What is a Commercial Analyst?
A commercial analyst examines an organisation’s revenue, operations, and overhead costs to suggest opportunities for improvements in the company’s financial standing. The primary goal of a commercial analyst is to identify the organisation’s spending patterns and recommend strategies to enhance the firm’s profits. They analyse production costs, administration expenses, and sales revenues to collaborate on plans to improve a firm’s financial standing.
The role of a commercial analyst is highly significant, providing critical, actionable information for a company. For an organisation to remain economically viable during turbulent market conditions, it will need to be responsive and in tune with the analysis and recommendations of its commercial analysts.
Roles and Responsibilities of Commercial Analysts
- Provide input in budgeting and forecasting for sales, marketing and business planning to achieve organisational objectives
- Analyse sales and marketing reports and suggest strategies for improving business performance
- Analyse promotional activities to ensure the funds invested are achieving optimal results, per marketing strategies
- Perform strategic analysis and prepare financial models to support strategic planning activities
- Financial assessment of new investment opportunities and assist the management in investment decisions
- Work closely with the commercial managers and other commercial team members in providing data-backed recommendations to the client to support effective decision making
- Coordinate with finance team to streamline and channel efforts to improve financial performance of the organisation
- Seek best practices to drive process standardisation in maintaining commercial systems; develop risk plans
Requirements
- Analyse and review reports on commercial data, such as sales trends, and create and provide proactive recommendations
- Provide training to newly recruited team members, as applicable, and ensure and monitor their performance and contribution to the commercial analytics team
- Possess predictive economic research skills in financial forecasting; understand the value chain of the organisation
- Compile financial and operational data; assess and analyse progress towards organisational strategic goals
- An in-depth understanding of business operations; possess a keen eye for detail
- Possess strong business acumen, up-to-date on market conditions and trends in financial markets
- Knowledge of statistical software like SASS and SPSS to conduct analysis, evaluate risks, and predict future economic conditions
- Prioritise and manage multiple projects in full-time, adhering to timelines
Qualifications and Skills
- A Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Statistics, or Economics; a Master’s in Business Administration or a similar field is a plus
- 3+ years of experience in Business Finance
- Critical thinking, analytical skills, and investigative skills
- Ability to conduct extensive financial statement analysis
- Knowledge of basic data analysis tools like MS Excel
- Ability to understand and apply statistical concepts to derive insights from financial data
- Experience with business intelligence tools like Tableau and Power BI
- Strong leadership and interpersonal skills
Role of Commercial Analysts
A commercial analyst, sometimes called an economic analyst, researches and analyses financial information, advising management teams on the most prudent allocation of resources. Commercial analyst job bridge the gap between conventional business and new methodologies, improving organisational efficiency.
They analyse and derive data from many job types and sources, including surveys and financial reports; translating that knowledge into reports that helps make decisions. For example, if a company has just opened a new store, the commercial analyst provides input on the best time and place for an additional store opening.
A commercial analyst is an employee who analyses retail data to inform strategic decisions. Commercial analysts typically work in marketing, finance, strategy departments, and other functions, such as IT and research. A typical day involves analysing data from marketing campaigns, researching financials, or suggesting new ways to use current products.
As companies rely more heavily on analytics to direct their strategies, management teams look to commercial analysts for thoughtful analysis of current trends and behaviours within the industry.
How to become a Commercial Analyst
Those aspiring to a career as a commercial analyst must equip themselves with advanced accounting certifications, such as ACA, CA, CPA or CIMA. This career path usually starts with a stint as a junior analyst in the Finance department, on track for a senior analyst position within 5-8 years. With a continuous learning curve, experience in commercial analysis provides ample employment opportunities in business process analysis and investment analysis specialities.
If you believe a career as a Commercial Analyst is a perfect match for your interests and skillset, apply for the latest commercial analyst jobs.
Financial Analysts Vs Commercial Analysts
Financial analysts work with financial data to help organisations make better data-driven decisions. They build financial models for financial forecasting, cost reduction, accounting, predicting business scenarios, and providing other data analysis to help decision-making. They develop financial strategies, analyse the effectiveness of these strategies, and help companies identify growth opportunities. For more detailed information on the role of Financial analyst read the Finance Analyst Job Description.
A commercial analyst provides solutions to existing technical and financial problems and furthers organisational efforts to achieve its desired goals. They are not only responsible for financial modelling and budget preparation, but they also conduct competitor analysis to identify gaps in their operations. Commercial analysts forecast market trends, calculate accruals, support audits, and play a pivotal role in formulating company policy.
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FAQs
1. What is the average salary of a commercial analyst in the UK?
According to Glassdoor, the average salary of the job title commercial analyst in the UK is £33,950 per annum. The salary will vary depending on the industry and your work experience.
2. What does a commercial analyst do?
Commercial Analysts gather and analyse financial and operational data and advise management teams on allocating resources. Commercial analysts bridge the gap between conventional business and new methodologies, improving organisational efficiency and driving positive financial direction to the organisation.
3. What are the advancement opportunities for a commercial analyst?
Commercial analysts with exceptional research skills and experience may move into other research-related positions, such as market research analyst or business intelligence analyst, finance analyst, and finance vice president.
Commercial Analyst Job Description – Template 
We are looking for a commercial analyst to join our team. The ideal candidate should possess an excellent financial background with an analytic and innovative approach to business solutions.
Commercial Analyst Key Responsibilities
- Collect, analyse, and maintain sales performance reports
- Assist in market analysis in the sales and development of products or services
- Provide insights on financial analysis, budgeting, and forecasting
- Work on budgeting and expenditure plans for the organisations
- Document financial status reports and recommendations
- Develop plans to deal with emergencies and risk-associated factors
Requirements
- Compile financial and operational data
- Assess and analyse progress towards organisational strategic goals
- Provide training to newly recruited team members, as applicable, and ensure and monitor their performance and contribution to the commercial analytics team
- Strong business knowledge about current market trends
- Identifying new investment opportunities
- Knowledge of statistical software like SAS and SPSS
- Prioritise and manage multiple projects, adhering to timelines
Qualification and Skills
- A Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Statistics, or Economics; a Master’s in Business Administration or a similar field is a plus
- 3+ years of experience in Business Analytics or Finance
- Corporate finance knowledge, budget management training, and research skills
- Innovative thinking and analytical knowledge for assessment and interpretation of data
- Strong interpersonal skills; the ability to work with senior management
- Exposure to business intelligence tools like Tableau and Power BI
As well as being a Co-Founder of Onlydatajobs.com, Ryan is a recruitment expert with over 20 years of experience including Jacob Ross Talent (Founder), Reed.co.uk and Michael Page where he was a Managing Consultant.
