Requiring CA qualification for an internship is the first thing to go wrong in most finance intern job descriptions — and the second is that they list requirements without ever describing the work. A student reading one cannot picture a Tuesday, so they either do not apply or apply to forty postings indiscriminately, and you get volume without fit.
The template below is the opposite shape. It opens with what this finance intern would actually do — support monthly close — schedules, reconciliations, variance notes, among other things — states what success looks like by the end, prices the role as a number, and sets out a selection process built around a ninety-minute exercise: build a small schedule in Excel and reconcile it against provided source documents. Everything in square brackets is yours to fill in; everything else is ready to post.
The template — copy this
Finance Intern — [City] ========================== ABOUT THE INTERNSHIP [Company name] is hiring a Finance intern for a 3-month internship based in [City]. This is a working internship on live projects — not a training programme and not shadowing. In your first week you will support one close cycle from the edges and trace three numbers back to their source. You will have a named mentor, a scoped project, and a review at the midpoint and at the end. WHAT YOU WILL DO • Support monthly close — schedules, reconciliations, variance notes • Build and maintain Excel models for budgeting or forecasting • Prepare MIS reports for review • Check numbers against source documents WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE A model or reconciliation the finance team continued using. We will tell you at the start exactly what we will be assessing, and you will get written feedback at the midpoint so nothing at the end is a surprise. WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR • B.Com, M.Com, MBA (Finance), CA/CMA/CS Inter or BBA. Final-year students and recent graduates are both welcome. • Working familiarity with excel financial modelling • Working familiarity with accounting fundamentals • Working familiarity with variance analysis • Working familiarity with reconciliation • Working familiarity with attention to numerical detail • The ability to ask a clear question when you are stuck, rather than staying stuck WHAT WE OFFER • A stipend of [stipend] per month, paid monthly • A 3-month internship starting [start date] • A named mentor and a weekly one-to-one, not an unassigned desk • A certificate and a written reference reflecting your actual work • Exposure to a full close cycle, which is the thing you cannot get from a course • A pre-placement offer for interns who meet the bar — this is a real path, not a maybe SELECTION PROCESS • Application review — we read every application and reply either way • A 20-minute screening call about your background and what you want from the internship • A practical task: a ninety-minute exercise: build a small schedule in Excel and reconcile it against provided source documents. It is timeboxed, we will tell you what we are looking for, and someone will read it and give you feedback either way. • A final conversation with the team you would be joining • Decision and offer within a week of the final round HOW TO APPLY Apply through this listing by [application deadline]. Attach your CV. If you have built a model or worked on a live set of books, mention it in a line. [Company name] is an equal-opportunity employer; we assess every application against the same criteria, and we reply to everyone who reaches a screening call.
What this finance intern will actually do
These are the responsibilities the template uses. They are deliberately concrete: an intern can picture the work, and you can assess against them at the end.
- Support monthly close — schedules, reconciliations, variance notes
- Build and maintain Excel models for budgeting or forecasting
- Prepare MIS reports for review
- Check numbers against source documents
What to screen for in a finance intern
Do they trace a number back to its source before trusting it? That one question separates candidates for this role far more reliably than the CV does, because almost nobody applying has directly relevant work history. The practical way to ask it is a ninety-minute exercise: build a small schedule in Excel and reconcile it against provided source documents — timeboxed, reviewed, and with a line of feedback back either way.
- Excel financial modelling
- The one to insist on. Depth here beats a passing acquaintance with everything else on this list.
- Accounting fundamentals
- Working familiarity is enough at intern level — this is learnable on the job if the first item is genuinely there.
- Variance analysis
- Working familiarity is enough at intern level — this is learnable on the job if the first item is genuinely there.
- Reconciliation
- Working familiarity is enough at intern level — this is learnable on the job if the first item is genuinely there.
- Attention to numerical detail
- Working familiarity is enough at intern level — this is learnable on the job if the first item is genuinely there.
Why this JD converts
- It names the close cycle. Finance interns hired without reference to the monthly rhythm end up doing filing, and both sides are disappointed.
- It asks them to trace numbers back to source documents, which is the single most valuable habit a finance intern can leave with — and a screening question in itself.
- It gives a persistent artefact (a model or reconciliation the team keeps using), which is what makes the internship defensible at budget time.
What employers get wrong hiring finance interns
- Requiring CA qualification for an internship
- You have described an articleship, not an internship, and you will be compared against firms offering one.
- Excel "knowledge" as the only requirement
- Everyone claims it. Ask for a specific capability — building a schedule, a lookup across two sheets — and screen for it in ten minutes.
- No mention of what data they can see
- Finance interns handle sensitive figures. State the access boundary in the JD, not in an awkward conversation in week two.
What to pay a finance intern
For a three-month, in-office internship at a mid-sized company, the benchmark band for this role in a tier-1 metro is ₹12,000–₹36,000 a month, and roles priced in the upper-middle of that band fill fastest. Adjust down for tier-2 cities and remote work, up for large enterprises and GCCs. State the number in the JD — "as per company norms" reads as "low", and the strongest applicants filter it out before you ever see them. For this role specifically, the thing candidates weigh against the stipend is a model or reconciliation the finance team continued using — a credible answer there is worth several thousand rupees a month in how fast the role fills.
Who to open this finance intern role to
The template uses a deliberately wide eligibility line: B.Com, M.Com, MBA (Finance), CA/CMA/CS Inter or BBA. Widen it rather than narrowing it. Long undifferentiated requirement lists measurably suppress applications from candidates who would have succeeded, and the effect is strongest among exactly the candidates most internship programmes say they want to reach. B.Com and M.Com, MBA (Finance), CA/CMA/CS Inter candidates between attempts, and BBA. The CA-Inter pool is large, well-trained and frequently overlooked for non-articleship internships.
Frequently asked
Should a finance intern JD require a CA qualification?+
If you require CA, you have described an articleship rather than an internship, and you will be compared against firms offering one. For a finance internship, B.Com, M.Com, MBA (Finance) and CA/CMA Inter candidates between attempts are the realistic pool — and the CA-Inter group in particular is large, well-trained and rarely targeted for non-articleship roles.
How do we test Excel skill without asking for "Excel knowledge"?+
Ask for the specific capability and then test it in ten minutes: build a schedule, look something up across two sheets, reconcile a short statement. Everyone claims Excel on a CV; almost nobody is asked to do anything with it before the offer.
Should the JD say what financial data the intern can see?+
Yes. Finance interns handle sensitive figures, and stating the access boundary in the JD prevents an awkward correction in week two. "You will work on management reporting and reconciliations; you will not have access to payroll" is the shape of it.
Can we use this finance intern template commercially?+
Yes — copy it, edit it and post it anywhere, with no attribution required. On JD length and structure generally, the master internship job description template covers what applies to every role; this page covers what is specific to hiring a finance intern.