Finance Manager job description template (India, 2026)
A Finance Manager job description written for Indian companies: responsibilities, requirements, CTC and notice-period framing, five screening questions, and the full text to copy or post on ofper.
Last updated 3 September 2026. Competitor pricing and plan limits are re-verified against each vendor’s own pages.
What does a Finance Manager do?
When a company passes roughly 50 people or a few crores of revenue, bookkeeping stops being enough. The Finance Manager builds on the Accountant's close to produce management accounts, budgets and cash forecasts; owns the audit, the tax positions and the compliance calendar; manages the bank and any working-capital or term lenders; and increasingly supports pricing, hiring plans and fundraising with numbers that hold up.
It is a hands-on role in an SME: the Finance Manager reviews the books, often still posts the complex entries, and personally prepares the MIS. Candidates from large companies who have only reviewed others' work can struggle. The job description should state the team size, the systems, whether the company has external funding or debt, and how much the founder expects to be involved in finance decisions.
Finance Manager responsibilities
Written as work the person does, not qualities they have. A responsibility a candidate can picture is one they can decide about.
- Own the monthly close and the management accounts: review the books, post complex entries, and produce the MIS — P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, key ratios — with commentary for the founder and leadership.
- Manage cash and working capital: a rolling 13-week cash forecast, receivables and payables policy, and payment prioritisation.
- Build the annual budget with department heads and track actuals against it monthly, with variance explanations.
- Own statutory compliance — GST, TDS, income tax, PF and ESI, Companies Act filings with the company secretary — and ensure every deadline is met with correct positions.
- Run the statutory and tax audits end to end with the auditors, and close audit observations.
- Manage banking relationships, working-capital facilities and any term loans: documentation, covenants, drawdowns and reporting.
- Lead and develop the accounts team — Accountant and Accounts Executives — with clear processes and controls.
- Support commercial decisions with analysis: pricing, customer profitability, hiring plans, capex and, where relevant, investor reporting and fundraising diligence.
Finance Manager requirements and qualifications
Keep the required list to what you would actually reject a candidate for. Everything else goes under nice to have — a long required list mostly filters out the people you wanted.
- CA, CMA, or MBA (Finance) with 6 to 10 years in finance and accounts, including at least 2 to 3 years running a finance function or a significant part of one.
- Hands-on: you have personally prepared management accounts, cash forecasts and a budget, not only reviewed them.
- Deep working knowledge of Indian GST, income tax and TDS, Companies Act basics and the audit process.
- Experience managing a small accounts team and an external CA or audit firm.
- Strong Excel modelling; familiarity with Tally, Zoho Books or a mid-market ERP and with MIS tooling.
- Able to explain numbers to non-finance leaders clearly and to hold a position with auditors, bankers and tax authorities.
Nice to have
- Experience in a funded startup — investor reporting, ESOP accounting, fundraising diligence — if the company is funded.
- Experience with working-capital lenders, invoice discounting or export finance, as relevant.
- Experience implementing an ERP or finance-tool migration.
Salary, CTC and terms for a Finance Manager in India
State a CTC range. Postings without one get fewer and worse-matched applications, and the range is the first thing an Indian candidate looks for. Say how the CTC is made up — fixed, variable, and any statutory components — so the in-hand figure is not a surprise at offer stage.
- State the CTC range with the split into fixed and variable, and what the variable is tied to — usually a mix of company performance and function objectives. At this level candidates also ask about ESOPs if the company is funded; say whether they are part of the package.
- State the scope honestly: team size, revenue scale as an order of magnitude, whether there is debt or external investors. Scope defines the seniority, and mismatch is the main reason Finance Manager hires fail.
- State the reporting line — usually the founder or CEO — and the expected involvement in leadership decisions.
- Notice period at this level is commonly 60 to 90 days; plan the joining date around the audit and budget calendar.
Finance Manager job description template
Replace every [placeholder]. Cut anything that is not true of your company — a generic paragraph is worse than no paragraph.
