Finance director · interview questions
Finance director interview questions
The short answer · updated
A good finance director interview tests financial judgement and strategy, command of the numbers, cash and controls, leading a finance team, reporting to the board and its committees, and evidence from past roles of problems like yours. Ask every candidate the same core questions, press for specific examples, and check qualifications with the awarding body.
Questions about strategy
Write the questions from the finance director job description and the problem the role must solve. Acas advises preparing a set of questions, asking each applicant the same ones where possible, and interviewing with more than one person. The ICAEW treats CFO and finance director as the same senior role and lists a strategic mindset among its qualities; in a group, a finance director may run a division, so pitch the strategy questions at that level.
- “What would you want to know about this business before you changed anything in finance?” Diagnosis first: cash, margin, controls, the team and what the board relies on.
- “Tell us about a decision you changed because of what the numbers showed.” Finance influencing the business, with a specific decision and result.
- “How do you build a budget and forecast the business actually uses?” Driver-based, owned by budget holders, and reviewed against actuals.
- “Which investment or project would you not approve again, and why?” Honesty and learning from a real miss.
- “How would you support the managing director or CEO on a sale, fundraise or refinancing?” Preparation, data, adviser management and a realistic timetable.
- “How do you challenge a senior colleague whose plan the numbers do not support?” Challenge made with evidence, in private first, and escalated when it must be.
Questions about the numbers
The finance director is often closer to the mechanics than a group CFO. Ask for the last real example, not a general method.
- “Talk us through the last month-end you ran. Where did it slow down, and what did you change?” Command of the close and a practical fix.
- “How do you manage cash when a customer pays late or a forecast is wrong?” Working-capital levers, a short-term cash view, and early word to the bank.
- “Describe an audit finding you inherited. How did you close it?” Ownership of controls and a lasting fix, agreed with the auditor.
- “Which controls would you test first here, and how?” Reconciliations, approvals, segregation of duties and fraud risk, tested rather than assumed.
- “How do you keep VAT, payroll and corporation tax compliant?” Clear ownership, sensible use of advisers, and a record of clean filings.
- “Tell us about a finance system you chose or replaced.” Judgement on systems, how the project ran, and what they would do differently.
- “How do you explain the numbers to managers who are not accountants?” Business partnering: plain language and a focus on the decisions the numbers affect.
Questions about leadership and the team
A finance director leads the finance team day to day. Ask how they have built, run and developed one.
- “Tell us about the finance team you lead now. What have you changed in it, and why?” A view of the function’s gaps and a record of closing them.
- “How have you handled someone in the team who was not performing?” Fairness, speed, a clear record and support first.
- “How do you develop a finance manager or financial controller?” Delegation, stretch and a plan that has produced promotions.
- “How have you kept a small finance team steady through a busy year-end?” Planning, prioritisation and care for the team’s workload.
- “What would your last team say you should do differently?” Self-awareness and a real answer.
- “Describe a time you changed how finance works with sales or operations.” Business partnering in practice, seen from the other team’s side.
Questions about the board and governance
A finance director presents the numbers to the board and, in larger companies, to its audit committee. In a listed company the FRC’s UK Corporate Governance Code applies on a comply-or-explain basis, and Provision 29 asks the board to declare whether its material internal controls are effective; every board, listed or not, needs controls it can rely on.
- “What goes into your board finance pack, and what do you leave out?” Decision-focused reporting with a short, honest commentary.
- “Tell us about a time you gave the board bad news.” Early, plain, with the options set out.
- “How have you worked with an audit committee or with the auditors directly?” No surprises, a working relationship outside meetings, and respect for independence.
- “What do the bank and any investors need from you between board meetings?” Reliable reporting, covenant awareness, and early warning.
- “Have you been a statutory director? How did it change the way you worked?” An understanding that directors’ duties sit with the person.
- “When would you take a concern to the chair or a non-executive director?” A principled line on escalation, and an example.
Questions for a fractional or interim finance director
A fractional finance director works a set number of days a week or month; an interim finance director works full-time for a fixed period, often to cover a gap or fix a problem. See how to hire a fractional finance director and our interim finance director page.
A finance director working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the contract’s label, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
- “How many days would this role need, and what would you do with them?” Sizes the job from the brief rather than accepting the number offered.
- “What would you deliver in the first 90 days?” Specific outcomes: a reliable month-end, a cash forecast, an audit closed, a system chosen.
- “What would you own, and what stays with the bookkeeper or finance manager?” A clear split so the routine work runs on the days they are not in.
- “How would you hand over at the end?” Documentation, a trained team, and nothing left only in their head.
- “Would you be a director or officer, and what would that change?” An understanding of the duties the appointment brings.
- “How would the engagement run day to day, and how do you expect IR35 status to be assessed?” A realistic account of the working arrangements, without a promised outcome.
Questions a candidate should ask
Acas advises ending each interview by asking the applicant if they have any questions. A finance director candidate should use that time to find out what they are walking into. For the route into the role, see how to become a finance director.
- “What is the finance problem this role must solve in its first year?”
- “Who does the finance director report to, and is the role on the board?”
- “What did the last audit and the auditor’s management letter raise?”
- “How big is the finance team, which systems does it use, and what is not working?”
- “What is the cash position, and how is the business funded?”
- “For a fractional or interim role: how many days, which outcomes, and how will IR35 status be decided?”
How we assess candidates
We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a finance director brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting. See our finance director recruitment page.
Whoever runs the process, check the qualification with the body that awarded it. The ICAEW’s online member directory is a free way to verify ICAEW membership.
Questions people ask
What questions should you ask a finance director in an interview?
Ask about financial strategy and judgement, the numbers, cash and controls, leading a finance team, the board and the auditors, and specific problems they have solved that resemble yours. Ask every candidate the same core questions and press for real examples.
What questions should you not ask in a finance director interview?
Nothing about a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, such as age, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy, religion or sexual orientation, and nothing about children or plans to have them. Health and disability questions are allowed only where an exception applies, such as reasonable adjustments. See Acas on discrimination law in recruitment and GOV.UK on questions you cannot ask.
Who should interview a finance director?
The managing director or CEO the role reports to, the chair or a non-executive director, and, in a group, the group CFO. Acas advises that more than one person interviews, to reduce the risk of discrimination. See Acas on interviewing.
How should a candidate prepare for a finance director interview?
Read the filed accounts, work out the finance problem the role must solve, and prepare specific examples of solving it elsewhere. Prepare your own questions about the team, the systems and the last audit. See how to become a finance director.
Are CFO and finance director interview questions different?
In a smaller company the roles are often the same, so the questions are too. In a group, a CFO interview leans towards the main board, investors and group strategy, and a finance director interview towards running a division’s finance well. See what a finance director does.
How do I hire a finance director?
Define the finance problem, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around that problem, interview every candidate against it, and check qualifications and references. We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out. See finance director recruitment.
