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Finance Manager

Finance

Plan, direct, or coordinate accounting, investing, banking, insurance, securities, and other financial activities of a branch, office, or department of an establishment.

FinanceAccounting

What you'd do all day

The tasks that matter most in this job, most important first.

  1. 1Establish procedures for custody or control of assets, records, loan collateral, or securities to ensure safekeeping.
  2. 2Establish and maintain relationships with individual or business customers or provide assistance with problems these customers may encounter.
  3. 3Communicate with stockholders or other investors to provide information or to raise capital.
  4. 4Oversee the flow of cash or financial instruments.
  5. 5Develop or analyze information to assess the current or future financial status of firms.
  6. 6Plan, direct, or coordinate the activities of workers in branches, offices, or departments of establishments, such as branch banks, brokerage firms, risk and insurance departments, or credit departments.
  7. 7Approve, reject, or coordinate the approval or rejection of lines of credit or commercial, real estate, or personal loans.
  8. 8Prepare financial or regulatory reports required by laws, regulations, or boards of directors.
  9. 9Examine, evaluate, or process loan applications.
  10. 10Evaluate financial reporting systems, accounting or collection procedures, or investment activities and make recommendations for changes to procedures, operating systems, budgets, or other financial control functions.
  11. 11Recruit staff members.
  12. 12Network within communities to find and attract new business.
  13. 13Prepare operational or risk reports for management analysis.
  14. 14Evaluate data pertaining to costs to plan budgets.
  15. 15Review collection reports to determine the status of collections and the amounts of outstanding balances.
  16. 16Oversee training programs.
  17. 17Review reports of securities transactions or price lists to analyze market conditions.

Also known as

What this job is called on JobStreet, LinkedIn and in job ads. Search these too.

  • BCM
  • Paymaster
  • ATM Manager
  • Comptroller
  • Tax Manager
  • Bank Manager
  • Cash Manager
  • Tax Director
  • Asset Manager
  • Branch Manager

How far is this from you?

Roughly how much preparation this job usually takes. In Malaysia your UPU route and the programme's syarat still decide entry, so treat this as a guide, not a gate.

  1. 1

    Entry straight after SPM

  2. 2

    SPM + sijil / short TVET course

  3. 3

    Diploma / TVET (sijil–diploma)

  4. Typical entry

    Degree (ijazah sarjana muda)

  5. 5

    Postgrad (sarjana / PhD) or professional route

Typical educationBachelor's degree

Subjects that matter here

The SPM subjects worth your effort for this career, with the reason for each.

BusinessDraws directly on Administration and Management — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
EconomicsDraws directly on Administration and Management — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
Principles of AccountingDraws directly on Economics and Accounting — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
Additional MathematicsDraws directly on Mathematics — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).
MathematicsDraws directly on Mathematics — a top knowledge area for this role (O*NET).

What you'd need to know

The subject areas this job leans on most, and the SPM subjects that build them.

  • Customer and Personal Service93%
  • Administration and Management87%

    BusinessEconomics

  • Economics and Accounting81%

    Principles of AccountingEconomics

  • Mathematics75%

    Additional MathematicsMathematics

  • Administrative74%

    Business

  • Law and Government72%

    History (Sejarah)

Tools you'd use

Software and equipment that show up in this job, worth learning early.

Where to learn these, free

Scholarships & funding

What the work feels like

Day-to-day working conditions, so you can tell whether the job suits how you like to work.

  • Face-to-face discussionsEvery day
  • Contact with other peopleContact most of the time
  • Dealing with customers or the publicVery high
  • Leading or coordinating othersHigh
  • Indoors, air-conditionedEvery day
  • Outdoors, in all weatherAlmost never
  • Noisy environmentRarely
  • Time spent sittingAlmost all the time

AI and demand for this job

A few real, dated data points — not a single score. AI making some tasks faster usually means a job changes, not that it disappears.

4%

Share of everyday tasks today's AI can already help with (2023)

This estimate is from 2023 — already out of date, since AI moves fast. Treat it as a rough, aging starting point, not the current picture.

0.13%

Of Malaysian Claude conversations, about this kind of work

Measures how much people use Claude for this work, not how many Malaysians do this job — and more AI use can mean people relying on it, not that it's replacing them.

Growing role in the US

US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, not Malaysian. Shown because it's the only forward-looking demand estimate we have for this job.

On Malaysia's official shortage list

TalentCorp and ILMIA's Critical Occupations List — evidence of a real hiring shortage in Malaysia right now.

Finance Managers · Shortage indicators met: 5/12

Pay in Malaysia

We don't have a sourced Malaysian salary range for this job yet, and we'd rather show nothing than a number we can't stand behind.

Where to check:

  • JobStreet and Hiredly job ads for this title
  • DOSM Salaries & Wages Survey
  • SSPA scheme tables, if you're aiming for a government post

Check what you may qualify for

Enter your SPM grades and see which routes and programmes you may qualify for. An estimate to plan with, not an offer.

Check my eligibility Not sure yet? Take the quiz

How to get here

Post-SPM pathways with programmes in this career's fields. Tap one to see real programmes and entry requirements.

Matriculation

One or two years, heavily subsidised with allowance. Competitive, quota-based entry.

12–24 months

Diploma

Skill-first qualification. Work after, or enter degree Year 2. Polytechnics keep it affordable.

2.5–3 years

Related careers

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About this information

This describes what the job involves. Pay, demand and entry routes differ in Malaysia, so check the Pathways and Programmes pages for local requirements.

O*NET occupation: Financial Managers

Job responsibilities, knowledge areas and work context from O*NET 30.3, US Department of Labor, used under CC BY 4.0. onetcenter.org

Programmes that lead here

Programmes from the official UPU (KPT) and MQA catalogues whose field of study typically leads to this career. Matched by field, not a job guarantee.

Public universities (UPU)

Private institutions (MQA-accredited)

Search the programme catalogue