The most under-hired finance role in the mid-market right now is the Head of FP&A. Businesses invest heavily in a CFO and a Financial Controller, then leave the space between them empty, and that gap is exactly where forecasting, commercial insight and board reporting quietly fall apart.
We see it every week. A company hits 20 to 80 million in revenue, the numbers get more complex, the board wants sharper answers, and nobody in the building is dedicated to producing them. The CFO is stretched across fundraising, M&A and stakeholder management. The Controller is running the close and keeping the ledgers clean. Forward-looking analysis becomes an evening job for whoever has capacity, which usually means it is late, thin, or both.
What does a Head of FP&A actually do?
The Head of FP&A owns the numbers that describe the future, not just the past. Where the Financial Controller reports what happened, the Head of FP&A explains what it means and what is likely to happen next.
The role covers budgeting, rolling forecasts, scenario modelling, cash flow projection, board pack narrative and the analysis that connects finance to commercial decisions. Done well, it turns raw actuals into a story the board can act on.
It is the difference between a board pack that lists variances and one that explains why margin moved, which cohorts are underperforming, and what the next two quarters look like under three scenarios.
Why is this role so often skipped?
The honest answer is that it is invisible until it is missing. A weak Controller shows up fast, because the close slips and the auditors complain. Weak FP&A hides, because the business still functions. It just makes worse decisions with less warning.
There is also a sequencing habit. Founders hire a Controller early because compliance and control are non-negotiable. They hire a CFO later, usually around a raise or a sale. FP&A sits awkwardly between the two, so it gets absorbed into other jobs and never given an owner.
The result is a false economy. Companies pay for a senior CFO and then use expensive CFO hours on spreadsheet work an FP&A lead should be doing. The CFO becomes a bottleneck, and the strategic work the board actually hired them for gets crowded out.
When should a mid-market business hire one?
The clearest trigger is complexity, not size. Once the business has multiple revenue lines, several entities, a real product mix or a private equity investor asking monthly questions, the case is made.
A few concrete signals we hear from CEOs and operating partners:
- Board packs arrive late and spark more questions than they answer.
- The forecast changes every time a different person builds it.
- The CFO is personally maintaining the master model, and it breaks when they are on holiday.
- Nobody can quickly answer what happens to cash if a large customer churns.
If two or more of those are true, the role is overdue.
What does good look like in this hire?
A strong Head of FP&A combines technical modelling with genuine commercial curiosity. The modelling is the entry ticket. The differentiator is someone who understands the business well enough to ask the right question before the board does.
Look for evidence of influence, not just output. Good candidates talk about a decision that changed because of their analysis, a pricing move, a hiring freeze, a market they advised against. They can hold a room and defend a number under pressure.
Beware the pure modeller who produces beautiful spreadsheets nobody reads, and the confident presenter whose numbers do not tie out. You want both discipline and judgement in the same person.
We cover this territory constantly on the Harper May recruitment side, and the pattern holds across sectors. The businesses that hire FP&A early make cleaner decisions and lean less on the CFO for firefighting.
How does this role change the CFO's job?
A good Head of FP&A frees the CFO to be a CFO. Fundraising, board strategy, banking relationships and deal work all need real time, and that time only appears when someone reliable owns the forecasting engine.
For private equity backed businesses this matters even more. Investors want fast, credible answers between board meetings. A dedicated FP&A lead gives the CFO the capacity to be strategic rather than reactive, and gives the board a single source of truth it can trust.
It also builds succession. A capable Head of FP&A is often a future FD or CFO, so the hire strengthens the team two layers deep, not just one. If you are actively building out this layer, our current finance roles reflect where demand is concentrated.
Common questions
Is a Head of FP&A worth it below 20 million revenue?
Usually the work is real but not yet a full-time role. Below that level, an analyst reporting to the CFO or a fractional resource often covers it. The dedicated hire makes sense as complexity and investor scrutiny rise.
How is a Head of FP&A different from a Financial Controller?
The Controller owns accuracy of the past, the close, controls and compliance. The Head of FP&A owns interpretation of the future, forecasting, scenarios and commercial insight. They are complementary, not interchangeable.
Can the CFO just do FP&A themselves?
Only for a while, and at a cost. Every hour a CFO spends rebuilding models is an hour not spent on strategy, capital and stakeholders. Splitting the roles is almost always the better use of senior time.
