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Administrative and managerial workers of corporations and organizations

How to become a Finance Manager

Manages and supervises the work of the accounting section in a national or local government body, company, association, foundation or other organisation.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say university or high school is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

People are either promoted from within or hired mid-career. Internally, some reach the role after being placed in other departments, for example as career-track hires, and then spending some years in accounting, while others build experience as accounting specialists. Mid-career, some apply from outside for the manager post, some are seconded from a parent company or financial institution, and some experienced accountants change jobs, work for a few years and then become manager. In every case, people usually have some years of accounting experience before becoming manager. When promoted to a management role, people usually take some kind of management training, such as training on workplace compliance (including sexual harassment and power harassment), on HR management such as assessing staff performance, and on showing leadership, supporting staff and building a better workplace culture. A finance manager needs general knowledge of accounting work: the laws on accounting such as the Companies Act and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, the laws on tax such as the Corporation Tax Act and consumption tax, and the organisation's own procedures. To check and guide staff's work, you must know practical accounting well. Many hold a bookkeeping qualification. Experience outside accounting is useful in the work. Because of the nature of accounting, you need an interest in the numbers and a habit of digging into what lies behind them. You also coordinate with other departments on whether spending is needed, so strong communication skills are needed. Because you manage the organisation's flow of money and must meet deadlines and work accurately, you need a sense of responsibility and fairness and the ability to find solutions when problems arise. In addition, the results of the accounting section, unlike contributions to sales or new products, are hard to see, so it helps for a finance manager to be able to promote the section's work within the organisation and to have the leadership to bring staff together.

Ways in

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Finance Manager?

People are either promoted from within or hired mid-career. Internally, some reach the role after being placed in other departments, for example as career-track hires, and then spending some years in accounting, while others build experience as accounting specialists. Mid-career, some apply from outside for the manager post, some are seconded from a parent company or financial institution, and some experienced accountants change jobs, work for a few years and then become manager. In every case, people usually have some years of accounting experience before becoming manager. When promoted to a management role, people usually take some kind of management training, such as training on workplace compliance (including sexual harassment and power harassment), on HR management such as assessing staff performance, and on showing leadership, supporting staff and building a better workplace culture. A finance manager needs general knowledge of accounting work: the laws on accounting such as the Companies Act and the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, the laws on tax such as the Corporation Tax Act and consumption tax, and the organisation's own procedures. To check and guide staff's work, you must know practical accounting well. Many hold a bookkeeping qualification. Experience outside accounting is useful in the work. Because of the nature of accounting, you need an interest in the numbers and a habit of digging into what lies behind them. You also coordinate with other departments on whether spending is needed, so strong communication skills are needed. Because you manage the organisation's flow of money and must meet deadlines and work accurately, you need a sense of responsibility and fairness and the ability to find solutions when problems arise. In addition, the results of the accounting section, unlike contributions to sales or new products, are hard to see, so it helps for a finance manager to be able to promote the section's work within the organisation and to have the leadership to bring staff together.

How much does a Finance Manager earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥9,667,600 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Administrative and managerial workers, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Finance Manager?

Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 54% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: Business & Commerce degrees.

Will AI change the work of a Finance Manager?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026