MapInteractive Career Map - discover your career path in corporate finance. Learn which job is right for you: salary, personality, skills, certifications etc.
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Overview
FP&A is an in-house finance role on the corporate sideCorporate InformationLegal corporate information about Corporate Finance Institute (CFI). This page contains important legal information about CFI including registered address, tax number, business number, certificate of incorporation, company name, trademarks, legal counsel and accountant.. FP&A analysts, managers, and directors are responsible for providing senior management and executives with the analysis and information they need to make major operational, financial, and strategic decisions. The group is responsible for running the annual budgeting process, as well as for managing cash flow forecast models, variance analysis, and other financial performance tools. An FP&A analyst will often liaise with treasuryTreasury Career PathTreasury management jobs involve ensuring that cash and financial risks in a business are properly managed and optimized. The main priority is to ensure cash is managed for day-to-day business operations while having an outlook for long-term strategy. The treasury career path can be a very interesting and rewarding staff to discuss cash flows and expenditures. They may also get pulled in to work with corporate developmentCorporate Development Career PathCorporate Development jobs include executing mergers, acquisitions, divestitures & capital raising in-house for a corporation. Corporate development ("corp dev") is responsible for executing mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and capital raising in-house for a corporation. Explore the career path. on acquisition opportunities.
More FP&A career development resources: how to be the best financial analystThe Analyst Trifecta® GuideThe ultimate guide on how to be a world-class financial analyst. Do you want to be a world-class financial analyst? Are you looking to follow industry-leading best practices and stand out from the crowd? Our process, called The Analyst Trifecta® consists of analytics, presentation & soft skills.
FP&A Personality Traits
The personality of someone who would thrive in a financial planning and analysis role at a corporation often has the following character traits:
- Analytical
- Inquisitive
- Detail oriented
- Self-motivated
- Good at managing internal stakeholders
- Strong communicator
- Enjoys using Excel and PowerPoint
- High attention to detail
Analyst Interview Prep
Preparing for an FP&A interview requires a thorough knowledge of both technical and behavioral questions. In terms of technical side questions, they may be skewed towards financial analysis, accountingAccounting Interview QuestionsAccounting interview questions and answers. This list includes the most common interview questions used to hire for accounting jobs. Some are trickier than they seem at first! This guide covers questions on the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, budgeting, forecasting, and accounting principles, and financial modelingWhat is Financial ModelingFinancial modeling is performed in Excel to forecast a company's financial performance. Overview of what is financial modeling, how & why to build a model. A 3 statement model links income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. More advanced types of financial models are built for valuation, plannnig, and. Questions such as, “How do you evaluate the financial performance of a company?”, and, “How do you build a financial model?”, are common examples.
For a full list of possible interview questions and answers, please see our FP&A interview questions and answersFP&A Interview QuestionsFP&A interview questions and answers. This list includes the most common interview questions used to hire for Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) jobs such as analyst and manager positions. Based on extensive research and feedback from professionals at corporations, this list has the most likely interview questions.
FP&A Analyst Entry Point
People typically enter financial planning and analysis from a public accounting firmAccountingPublic accounting firms consist of accountants whose job is serving business, individuals, governments & nonprofit by preparing financial statements, taxes or by moving up internally from an accounting position on the corporate sideCorporate InformationLegal corporate information about Corporate Finance Institute (CFI). This page contains important legal information about CFI including registered address, tax number, business number, certificate of incorporation, company name, trademarks, legal counsel and accountant.. The entry-level position is an FP&A analyst. Analysts can eventually move up to be a manager or director. It can take anywhere from 2-5 years to move up through the positions and, unlike investment banking or other capital markets positions, you may stay at a certain level for most of your career.
Financial planning and analysis roles are common for a B.Com career pathMost Common BCom JobsHere we outline the most common career paths for B.Com (BCom) graduates straight out of university, and highlight the skills that are required to be a good fit for that path. The most common BCom jobs are found in accounting, finance, marketing, and human resources..