Finance Manager — [Company name], [City] Employment type: Full-time | Location: [City] / [On-site, hybrid or remote] | CTC: [range] per annum | Experience: [years] About the role When a company passes roughly 50 people or a few crores of revenue, bookkeeping stops being enough. The Finance Manager builds on the Accountant's close to produce management accounts, budgets and cash forecasts; owns the audit, the tax positions and the compliance calendar; manages the bank and any working-capital or term lenders; and increasingly supports pricing, hiring plans and fundraising with numbers that hold up. It is a hands-on role in an SME: the Finance Manager reviews the books, often still posts the complex entries, and personally prepares the MIS. Candidates from large companies who have only reviewed others' work can struggle. The job description should state the team size, the systems, whether the company has external funding or debt, and how much the founder expects to be involved in finance decisions. What you will do - Own the monthly close and the management accounts: review the books, post complex entries, and produce the MIS — P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, key ratios — with commentary for the founder and leadership. - Manage cash and working capital: a rolling 13-week cash forecast, receivables and payables policy, and payment prioritisation. - Build the annual budget with department heads and track actuals against it monthly, with variance explanations. - Own statutory compliance — GST, TDS, income tax, PF and ESI, Companies Act filings with the company secretary — and ensure every deadline is met with correct positions. - Run the statutory and tax audits end to end with the auditors, and close audit observations. - Manage banking relationships, working-capital facilities and any term loans: documentation, covenants, drawdowns and reporting. - Lead and develop the accounts team — Accountant and Accounts Executives — with clear processes and controls. - Support commercial decisions with analysis: pricing, customer profitability, hiring plans, capex and, where relevant, investor reporting and fundraising diligence. What we are looking for - CA, CMA, or MBA (Finance) with 6 to 10 years in finance and accounts, including at least 2 to 3 years running a finance function or a significant part of one. - Hands-on: you have personally prepared management accounts, cash forecasts and a budget, not only reviewed them. - Deep working knowledge of Indian GST, income tax and TDS, Companies Act basics and the audit process. - Experience managing a small accounts team and an external CA or audit firm. - Strong Excel modelling; familiarity with Tally, Zoho Books or a mid-market ERP and with MIS tooling. - Able to explain numbers to non-finance leaders clearly and to hold a position with auditors, bankers and tax authorities. Nice to have - Experience in a funded startup — investor reporting, ESOP accounting, fundraising diligence — if the company is funded. - Experience with working-capital lenders, invoice discounting or export finance, as relevant. - Experience implementing an ERP or finance-tool migration. Compensation and terms - State the CTC range with the split into fixed and variable, and what the variable is tied to — usually a mix of company performance and function objectives. At this level candidates also ask about ESOPs if the company is funded; say whether they are part of the package. - State the scope honestly: team size, revenue scale as an order of magnitude, whether there is debt or external investors. Scope defines the seniority, and mismatch is the main reason Finance Manager hires fail. - State the reporting line — usually the founder or CEO — and the expected involvement in leadership decisions. - Notice period at this level is commonly 60 to 90 days; plan the joining date around the audit and budget calendar. How to apply Apply with your resume through this page. We reply to every application, and shortlisted candidates hear from us within [number] working days.
Opens a free ofper workspace with the title, description and screening questions filled in.
Screening questions for Finance Manager applicants
Five questions is the ceiling on ofper, and it is the right ceiling: a form that asks more than that costs applications. Use them for the things that decide a shortlist, not for anything the resume already says.
| Question | Type | Knockout | Why it earns a slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Have you run a finance function — monthly MIS, cash forecasting, compliance and audit — for at least 2 years? | Yes / No (pass: Yes) | Yes | Separates finance managers from senior accountants; the resume line 'finance manager' is used loosely. |
| How many years of finance and accounts experience do you have? | Number (pass: 6+) | Yes | The experience floor for owning the numbers a founder decides on. |
| Have you personally prepared a management MIS and a rolling cash forecast, rather than reviewed them? | Yes / No (pass: Yes) | No | Not a knockout, but it is the hands-on test an SME role depends on and it shapes the interview. |
| What is your current notice period, in days? | Number (pass: 0 to 90) | No | Plans joining around audit and budget season. |
Questions, answered straight
What should a Finance Manager job description include?
The scope — team size, revenue scale, whether there are investors or lenders — the systems, the reporting line, the deliverables the founder expects (MIS, cash forecast, budget, audit), and the CTC with its variable and any ESOP. Scope is the first thing a senior finance candidate evaluates.
Does a Finance Manager need to be a CA?
Not necessarily. A CA is the most common profile and brings tax and audit depth; a CMA or an MBA (Finance) with hands-on SME experience can be equally effective. Ask for evidence of running a close, a cash forecast and an audit, whichever the qualification.
When does an SME need a Finance Manager rather than an Accountant and a CA firm?
When the founder needs monthly management accounts and a cash forecast to make decisions, when there is debt or external investment to manage, or when the accounts team needs someone to lead it. Usually somewhere around 50 people or a few crores of revenue; the trigger is decisions, not headcount.