Perhaps one of the most often overlooked jobs in the technology world is that of the unassuming finance systems manager, who is responsible for actively monitoring, maintaining, and updating the financial systems in place at major businesses around the world. The systems manager, typically highly educated in computer science, information systems, and management information systems, uses their extensive background to make sure that a company can actively and securely monitor key corporate transactions, customer transactions, loan underwriting and repayment, and dozens of other transactions. By keeping these systems in a state of good repair, their services help their employer stay fiscally sound over the long-term.
Key Responsibilities of a Financial Systems Manager
A financial systems manager is essentially the “point person” on all of a company’s financial systems, from basic credit and debit card readers to sophisticated accounting and financial software that is actively used by the company’s largest financial departments. As a result, their tasks are quite numerous in most organizations.
Maintenance and Security
The top job of any financial systems manager is to focus on software maintenance and long-term security of that software, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. First and foremost, this means that the manager is in charge of system-wide financial software updates and security patch installation. Their work typically takes place after the close of regular business hours, since security patches and large software updates could cause software to become unusable when it’s needed most throughout the day.
In addition to monitoring software security and staying on top of regular software updates, the manager must devise new ways to keep data secure and redundant. This often means that the manager will create cloud-based backups or hard-copy backups on local disks. Such backups are an absolute asset in the event of malicious hacking, power outages, and other incidents that lead to significant data loss. Otherwise, the company could suffer a major financial blow in any one of these scenarios.
Training and Troubleshooting
The manager also must be able to train employees on new or updated software so that they can safely and efficiently use that software as soon as it’s ready to go. Many managers hold their own information sessions when a significant software update is released and installed, while others create their own printed materials for distribution to executive, finance, and accounting departments within the organization. By training employees properly, they can avoid many of the troubleshooting headaches that can reduce productivity.
Even with proper training, however, troubleshooting is hard to avoid. Any piece of software will eventually give an error that the average user just can’t fix on their own. When this occurs, the manager needs to be ready to step in, diagnose the problem, and come up with a quick and affordable solution to the employee’s issue. With quick troubleshooting and system maintenance, the manager will keep the company from suffering low productivity rates and will contribute to a better employee culture in the workplace.
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A Challenging Job with Major Implications
Managing a company’s financial systems is a high-stakes job that can direct affect its ability to stay secure, fiscally sound, and productive. As a result, the finance systems manager should be ready for a rigorous daily schedule and a rewarding outcome for their hard work on both proprietary financial systems and mass-market software solutions used by a company’s financial departments.
