Financial Analyst

Position Summary

The Financial Analyst partners with Finance and operational leaders to provide data-driven insights that support strategic decision-making, improve profitability, and strengthen financial performance. This role is responsible for financial modeling, budgeting, forecasting, cost and margin analysis, and reporting, with a strong focus on manufacturing operations, inventory, and project-based business within a K-12 customer environment.

The ideal candidate is highly analytical, detail-oriented, and experienced in NetSuite financial reporting and data extraction.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Planning & Analysis

• Support the annual budget and monthly forecast processes across departments
• Develop and maintain financial models to evaluate revenue, cost, and margin performance
• Analyze variances to budget, forecast, and prior year and provide actionable recommendations
• Partner with department leaders to review financial results and identify risks and opportunities

Manufacturing & Cost Analysis

• Analyze product cost, labor, overhead, and material usage to drive gross margin improvement
• Monitor standard vs. actual cost and support cost updates
• Evaluate production performance, efficiency, and capacity utilization
• Assist with pricing analysis and profitability by product line, customer, and channel

Inventory & Supply Chain Finance

• Track and analyze inventory levels, turns, reserves, and excess/obsolete inventory
• Support inventory valuation and reconciliation processes
• Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to improve working capital performance

Sales & Project / Bid Support (K-12 Environment)

• Provide financial analysis for large bids, contracts, and customer pricing
• Evaluate customer and project profitability
• Support revenue forecasting based on pipeline, historical trends, and market data

Reporting & Systems (NetSuite)

• Extract, analyze, and reconcile financial data from NetSuite
• Build and maintain dashboards and management reports
• Improve reporting accuracy, automation, and data visibility
• Assist in the development of KPIs and performance metrics

Strategic & Ad Hoc Analysis

• Support capital expenditure analysis and ROI modeling
• Assist with board, bank, and leadership reporting packages
• Participate in cross-functional projects to improve financial and operational performance

Key Performance Indicators (examples)

• Forecast accuracy
• Gross margin improvement
• Inventory turns / working capital performance
• On-time and accurate reporting
• Data quality and report automation

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, or related field
• 3–7+ years of financial analysis experience
• Experience in manufacturing, distribution, or product-based environment strongly preferred
• Experience with ERP systems (NetSuite strongly preferred)

Technical Skills

• Advanced Excel skills (financial modeling, pivot tables, lookups, etc.)
• Experience with financial reporting and data analysis tools
• Strong understanding of cost accounting and inventory flow
• Ability to translate large data sets into clear business insights

Core Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• High attention to detail and accuracy
• Business partnership mindset
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Clear and effective communication with non-financial leaders

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in K-12, contract furniture, or project-based manufacturing
• Experience with dashboarding / BI tools
• MBA, CFA, or CPA (a plus, not required)