Building Scalable Hiring Processes in Finance

Current and future headcount data is critical for a financial forecast but can become a massive time suck 🌀 for FP&A teams if a scalable workflow is not created from the beginning.

Lately, I’ve been working with two clients, one early-stage and one more mature, which has made me reflect on how to build a scalable headcount workflow before things start to become too complex.

Here are some considerations for FP&A teams dealing with headcount at early-stage companies:

1️⃣ 𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄. Before worrying about efficiency or scalability, the first item to address is making sure the finance team has control over hiring or has delegated responsibility to an operator with P&L ownership.

2️⃣ 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗛𝗖𝗠) 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺. Start in Excel with a standardized report that can be updated quickly but seek to make an automatic connection when forecast software is implemented.

3️⃣ 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲. For example, if a new hire is added in the wrong department, figure out why this happened and how to definitively avoid 100% of these mistakes in the future.

4️⃣ 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗼 𝗕𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘀 (𝗧𝗕𝗛𝘀) 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗣&𝗔 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺, 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀. This is not a trivial exercise, but will save massive amounts of time when these 3 groups don’t need to perform their own monthly reconciliations. Bonus points if this is in a system and not an Excel spreadsheet managed by a person.

5️⃣ 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗖𝗠 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 (𝗛𝗥), 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗧𝗦 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 (𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 (𝗙𝗣&𝗔). The key is linking the req ID and the employee ID (plus the position ID if you are using Workday). This is also not trivial and requires both technical expertise and working with stakeholders on the workflow, but this should be the long-term goal.

Getting your headcount process right from the start can make a meaningful impact as the company scales.

What are other good tactics for early-stage FP&A teams?