Finance administrator job trends

What entry qualifications and training do you need for this job?

School, college and training

You’ll normally enter a finance administration role with GCSEs or their equivalent, including maths and English.

A-levels and their equivalents or higher education studies in business studies, economics or maths could also be useful.

In some cases, an employer might want you to have a relevant accounting or bookkeeping qualification, like the ones offered by theAssociation of Accounting Technicians,or a degree.
<44> Apprenticeships and traineeships

An alternative route is to take your first step into the finance industry through an apprenticeship. There are many finance apprenticeships and traineeships available in the UK today.
School leavers and non-graduates are often welcomed to apply for a finance apprenticeship, with qualification requirements of five GCSEs or their equivalent including maths and English in grades 9-4 (A*-C).

The qualifications you will gain as a finance apprentice vary, but will be industry-recognised qualifications. For example, an 18-month advanced accounting apprenticeship requiring at least five GCSEs or their equivalent could lead to you becoming a chartered accountant.

Career Progression and further qualifications

As a finance administrator, you could become a senior finance officer, supervisor, team leader, or finance manager.

You could also train to become a qualified accountant or accounting technician. For example, you could become a qualified accounting technician by completing an AAT diploma or a Level 4 qualification in accounting.

You could also move into different areas of finance and specialise in, for example, credit control or payroll administration.
The world of finance is big business in the UK. There are lots of ways to get started and you could have plenty of opportunity to progress in your career.

What experience do you need for finance administrator jobs?

Work experience

To become a finance administrator, you’ll find it useful to have previous work experience in an office-based environment. You’ll also find it helps to show you have IT skills and can use Office software like Word and Excel (which is used for making spreadsheets and is therefore very useful in the finance world to track money and accounts).
Examples of relevant work experience include:

• Work shadowing (even if it’s just for a day)
• Work placements in a company
• Year-long industry placements on a sandwich degree course.

What skills do you need for finance administrator jobs?

Useful skills to highlight to your employer when applying for jobs as a finance administrator, clerk or apprentice include:

• Strong number skills
• Digital skills to help you use Office software
• Good attention to detail
• Good communication skills and customer service skills
• Good teamwork skills and self-management skills (you may be the only finance administrator or work as part of a team)
• Good organisational and planning skills

Vocational qualifications and work experience will help you build these skills over time.

What does a finance administrator do?

Knowing a little more about finance and accounts will help you show employers that you understand what this job is about. It can also help you decide if it’s right for you.

Because any business needs its finance managed, you could start your finance career journey in lots of different ways. For example, you could support qualified accountants, work in a finance or accounts department, or support other areas of the business, like sales or marketing.
Areas you could specialise in:

• Cash and banking
• Credit Control
• Payroll/purchase

You could be working alone, but you are likely to work as part of a finance or accounts team – especially if you are earning as you learn with an apprenticeship or traineeship.
You are likely to work standard office hours, Monday to Friday. Sometimes you will have deadlines to meet, such as the end of the financial year when it gets busy.

Some day-to-day job responsibilities include:

• Keeping accurate financial records using office software
• Helping to prepare and audit (check and investigate) accounts
• Creating budget reports which could be monthly, quarterly or annual
• Activities for payroll (staff wages), invoices, expenses, petty cash and VAT. These could include calculating staff wages or completing VAT returns.
• Monitoring bank accounts and matching payments
• Issuing and checking sales receipts and invoices
• Tracking and monitoring performance and sales budgets
• Credit control (following up on customers for money owed)
• General office administrative duties, like filing bank statements
• Using office and accounting software like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and potentially more specialised accounting software like Sage Line 50

Your first steps into finance administrator jobs

To find jobs for young people in this role, search on job boards for administration positions in finance with these words in the title:

• Finance Trainee
• Finance Apprenticeship
• Accounts/finance clerk
• Junior accounts assistant
• Junior finance assistant
• Junior accounts administrator

Legal/finance employers supporting young jobseekers

Useful organisations and links for finance careers

• Find an Apprenticeship
• Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT)
• Institution of Financial Accountants (IFA)