Accounting and finance

How to become a finance manager

Official title: Finance manager

Also called: Chief financial officer, Financial controller, Finance and administration manager, Finance and business services manager, Financial manager, Finance reporting manager, Investments manager

Finance managers oversee an organisation's strategic accounting, investments, risk management and other financial activities.

Main tasks

Review and manage financial risks
Prepare budgets, financial reports and forecasts
Make decisions on investments and spending
Check and report on financial trends
Manage finance teams and staff
Provide financial advice to businesses
Make sure legal rules are followed
Analyse financial records to improve budgets

How to become one

You need a qualification and experience to become a finance manager. You need NCEA Level 3 or University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: a relevant tertiary qualification in accounting, banking and finance, business and management or similar area; experience in similar work. Other requirements: to be a chartered accountant with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

University: Business & Commerce degrees, Offered by 6 universities in New Zealand

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Most common pay: $86,000 to $175,000 a year (median $124,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
Lower: $65,000 a year · Upper: $244,000 a year
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
People employed in the group Finance Managers: 13,386 at the 2018 Census and 14,166 at the 2023 Census (+5.8%). Past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 20,000 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Finance Managers, 62% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Finance Managers work (2023 Census): Auckland 44.5%, Wellington 12.7%, and Canterbury 12.4%.

Questions people ask

How do I become a finance manager?

How much does a finance manager earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $124,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $86,000 to $175,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as a finance manager grown in New Zealand?

It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

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

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026