Wanderer finished by end of year (5)
I believe the answer is:
rover
'wanderer' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'finished by end of year' is the wordplay.
'finished' becomes 'over' (over can mean finished or ended).
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'end of' says to take the final letters.
The last letter of 'year' is 'r'.
'over' put after 'r' is 'ROVER'.
(Other definitions for rover that I've seen before include "Nomad" , "Wanderer, rolling stone" , "A vagrant" , "Wanderer, traveller" , "one in Bristol, one in Doncaster, perhaps" .)