Financial Analyst - Cost of Sales (Business Administration, BBA)

Alexia Davies, PepsiCo

By: Oindrilla Sanyal, Outreach and Support Peer

Alexia Davies completed the Bachelor of Business Administration program at Laurier with a concentration in finance and a minor in economics. Presently she holds the role of Financial Analyst at PepsiCo. Before attending university, she thrived in mathematics and discovered a fondness for analyzing numbers due to the certainty numbers provided with their definitive answers. 

Through her early years at university, Alexia developed an appreciation for business as she enjoyed analyzing business solutions using numbers. Her father owned his own auto parts and car repair shop while her mother worked in inventory finance. Watching her parents pursue careers in business made her naturally determined to major in finance and gain a deeper understanding of the business world through the eyes of mathematics. Alexia also underwent a semester abroad at Aarhus University in Denmark. This international experience gave Alexia a wider cultural and professional perspective of different livelihoods. The global experience increased her self-confidence, and independence and helped her become more comfortable in dynamic work cultures. 

As a Laurier student, Alexia was involved in the Laurier Accounting Association. Furthermore, she completed the Bloomberg Analytics certification and honed her skills in Microsoft Excel. Alexia recommends pursuing these as they are the key skill sets required for a successful career in finance. Alexia also participated in the co-op program, where two of her work terms were with Pepsi Co. This allowed her to hone hard skills such as analytical skills, Excel modelling, organizational skills, and data visualization required for a finance career and build meaningful professional relationships. 

A day in the life of a financial analyst is exciting yet challenging. For context, her daily tasks are determined monthly and then split bi-weekly. The first two weeks are divided between closing periods and forecasts, while the final two weeks are ad hoc special projects based on business priorities. In her perspective, the biggest challenges are working with various performance managers, understanding the complexity of supply chain operations, and determining how performance gets measured in the business. For example, Alexia consolidates statements for five production plants, requiring her to collect commentary from the performance managers. With the collected data, a report needs to be made and then reviewed by the senior leadership, including the CFO. Through this experience, she highlights the importance of transferable skills such as multi-tasking, managing deadlines, accurate detailing, and time management. Developing and maintaining relationships in this role is crucial because it is important to know the right people to reach out to in order to get the necessary commentary/rationale on business performance.  

Alexia greatly enjoys her work with numbers and the investigation skills required to work through complex analytical data to arrive at correct answers. Alexia mentions the sense of satisfaction she feels from her work as every right answer proves that she is progressing. She appreciates that the job challenges her daily and that there is always room for improvement. Some of the challenges include managing competing priorities, communicating results between departments, and complying with timelines. 

Alexia encourages current students to be open to trying new activities to develop important skills such as multi-tasking, time management, and building connections within a professional community. Furthermore, she highly recommends courses in risk management, corporate finance, and personal taxes as excellent knowledge preparation for the role.  

If you are detailed and result-oriented, can take initiative, and enjoy problem-solving with numbers – the financial analyst profession may be for you!