How much does a financial analyst make? Salary and career outlook for 2027

Explore the 2027 Salary Guide

According to the 2027 Salary Guide From Robert Half, the national midpoint financial analyst salary is $83,000. The guide expects pay for a financial analyst to rise 3.8% in 2027. That’s more than double the 1.8% average projected across all finance and accounting jobs. It's a useful benchmark whether you're exploring a financial analyst career, preparing for an interview, weighing a job offer or making the case for a raise. But you’ll need to know more than that.

Here’s a look at why employers are competing to hire financial analysts and what you could earn at each step of the career path, from financial analyst to vice president of financial planning and analysis (FP&A).

How much does a financial analyst make? 2027 salary & career outlook

Financial analyst job outlook: Are financial analysts in demand?
What does a financial analyst do?
Financial analyst salary: What can you expect?
What financial analyst skills and qualifications do employers look for?
What is the financial analyst career path?
Take the next step in your financial analyst career
Frequently asked questions about financial analyst salaries

Financial analyst job outlook: Are financial analysts in demand?

Yes! Businesses of all sizes are competing to hire financial analysts. Robert Half analyzed 181,600 finance jobs posted by employers in 2025 and found that, combined, business analyst and financial analyst positions accounted for more than half of them.

Demand also remains strong heading into 2027. In a Robert Half survey on hiring plans for the second half of 2026, nearly three-quarters (74%) of finance and accounting leaders said they expected to add permanent staff. It’s not easy for them, though. 61% said skilled professionals were harder to find than a year earlier.

When skilled staff are this scarce, qualified candidates can often take their pick of jobs. In an interview with CFO Brew, Steve Saah, executive director of permanent placement operations at Robert Half, said of accounting and finance professionals, “We continually see them get multiple offers, and then oftentimes, when they go in and resign, they then end up getting counteroffers.”

What does a financial analyst do?

A financial analyst examines a company’s financial performance to help leaders allocate resources and make business decisions. Much of the job involves preparing budgets and forecasts, comparing them with actual results and explaining the differences through variance analysis. Analysts also build models to test scenarios, such as raising prices or opening a new location, track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as profit margins, and present their findings in reports and dashboards.

Financial analyst salary: What can you expect?

Explore financial analyst jobs and salaries

Nationally, starting salaries for financial analysts range from $72,000 for someone new to the role to $94,000 for someone with extensive experience and advanced skills. To see what the role pays where you live, use Robert Half’s Salary Calculator.

National midpoint salary: $83,000

What financial analyst skills and qualifications do employers look for?

Companies usually ask for a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, economics or a related field. Beyond the degree, employers want analysts who can build accurate models and explain what those models show to people outside finance. Core competencies include:

Advanced Excel skills and experience building financial models

A strong understanding of financial statements and performance metrics

Experience with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, such as Oracle NetSuite or SAP

Clear communication abilities, including presenting to managers who don’t work in finance

Some skills are simply worth more than others. As companies invest in analytics and new finance software, research for the Salary Guide finds that they may pay more for professionals who can put those tools to work. For finance roles, the guide identifies 4 premium skill areas: forecasting; data and business analytics; data readiness and fluency; and data visualization with Power BI or Tableau.

Then there's AI, which is starting to take over some of the job's more repetitive work. AI assistants built into planning software and spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel can help flag unusual results and produce a first draft of a forecast. Among the finance and accounting leaders Robert Half surveyed, 82% said they offer higher pay for relevant AI skills. If you use AI in your work, be ready to describe an analysis you completed with it and explain how you checked the results.

What is the financial analyst career path?

A common career path moves from analyst to senior analyst and then into management. Responsibility and pay generally rise at each step: national midpoint salaries range from $109,000 for a senior financial analyst to $213,250 for an FP&A vice president.

Some financial analysts move into related specialties such as financial systems or business analytics. In those fields, the national midpoint salary is $153,000 for a financial systems manager and $146,750 for a business analytics manager. Our guide to finance and accounting career paths covers these and other routes. The roles below show a common progression into management and leadership roles.

Senior financial analyst

Explore senior financial analyst jobs and salaries

Senior financial analysts work closely with management to interpret results and explain variances.

Typical senior financial analyst responsibilities include:

Performing complex financial analysis and building financial models

Helping prepare financial plans and budgets

Analyzing and communicating cost and expense variances to management

Comparing borrowing options to help keep the company’s cost of borrowing competitive

National midpoint salary: $109,000

FP&A manager

Explore FP&A manager jobs and salaries

The move from senior analyst to financial planning and analysis manager is often the point at which responsibility expands from managing models to managing people. FP&A managers lead financial planning teams, overseeing budgeting and forecasting as well as the analysts who build the supporting models. The Salary Guide projects FP&A manager salary growth of 3.6% in 2027.

Typical FP&A manager responsibilities include:

Providing financial analysis that helps guide day-to-day and strategic business decisions

Hiring and training analysts

Supporting the corporate budgeting and forecasting processes

Performing financial analysis and valuation for mergers and acquisitions

National midpoint salary: $143,000

FP&A director

Explore FP&A director jobs and salaries

A financial planning and analysis director leads a company’s planning and forecasting work. Because the job involves working closely with senior leadership, employers look for strategic thinking and strong communication skills as well as analytical ability.

Typical FP&A director responsibilities include:

Overseeing the financial models used for budgeting and forecasting

Leading the annual budgeting process, including plans for major purchases such as equipment and buildings

Presenting financial results and strategy to senior management and the board

Advising on long-term business and financial planning

National midpoint salary: $173,000

FP&A vice president

Explore FP&A vice president jobs and salaries

At the top of the planning function is the FP&A vice president, a senior executive who typically reports to the chief financial officer (CFO).

Typical FP&A vice president responsibilities include:

Setting the company’s planning and forecasting approach

Leading the FP&A directors and managers who run the planning team

Advising the executive team on where to invest and how to divide the budget between departments

Presenting the annual plan and long-range forecasts to the board

National midpoint salary: $213,250

Take the next step in your financial analyst career

Find jobs

The salaries listed are national averages. Use the Salary Calculator within the 2027 Salary Guide From Robert Half to find the range for your city. Then compare the role’s requirements with your experience and skills to decide where you fit within that range. If you’re comparing pay across finance and accounting, take a look at what bookkeepers earn or read about how public and private accounting careers differ.

When you’re ready for the next step, you can browse financial analyst jobs and apply through Robert Half.

Frequently asked questions about financial analyst salaries

Do financial analysts need a CFA?

A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation isn’t required for every financial analyst role. It’s most relevant to investment work such as portfolio management and research.

Do you need an MBA to move up?

Not to get your foot in the door, though it can help later on. Robert Half’s job descriptions list an MBA as valued for senior financial analysts and often preferred for FP&A directors, along with certifications such as the certified public accountant (CPA) or certified management accountant (CMA).

How long does it take to become an FP&A manager or director?

This varies by employer and industry. Robert Half’s FP&A manager job description for financial services firms calls for at least 8 years of experience, including 3 years supervising others. FP&A director roles typically call for at least 10 years of accounting or finance experience, together with substantial management experience.