| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Finance and Accounts |
| Level | Mid level |
| Reports to | FP&A Manager |
| Direct reports | None |
| Experience | 1 to 4 years in FP&A or analysis |
FP&A Analyst job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: FP&A Analyst
Department: Finance and Accounts
Reports to: FP&A Manager
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
An FP&A Analyst builds the numbers behind planning and reporting. They prepare budgets and forecasts, analyse variances, refresh the monthly pack and model scenarios for the business. The role reports to the FP&A Manager and is a strong step towards finance business partnering and leadership. A good FP&A Analyst builds clean, reliable models, explains why results moved and turns raw data into insight that helps managers make better decisions.
Key responsibilities
- Prepare budget and forecast templates and consolidate inputs from departments.
- Build and update financial models for revenue, cost and margin.
- Analyse variances of actuals against budget and forecast each month.
- Refresh the monthly management pack with charts and commentary.
- Model scenarios for changes in volume, price and cost.
- Prepare profitability analysis by product, customer, channel or region each month.
- Pull and clean data from the ERP and other systems for analysis.
- Support new business cases with data, assumptions and sensitivity analysis.
- Maintain reporting templates and automate repetitive tasks to save time.
- Check figures for accuracy before the pack goes for review.
Requirements
- MBA in Finance, CA Inter or B.Com
- Strong Excel and modelling skills
- A BI tool is an advantage
- 1 to 4 years in FP&A or analysis
KRAs and KPIs for a FP&A Analyst
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Report timeliness | Management pack inputs ready within the agreed days after close each month |
| Model accuracy | No material error found in delivered models on review |
| Variance analysis | Every major variance explained with a driver in the monthly pack |
| Forecast support | Forecast updates consolidated within the FP&A calendar |
| Data quality | Data pulled and cleaned with no rework needed for source errors |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Advanced Excel, Power BI, SAP, Financial models, SQL basics.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: FP&A Manager, Finance Business Partner, Finance Manager
Interview questions for a FP&A Analyst
- How do you build a budget template that departments can fill easily?
- Walk me through how you analyse a variance in gross margin.
- How do you keep a financial model easy for others to follow?
- How do you check your numbers before the pack goes out?
- How do you build a simple scenario for a price change?
- How do you turn a table of data into a clear insight?
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What does an FP&A Analyst do?
An FP&A Analyst builds the numbers behind planning and reporting. They prepare budgets and forecasts, analyse variances, refresh the monthly pack and model scenarios. They pull and clean data, build profitability analysis and support business cases. The role reports to the FP&A Manager and turns data into insight for decisions.
What is the difference between an FP&A Analyst and a Financial Analyst?
The roles overlap. An FP&A Analyst focuses on internal planning: budgets, forecasts, variances and management reporting. A Financial Analyst may cover a wider mix including ratios, investment appraisal and external analysis. In many companies the two titles are used for similar work in the finance team.
What qualifications does an FP&A Analyst need?
Most FP&A Analyst roles ask for an MBA in Finance, CA Inter or a B.Com with strong Excel and modelling skills. One to four years in FP&A or analysis is usual. A business intelligence tool such as Power BI and comfort with cleaning data are strong advantages.