Attention to Talent: Financial Planning & Analysis

Attention to detail underpins any accounting and finance function. But it is attention to talent that has to be the core skill of any hiring manager, and FP&A is one of the more competitive functions to get right.

Every brief seems to ask for commercially focused, business-partnering, tech-savvy finance professionals, and for good reason. These traits genuinely matter for anyone tasked with understanding business performance and informing the decisions that shape strategy. The harder question is why so many businesses still struggle to actually secure that talent.

FP&A is no longer reserved for the top end of town

Ten years ago, a genuine FP&A function, with a director reporting to the CFO and a team of analysts behind advanced tooling, was largely the preserve of large, well-resourced enterprises. That is no longer the case. Affordable cloud and SaaS-based business intelligence tools have opened real doors for small and mid-sized businesses, letting them adopt a far more sophisticated approach to planning and analysis than an Excel model ever could.

Consider a small retail operation with a handful of stores, sitting on genuine gold in the form of transaction data across thousands of weekly sales. A capable FP&A hire can turn that into real inventory planning, demand forecasting and cost insight, converting an owner’s gut feel into measurable, trackable decisions. More SMEs are realising this, and it is changing where strong FP&A candidates want to work.

Why candidates are choosing the SME over the enterprise

Picture a candidate weighing two offers. One is a well-established function inside a large business, solid reporting, all the tools, but a role created because of a resignation rather than genuine expansion. The other is a greenfield opportunity at a smaller business, where the role is largely theirs to shape, the tools are theirs to choose, and every improvement is a direct, visible contribution rather than one input among many.

Strong FP&A candidates tend to be naturally curious problem-solvers. For many, the appeal of a larger organisation, inheriting existing tools, running established reports, occasionally troubleshooting, pales next to the chance to build something and directly influence decisions at the highest level of a smaller, ambitious business.

What this means for hiring

The FP&A market is more competitive than ever, and more genuine opportunity now exists outside the traditional enterprise environment. Selling the challenge of the role is often just as important as the financial offer, particularly to candidates who are motivated by ownership and impact rather than a well-oiled but static environment.

Businesses hiring into FP&A right now should be able to clearly articulate the pathway to genuine impact in the role, including the real challenges alongside the opportunity. A robust but outdated set of BI tools is not enough on its own. Culture, people and the chance to actually build something matter just as much to the candidates worth winning.