing data (headcount are part of costs), performance data (this tells us what we're getting out of those resources), and we compare them against our budget and revenue projections (these give us a view of how much we can spend now and how much we have in our budget later). This is only 1 version of Financial Analysts. I think that there are a lot of variations on what a financial analyst could do, but in general, it's what I've described above - helping to make data driven decisions.
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Glenn’s Answer
A financial analyst can take on many roles and is not necessarily just a Finance department position. Financial analysts are utilized across all aspects of a business, including Sales, Marketing, Finance, Business Operations, etc. There can be many different types of data that are reviewed depending on the section of the business you are working in, but in most cases the role is responsible to help make business decisions based on the data. Currently, I have a Budget Planning and Financial Analysis role that is supporting our Network Engineering organization. We are focused on the expenses in our line of business and how we are managing our money (Budget vs Actual expense). We pull data from a variety of sources and report out results to the teams that we support. We're also responsible for developing the annual budget that sets a guideline for what our teams are allowed to spend for the year.
In this type of role, being a "numbers" person is helpful to be able to analyze large amounts of data and develop trends. However, it is also important to have strong communication skills to be able to inform the teams that you support of their results and any items that need to be addressed. Also, building your technology skills will be important as companies move toward more sophisticated ways to compile and report data.
In this type of role, being a "numbers" person is helpful to be able to analyze large amounts of data and develop trends. However, it is also important to have strong communication skills to be able to inform the teams that you support of their results and any items that need to be addressed. Also, building your technology skills will be important as companies move toward more sophisticated ways to compile and report data.
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DOTUN’s Answer
A financial analyst would ordinarily analyse the financial statements of a company which includes balance sheet, income statement and cashflow statement. In doing so a financial analyst is expected to assist the company with planning in area of finance and also make projections for the future based on their analysis of historical figures of the company. Financial planning responsibility would include analysing of financial data of similar company within the industry. A financial analyst is expected to forecast revenues and expenditures and develop the right strategy to achieve the company's revenue target.
A financial analyst can work in any sector of the economy as every corporation has a finance department.
A financial analyst can work in any sector of the economy as every corporation has a finance department.
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Jose’s Answer
Hi Sam,
As a newer financial analyst myself at a big bank, we look at companies across different industries and different business structures financial statements, mainly their balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows to determine the overall financial health of the company. I analyze the changes year to year to see if there are any significant changes then proceed to look for explanations or reasons why it changed. This is for either direction whether the numbers improved or declined. Analyzing their financial data helps to make better informed decisions on whether to continue to extend credit or not (that is in simpler terms as there is a lot more that goes into it). As some of the other posters have mentioned, different fields may require different types of financial analyst however one thing in common is that the point is to make data driven decisions to the benefit of the company and its customers. Best of luck!
As a newer financial analyst myself at a big bank, we look at companies across different industries and different business structures financial statements, mainly their balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows to determine the overall financial health of the company. I analyze the changes year to year to see if there are any significant changes then proceed to look for explanations or reasons why it changed. This is for either direction whether the numbers improved or declined. Analyzing their financial data helps to make better informed decisions on whether to continue to extend credit or not (that is in simpler terms as there is a lot more that goes into it). As some of the other posters have mentioned, different fields may require different types of financial analyst however one thing in common is that the point is to make data driven decisions to the benefit of the company and its customers. Best of luck!