Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for FP&A Lead

🎯 Role Definition

The FP&A Lead is a senior finance professional responsible for driving the financial planning & analysis function across the business. This role owns budgeting, forecasting, long-range planning, management reporting, and scenario modeling to enable data-driven decisions and improve profitability. The FP&A Lead partners closely with business unit leaders and the CFO to translate strategy into measurable financial targets, develop rigorous financial models, and present clear insights to executive stakeholders. Strong technical mastery of financial systems (ERP, Anaplan/Adaptive/Hyperion), advanced Excel, data visualization (Power BI/Tableau), and SQL — combined with excellent business partnering and communication skills — is essential.

SEO / LLM keywords included: FP&A Lead, financial planning and analysis, forecasting, budgeting, financial modeling, variance analysis, scenario planning, management reporting, ERP, Anaplan, Power BI, strategic finance, business partnering.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Financial Analyst (Corporate or Business Finance)
FP&A Manager or Finance Business Partner
Accounting Manager with strong forecasting experience

Advancement To:

Director of FP&A / Head of FP&A
VP Finance / Finance Director
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Lateral Moves:

Corporate Finance Manager
Finance Business Partner / Strategic Finance Lead
Treasury Manager or Corporate Development Analyst

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead end-to-end annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting processes, coordinating cross-functional inputs, enforcing timelines, and consolidating assumptions to produce an accurate, auditable company-wide forecast.
Develop, maintain, and continuously improve complex financial models and driver-based forecasting frameworks to support revenue, gross margin, operating expense, cash flow, and balance sheet projections.
Drive monthly management reporting and analysis, including preparation of board decks, executive summaries, KPI dashboards, variance explanations, and actionable recommendations for leadership.
Own rolling 12–18 month forecasts and long-range plans, running scenario and sensitivity analyses to quantify upside/downside risks and recommend mitigation strategies to the executive team.
Partner with business unit leaders to translate operational plans into financial targets, challenge assumptions, and align on measurable goals that drive company performance.
Perform detailed variance analysis (actual vs. budget/forecast/plan) to identify root causes, quantify impacts, and present clear narratives and corrective actions to stakeholders.
Build and maintain automated reporting and visualization solutions (Power BI, Tableau) to improve data accessibility, reduce manual effort, and enable self-service analytics for business partners.
Lead strategic financial initiatives such as pricing analyses, profitability improvement programs, cost containment, and margin optimization across product lines and geographies.
Manage FP&A governance, establishing best practices, standardized templates, data dictionaries, and control procedures to ensure consistency and audit readiness.
Oversee headcount planning and operating expense management, partnering with HR and business leaders to align workforce plans with financial targets and business priorities.
Evaluate capital expenditure (CapEx) requests and business cases, conduct ROI analysis and payback modeling, and recommend approval or prioritization to the finance leadership team.
Support the month-end and quarter-end close process with timely accruals, variance reporting, journal entry support, and reconciliations as they relate to FP&A deliverables.
Serve as the primary liaison to accounting, tax, treasury, and legal teams to ensure integrated financial reporting and consistent application of accounting policies and GAAP/IFRS where applicable.
Design and execute scenario planning and stress testing (e.g., macroeconomic, pricing, demand shocks) to assess financial resiliency and inform contingency planning.
Lead cross-functional financial projects, including ERP/FP&A tool implementations, data migrations, and process automation initiatives that increase efficiency and data quality.
Prepare and present monthly/quarterly executive presentations, translating financial data into compelling business stories and clear, prioritized recommendations for decision-making.
Provide financial due diligence support and integration planning for M&A activity, partnerships, and strategic investments, including valuation support and synergy modeling.
Mentor, coach, and develop junior FP&A analysts and managers, setting clear performance goals, conducting regular feedback, and promoting continuous learning in analytics and business partnering.
Implement metrics and KPIs (revenue growth, EBITDA, CAC, LTV, churn, burn rate) aligned to company strategy, track performance, and drive accountability across the organization.
Validate underlying data sources, reconcile differences between operational systems and the general ledger, and work with IT to improve master data and reporting consistency.
Lead pricing and promotional scenario analyses to quantify impact on revenue, margin, and customer lifetime value, providing actionable recommendations to product and commercial teams.
Monitor cash flow forecasts and liquidity position, working with treasury to manage working capital, optimize collections/payables, and ensure adequate funding for operations and growth.
Ensure compliance with internal controls, audit requirements, and external reporting timelines; prepare supporting schedules and narratives for external auditors or regulatory reviews.
Continuously identify opportunities to streamline FP&A processes, reduce cycle time, remove manual interventions, and scale reporting through automation and best-in-class tooling.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc strategic analyses and business case development for special projects, new product launches, and market expansion initiatives.
Lead continuous improvement initiatives for processes and tools (standardization of templates, automation of data pipelines, KPI rationalization).
Provide FP&A and financial modeling training to non-finance stakeholders to improve financial literacy and cross-functional decision-making.
Collaborate with IT and data engineering to improve data quality, design data extracts, and define requirements for financial system enhancements.
Participate in ERP/FP&A system selection, implementation, user acceptance testing (UAT), and post-deployment optimization.
Assist in annual audit preparation and coordinate requests from auditors related to FP&A schedules and reconciliations.
Conduct competitor benchmarking and market analysis to inform strategic planning and pricing strategy.
Maintain documentation of FP&A processes, assumptions, and approved modeling methodologies for knowledge transfer and auditability.
Provide support during investor reporting cycles, fundraising rounds, and board meetings with timely financial packages and Q&A.
Coordinate with tax, legal, and accounting to evaluate the financial impact of regulatory changes and ensure adherence to reporting requirements.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced financial modeling and Excel skills (pivot tables, complex formulas, macros, Power Query).
Proven expertise in budgeting, forecasting, rolling forecasts, and driver-based planning methodologies.
Strong variance analysis and financial statement analysis capabilities (income statement, balance sheet, cash flow).
Experience with FP&A and planning tools such as Anaplan, Adaptive Planning, Hyperion, or Workday Adaptive.
Proficiency with data visualization and dashboarding tools: Power BI, Tableau, or Looker.
SQL skills for extracting and transforming data from source systems and building repeatable queries.
Familiarity with ERP systems such as NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, or Microsoft Dynamics and integration processes.
Knowledge of GAAP/IFRS accounting principles and experience coordinating with accounting/audit functions.
Experience with scenario analysis, sensitivity testing, and stress-testing financial models.
Experience with financial consolidation, multi-entity reporting, and currency translation where relevant.
Understanding of KPI design, metric tracking, and operational drivers (revenue recognition, CAC, LTV, churn).
Experience with cash flow management, working capital optimization, and capital planning.
Comfortable working with large datasets and implementing automation to reduce manual reporting effort.

