Finance Business Partner role
In larger organisations, management accounting roles may be expanded to become finance business partners. The necessary skills for this type of role are different to traditional back office accounting roles and a finance business partner becomes more of a trusted advisor, providing more general commercial advice with less transaction processing. The finance business partner focuses on operational efficiency, continuous improvement and margin improvement, so the skill set is stakeholder management and relationship management driven.
Typical responsibilities of a Finance Business Partner
- Create and present insightful and detailed analysis of financial performance with recommendations for change.
- Help to develop the strategic and financial priorities which drive overall financial business performance.
- Take discussion of recommendations to the business, making the case for efficiency improvements.
- Identify the costs and benefits of key business initiatives, including capital investment appraisals, commercial tenders, procurement strategies and operational efficiency programmes.
- Anticipate and understand the implications of risks and opportunities.
- Influence and support the delivery of change across a range of business functions.
- Support the commercial function and maintain a high degree of commercial competence and awareness throughout the business.
- Business partner to the wider operational team, particularly senior non-financial stakeholders.
Profile of a successful candidate
- Qualified Accountant ACA/CIMA/ACCA.
- Self-starter, able to work on own initiative.
- Able to demonstrate strong analytical and planning skills combined with a commercial outlook.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence inside and outside of finance.
- Someone with understanding of how and where the business creates value and enjoys using data-led intelligence to introduce new ideas to improve business performance.