Follow up to ‘Building an FP&A team from 0 to 5’

Last week, I wrote about growing an FP&A team from 0 to 5, based on my experience.

This week, I hand-picked sources, added them to Google’s NotebookLM, and used the software to summarize insights. By selecting the sources myself, I avoid the ‘average answer’ that AI models like ChatGPT might provide.

Next, I curated the most interesting points, noted below, which build on last week’s post. Interestingly, some of the additions were also mentioned in the comments on last week’s post.

𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗣&𝗔 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺

🌀 “The single most important quality in a finance lead isn’t a hard skill—it’s actually a soft one: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀.”

𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦: 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘊𝘍𝘖 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴


🌀 Look for a candidate who can 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 and provide structure around FP&A, especially if a company lacks structure today. Look for a leader that brings a 𝗯𝗶𝗴-𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲.

𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦: 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘍𝘗&𝘈: 𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘍𝘗&𝘈 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘊𝘍𝘖


🌀 FP&A teams 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲, delivering useful information, and demonstrating their competence, rather than demanding information. When hiring, this means looking for candidates who are not only technically skilled but also have the soft skills necessary to build relationships and 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲.

𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦: 𝘍𝘗&𝘈 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 CFO 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘛𝘢𝘮𝘦 @ 𝘖𝘳𝘪


🌀 Several sources, including the comments on the last post, emphasized the need for a 𝗺𝗶𝘅 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 on the team. I also think it’s helpful skills in each category, which I have listed below. The ideal combination will vary for each hire, at each company.

🔹𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀: accounting, financial modeling, data analysis & visualization, forecasting, understanding financial statements, and experience with forecasting software / automation

🔹𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀: communication and relationship building, emotional intelligence, adaptability, collaboration, autonomy, and intellectual curiosity