Finance Manager

This is even more the case in Luxembourg, where many investment companies and asset managers have decided to domicile their investment structures.

A reliable Finance Manager will review the financial statements of a company, investment, or fund, and will subsequently provide information and guidance to other colleagues, partners and management. As companies and investments are so complex these days, this often requires finance managers to consolidate several different accounts together, in order to produce accurate numbers and report upwards.

In Luxembourg, a Finance Manager would be expected to know the local country GAAP (LUXGAAP), as well as IFRS if the fund or company reports using the IFRS standards. They are highly likely to manage a team either locally, or across other locations, that report into them, and provide them with financial statements and data from operations elsewhere within the business.

Then it is their role to pull this information together and make sense of it, checking it carefully, before reporting their findings upwards across the assets / investments or company performance. Within Mancos and PSFs, Finance Managers have an added responsibility to ensure they are compliant with CSSF requirements and reporting to the regulator previously, is very useful experience.

Finance Manager responsibilities usually include:

• Overseeing and management of the company’s accounting function/firm. Ensuring the integrity and accuracy of company’s financial records; compliance with CSSF regulations and company’s policies
• Acting as the liaison for all external parties on accounting matters (auditors, tax consultants, CSSF, etc.)
• Performing regular control and reconciliations of financial situations and bank accounts
• Providing financial reports and interpreting financial information to managerial staff and others inside and outside the company
• Leading a team of local or overseas staff, overseeing their development and training
• Setting best practice across the team that they manage, and plugging any gaps.
• Overseeing and reviewing reporting, regulatory filing and tax filings prepared by the accountants
• Generating and update annual budgets and preparation of forecasts and other reporting
• Overseeing and coordinate the production of annual statutory accounts in line with appropriate accounting standards; regulatory filings; interim dividend processes; other AOPs.
• Ensuring tax compliance; overseeing and coordinating production of VAT; withholding and tax declarations including reporting; review tax packs prepared by external partners.
• Preparing and controlling CSSF reporting / updating accounting policies and procedures
• Drafting accounting policy, operating procedures; establish accounting procedures; etc.
• Managing the internal compliance requirements including internal audit requirements

In order to progress well in Finance Manager roles, it is also helpful to develop team coaching and leadership abilities.

This means not just being good with the financial information, but also being able to pass this onto others, set best practice, and motivate a team. Within a business context, having an analytical mind, critical thinking, and strong organisational skills will separate stand-out candidates from others. Although these are heavily financial roles, working in a commercial way, hand- in-hand with others in a business is what raises the level of these hires.