Soft Skills

Strong business partnering and stakeholder management skills — able to influence at the executive level.
Excellent written and verbal communication; able to craft executive-ready presentations and clear narratives.
Strategic thinker who connects financial outcomes to business strategy and operational levers.
Leadership and people management skills — mentoring, coaching, and developing a high-performing team.
High attention to detail and strong analytical/problem-solving mindset.
Ability to prioritize multiple competing deadlines while maintaining accuracy under pressure.
Facilitation skills for cross-functional meetings, financial reviews, and decision sessions.
Adaptability and comfort with ambiguity in fast-changing, high-growth environments.
Ethical judgment, confidentiality, and integrity in handling financial data.
Continuous improvement mindset with a bias for action and measurable results.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Mathematics, Statistics, or Business.

Preferred Education:

MBA, Master’s in Finance, or advanced professional qualification (CPA, CFA).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance
Accounting
Economics
Business Administration
Mathematics / Statistics
Data Analytics / Information Systems

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5–10+ years of progressive finance experience with at least 3–5 years in FP&A, corporate finance, or business finance roles.

Preferred: 7–12 years of experience with demonstrated leadership of FP&A teams, hands-on financial modeling for executive decision-making, experience implementing FP&A/ERP tooling (Anaplan, Adaptive, NetSuite, SAP), and proven track record partnering with GTM, Product, and Operations teams to drive financial performance.