If you want to become a finance coordinator in the United States, you may see several different educational requirements posted by employers. Some employers only require candidates to have an associate's degree in accounting. Most of the job descriptions that you see, however, are very likely to state a preference for people who have a bachelor's degree in the field. Acceptable areas of study include accounting or finance. You might also be a good candidate for this type of job if you have a general business degree, but you would also need to have a few years of experience in accounting or financial practices.
One of the primary responsibilities in many of these jobs is to analyze financial data. To be considered for finance coordinator position, you generally need to have a good eye for details. If you have the ability to closely scrutinize sequences of numbers, and large amounts of possibly conflicting information, you may be well suited to become a finance coordinator. You may also need keen analytical and problem solving capabilities, in order to perform well in one of these jobs.
Many people who are employed in this career work in environments that are fast-paced and deadline oriented. There will likely be a high expectation for you to be accurate throughout your various projects and assignments, but you should also be timely when completing your work. To become a finance coordinator, you should be prepared to occasionally work on projects with very little notice, or those that need to be finished rapidly. Generally, an ideal characteristic of successful finance coordinators is the ability to work well under pressure.
In addition to working directly in a variety of accounting disciplines, you might also be expected to function in an administrative capacity. When these duties are a part of your job, you will likely be entrusted with a great deal of confidential information. In this case, employers usually expect their employees to be very ethical. To ensure that you are trustworthy, you may have to successfully complete a criminal background check.
As a general rule, you will need to have excellent customer service skills to become a finance coordinator. To do this, you are likely to be required to be an effective communicator, both verbally and in writing. In some instances, you could be required to organize electronic communications between other employees, so a high level of efficiency and organization is usually very desreable in these jobs.