Becoming a commercial analyst

Commercial analyst jobs offer accountants at the junior level an excellent opportunity to develop business partnering and analysis skills.

Here we look at what you’ll need to secure this sought-after role.

Making future predictions is not an exact science – no-one can read the future after all – so you have to be confident in trusting your gut instinct to a degree.

Why are commercial analyst jobs so popular?

These roles are popular because they incorporate an opportunity to bring your opinion into your work. So although reconciling and closing are a key part of the job, it is also about looking at the business and making informed judgements and predictions about the market.

Are there many commercial analyst jobs available?

With businesses now thinking of investing in the future, we are seeing more commercial analyst opportunities become available at the part-qualified level. Employers are currently looking to maximise their investments.

What will I be doing in this role?

Although the job will vary depending on the organisation, your main objective is to maximise savings and minimise spending. As part of this, you will be having constant meetings with stakeholders, reviewing daily and non-daily KPIs (both financial and non-financial) and monitoring cashflow within the business.

You’ll need to be confident enough to make informed predictions

Making future predictions is not an exact science – no-one can read the future after all – so you have to be confident in trusting your gut instinct to a degree. Your forecasts need to be underpinned by a solid understanding of current market conditions. As part of this, you’ll need to take into account your competitors’ performance and external regulatory developments, while factoring in dividends and shareholder pressure.

Need-to-have skills

To secure one of these jobs, very strong systems experience and strong analysis skills are essential. You’ll also need to be very confident dealing with other people in the business. For example, part of the job will be convincing sales directors of your arguments. You will need to demonstrate on your CV where you have helped the business make savings.

Great springboard for success

For part-qualified accountants, these roles offer very exciting opportunities in themselves and, beyond that, excellent career development potential. The natural next step is into a business analyst role and from there you can specialise in a niche area (e.g. procurement, M&A etc.) and really progress your career forward.

Interested in the latest commercial analyst jobs? Search all the opportunities currently available across Switzerland.

You can also find out what you’re worth using the Robert Walters Salary Survey.