Exit Strategy
Most people stay on the corporate side once they’re working in FP&A and opportunities are either to move up internally or switch to another corporation. Moving up could be all the way from Analyst to Director of FP&A, and from there to VP of Finance, VP of Corporate DevelopmentCorporate Development Career PathCorporate Development jobs include executing mergers, acquisitions, divestitures & capital raising in-house for a corporation. Corporate development ("corp dev") is responsible for executing mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and capital raising in-house for a corporation. Explore the career path. or Chief Financial Officer (read our guide on what does a CFO doWhat Does a CFO DoWhat does a CFO do - the job of the CFO is to optimize a company's financial performance, including: reporting, liquidity, and return on investment. Within a company, these responsibilities fall into departments typically known as the controller's group, treasury, and financial planning and analysis (FP&A)).
FP&A Salary
Here is a breakdown of what you can expect to earn as an FP&A Analyst, Manager, Director or VP. Generally speaking, FP&A analysts/managers are well paid when considering the work-life balance that they usually enjoy in their job.
Analyst: $50,000 to $80,000 (base salary plus bonus)
Manager: $60,000 to $120,000 (base salary plus bonus)
Director/VP: $100,000 to $250,000+
Why Work in FP&A?
Working in financial planning and analysis can be a very exciting career path. Analysts get to perform extremely detailed and important financial modelingWhat is Financial ModelingFinancial modeling is performed in Excel to forecast a company's financial performance. Overview of what is financial modeling, how & why to build a model. A 3 statement model links income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. More advanced types of financial models are built for valuation, plannnig, and used for executive decision making. The group typically works very closely with the CFO and helps support decisions around capital spending, operating budgets, long-term planning, and sometimes may be pulled in to support mergers and acquisitions (depending on the size of the company).
The financial planning and analyst department is typically a stable place to work, as they are required in good times and in bad, and teams don’t tend to massively fluctuate in size (the way more sales oriented jobs like investment bankingInvestment Banking Career PathInvestment banking career guide - plan your IB career path. Learn about investment banking salaries, how to get hired, and what to do after a career in IB. The investment banking division (IBD) helps governments, corporations, and institutions raise capital and complete mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Analysts work 100 can).
Key FP&A Analyst Job Responsibilities:
- Performs quantitative analysis of operational and financial data
- Builds and manages financial databases by organizing and analyzing a wide range of data sources
- Prepares financial reports for internal use at the company by collecting, analyzing, formatting, and presenting information
- Evaluates new projects and investment opportunities by comparing them with each other
- Values the company’s assets by appraising their current condition and useful life
- Recommends financing structures (debt and equity) and considers the company’s cost of capital
- Builds budgets and forecasts of future company performance
- Builds and maintains a corporate financial model that details the entire company’s operations and projects future performance
- Performs ad hoc analysis for executives as required
Screenshot from CFI’s financial modeling courses.
FP&A Career Prep
Taking financial analysis courses is the fastest way to learn what’s required in a financial planning and analysis job before you get hired.
It’s important, to start with a strong understanding of accounting fundamentals and reading financial statements. From there you should have a solid Excel crash course under your belt, which will teach you the basics, including shortcuts, formulas, and functions. Beyond that, you can progress to more advanced courses, which will teach you how to perform valuation and financial modeling.
If you want the best value for a wide range of courses, check out CFI’s Full Access Bundle.
More helpful resources
We hope this has been a helpful guide to being an FP&A Analyst or Manager. To continue planning your career path, we highly recommend these additional resources:
- FP&A interview questionsFP&A Interview QuestionsFP&A interview questions and answers. This list includes the most common interview questions used to hire for Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) jobs such as analyst and manager positions. Based on extensive research and feedback from professionals at corporations, this list has the most likely interview questions
- Financial modeling guideFree Financial Modeling GuideThis financial modeling guide covers Excel tips and best practices on assumptions, drivers, forecasting, linking the three statements, DCF analysis, Excel modeling and much more. Designed to be the best free modeling guide for analysts by using examples and step by step instructions. Investment banking, FP&A, research
- Advanced Excel formulas you must knowAdvanced Excel Formulas Must KnowThese advanced Excel formulas are critical to know and will take your financial analysis skills to the next level. Advanced Excel functions you must know. Learn the top 10 Excel formulas every world-class financial analyst uses on a regular basis. These skills will improve your spreadsheet work in any career
- FP&A cash flow modeling course
