From financial analyst to CFO
Anders Liu-Lindberg
Leading advisor to senior Finance and FP&A leaders on creating impact through business partnering | Interim | VP Finance | Business Finance
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You’ve taken the plunge and set your sights on an FP&A career. That’s a great choice. This takes you into a discipline that is arguably the most impactful in the finance function. But how do you navigate the path from the entry levels of a financial analyst to the heady heights of the top spot, CFO, with a seat at the decision-making table?
The key to success is, perhaps surprisingly, to look outside FP&A in order to succeed within it. As we’ve already discussed, FP&A is there to drive strategy, communicate insights, optimize today’s business, and grow tomorrow’s. A narrow focus is not going to help in delivering on such a broad remit. You need to start with the end in mind.
Knowledge builds success
The CFO represents the whole of the finance function. Having experience in the different specializations of each department helps them manage financial performance across the company and ensure that the interests of all employees are taken into account as the business evolves and grows.
Taking time to experience the different focus and tasks in Accounting, Treasury, and operational business units opens a whole new perspective on the internal and external drivers of corporate behavior.
Understanding the macroeconomic fiscal conditions that are the preserve of Treasury, mainly when dealing with multinational cash flows, adds depth to FP&A reporting and organizational decision making. Opportunity costs of investment will also be driven by this function.
Experience in Accounting, with a focus on the ever-evolving landscape of IFRS/GAAP and fine details of reporting standards and tax environments, helps to frame insights and drive decisions within the prevailing guidelines.
Operational business units offer yet another perspective, demonstrating the day to day decisions and the management of resources that must be supported by business partners in FP&A
Being able to communicate cross-functional is also an essential skill. Too often we find talented people whose siloed experience results in barriers to communication. The shorthand of acronyms and jargon may make perfect sense within a small community, but it does nothing for the wider organization, and career growth suffers. By stepping outside and learning the language of other departments, from operations to marketing, sales, and HR, enduring partnerships can be formed.
Ultimately, it is this ability to communicate, empathize, and partner across the whole organization that makes FP&A effective, and ensures that the journey from financial analyst to CFO is an interesting one.
Proactive career building
How can you gain this kind of knowledge and opportunity in your career? The most important factor is to have the ultimate goal in mind. Many large enterprises bake this into their training programs, bringing new financial analysts on board and moving them around finance and business functions on a regular rotation throughout the early years of their careers.
Gaining experience through a series of roles is common, and it’s useful to appreciate the way cultures and work environments can be very different in outwardly similar organizations. Keep the end in mind throughout. All this must be knotted together in your resume to demonstrate your commitment to becoming an outstanding FP&A professional and future CFO.
The more rounded your experience, the more insightful your planning and analysis will be. Everything you learn on your journey from financial analyst to CFO will contribute towards driving organizational strategy, managing performance in an effective and motivating way, optimizing today’s business, and shaping tomorrow’s. Grasp every opportunity to enhance your career.
How did you gain the experience that built your FP&A career, and what advice would you pass on to the upcoming generation of professionals? Let us know in the comments.
This was the third article in my latest series "Charting the course of a successful FP&A career". You can read the previous article(s) below.
While you await future articles you can read my latest series "Planning (as we know it) is dead!" below.
Recommended by LinkedIn
You can read a lot more articles about FP&A, Business Partnering, and Finance Transformation below. It all start's with “Introducing The Finance Transformation Nine Box” where you set the ambition for your transformation. You should join the Finance Business Partner Forum, which is part of the Business Partnering Institute's online community.
The secret sauce of FP&A transformation (the last article in the series "FP&A Transformation Talks")
How Finance should use its seat at the table (the last article in the series "The Unfair Advantage of Finance")
The ultimate guide to decision-making for finance professionals (the last article in a series about the decision-making process and how Finance should impact it).
The Mindset Change Checklist For Finance Professionals (the last article in a series about the mindset change that finance and accounting professionals should make to become business partners)
It's Time To Decide If You Want To Be A Business Partner (the last article in a series about the personality traits of business partners)
All Successful Business Partners Are "Leaders" (the last article in the series about our new capability model)
Should We Keep Talking About Business Partnering? (part of a 17-article series where we deep-dive into the WHY, WHAT, and HOW of business partnering by putting it on a formula)
Everyone Can Adopt A Business Partnering Mindset (part of a six-article series about FP&A Business Partnering)
From Business Partner To Working Within The Business (part of an article series where I interview finance professionals about their careers in FP&A and Business Partnering)
Is Your Product Optimized For Value Creation? (part of a toolbox series where we look at what tools FP&A professionals should leverage to drive value creation)
How Business Partners Turn Analysis To Insight (part of case study series where I interview business partners about how they drive value creation using real cases)
Anders Liu-Lindberg is the co-founder and a partner at the Business Partnering Institute and the owner of the largest group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering on LinkedIn with more than 10,000 members. I have ten years of experience as a business partner at the global transport and logistics company Maersk. I am the co-author of the book “Create Value as a Finance Business Partner” and a long-time Finance Blogger on LinkedIn with 85,000+ followers and 155,000+ subscribers to my blog. I am also an advisory board member at Born Capital where I help identify and grow the next big thing in #CFOTech.
Jefe de Productos Financieros SSC en LATAM Airlines
2yLem Joseph Saab Barreto Miguel Andrés Rabascall Ayoub
Sustainability, Finance and Accounting Professional
2yGood read.
CFO / Senior Finance Director with strong business partnering capabilities and vast international/multicultural trajectory. Outside of the box thinker. Ontological Coach
2yInvesting time in talking and understanding key opportunities faced by Operations, Sales, Marketing, Customer Care and HR has given me a broad knowledge to be used in FP&A and as a CFO when planning strategically or supporting other people at the board to address company opportunities
FP&A specialist. I build world-class business models. I also help businesses to perform better with data-driven Business Analysis, Reporting and Planning. My services are available to support your business!
2yAnders thanks for posting, I'm going to save this and enjoy reading it later!
On a Mission to Help 1M Finance pros Master FP&A skills | Author of All About FP&A and From Accounting to FP&A | Building FP&A Professionals Institute
2yFP&A is only one part of a larger business puzzle that must be addressed in order for an organization to be successful. Sometimes, looking outside FP&A can often be a good option. Thank you for sharing Anders