FP&A Career Path and Salary Guide (2024)

Illustrative FP&A Career Map

To reiterate, this is rough career map and doesn’t apply to all industries. For example, the requirement for getting into FP&A within a financial services firm is often aCFA or MBA and the completion of a 2-year bank rotation program.

What are the Different Roles in FP&A?

The progression fromthe more junior to the more senioris typicallyas follows:

FP&A Analyst

The analyst is the workhorse of FP&A. The analyst’s primary tasks are data gathering, model buildingand maintenance as well as coordination across the various stakeholders.

• FP&A Analyst Salary: $50,000 to $70,000 including bonuses.
• Experience: The typical candidate will have 1-3 years of experience withan accounting background. Hiring directly out of undergrad is rare, but it does happen at larger organizations.

FP&A Senior Analyst

A Senior Analyst often directsjunior analysts and runs projects, but is still in the weeds and is very much involved in the financial modeling process.

• FP&A Senior Analyst Salary: $65,000 to $85,000 including bonus.
• Experience: While undergrads are hired as analysts, MBAs are hired as senior analysts. Similar to the FP&A analyst, accounting backgrounds are preferred. 3-5 years ofexperience is typical.

FP&A Manager

By this point the FP&A professionalhas provenhis/her worth,has performed numerous analyses and has been akey individual contributor in many planning cycles.

• FP&A Manager Salary: $85,000 to $115,000 including bonuses.
• Experience: 5-10 years of experience is typical. Managers are either internally promoted, laterally hired, or brought in from Big 4/other accounting roles.The vast majority ofmanagers will either have an MBA orCPA.

Director (or VP) of FP&A

• Director of FP&A Salary: $100,000 to $250,000 plus stock options and bonuses.
• Experience/Typical Candidate:10+ years of experience running corporate planning cycles, implementing new processes and acting as the lead on multiple projects.

What Happens After the Director/VP Level?

Transition to the CFO role is obviously rare (there’s only 1 spot) but FP&A, alongside the controller and treasury function have been considered potential stepping stones to the CFO position.

After the Director/VP level, the majority of FP&A professionals tend to stay within FP&A, either in their current organization or at other companies.At large companies,directors can progress internally by taking on responsibility for larger P&Ls.

Transition to the CFO role is obviously rare (there’s only 1 spot) but FP&A, alongside the controller and treasury function have been considered potential stepping stones to the CFO position. Those seeking this type of transition oftenlook to rotate to other key areas in the organization such as a Controller, Business Development, Corporate Development and Operations. This well-rounded skill set is critical in getting the nod to the CFO position.

Even more rare is the opportunity to rise to the CEO level. Due to the highly analytical and inquisitive nature of a personwho succeeds in FP&A, many also seek the entrepreneurial route by founding companies in all types of industries.

FP&A Career Path for Non-Traditional Candidates

As we mentioned earlier, entry points and the actual career trajectory of an FP&A analyst can vary significantly. That said, most people enter after getting their MBAs and then work up the corporate ladder. Below we address what “non traditional” hirescan do to improve their competitive profile:

Generally, FP&A professionals enjoy a better work-life balance than those working in investment banking or consulting.

Junior Level (FP&A Analyst and Senior Analyst)

Candidates without accounting background will be more competitive bydemonstrating an interest in FP&A by gaining a designation such as a CPA, CMA/CFM or FP&A Certification from the Association of Financial Professionals. Those switching careers out of investment banking are less common, although the financial modeling experience gainedin IB is looked at positively.

Senior Level (FP&A Manager and Director/VP)

Professionalsseeking totransitioninto a senior role in FP&A will need to have significant experience managing various projects and corporate initiatives.If transitioningfromconsulting or banking, deep industry experienceis required. For example, it is very unusual to see a generalist get hired in a senior position at a healthcare organization without experience in the the healthcare industry.

How is the Work-Life Balance in FP&A?

Generally, FP&A professionals enjoy a better work-life balance than those working in investment banking or consulting. Hours range from 45-55 hours a week but can spike to 70 hours per week during “fire drills” and seasonal peak times. Public company FP&A teams in particular tend to work longer hours,particularly during the quarterly financial close process, when the work can be grueling and time sensitive.

Unlike professional services like investment banking or consulting, there is typically no set time frame or up and out policy.

Additional FP&A Career Resources