Finance director · job description template
Finance director job description
The short answer · updated
A finance director job description sets out the most senior finance role in a company: the person who owns the numbers and the decisions that rest on them. The core duties are budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting and the annual accounts, cash and funding, controls and risk, tax compliance, and leading the finance team.
Job purpose
The finance director (FD) makes sure the business knows where it stands and can fund where it is going. The ICAEW describes the FD or CFO as the most senior role in the finance function, overseeing all of it and providing strategic direction and leadership.
Write the purpose as one or two sentences about what the business needs from finance: reporting the board can rely on, a funding round or bank facility, a sale, tighter cash, a finance team that has outgrown its systems. The rest of the job description should follow from that sentence. For the role itself, see what a finance director does.
Key responsibilities
Pick the duties that match the company’s stage and cut the rest. A typical list:
- lead budgeting, forecasting and financial planning, and agree the budget with the board;
- produce monthly management accounts and board packs, with commentary the board can act on;
- own the annual statutory accounts and the audit relationship;
- keep adequate accounting records and the finance systems that hold them;
- manage cash flow, working capital and banking, and secure funding or facilities;
- identify financial risks and put controls in place to reduce them;
- make sure tax is calculated and filed correctly: corporation tax, VAT and payroll taxes;
- report to the board and deal with investors, lenders and auditors;
- lead on acquisitions, disposals and capital investment decisions;
- hire, lead and develop the finance team;
- make sure the company complies with financial regulations, standards and its own policies.
Reporting line and scope
A finance director usually reports to the managing director or chief executive. In a larger group, a divisional or subsidiary FD may report to the group CFO. The financial controller, finance managers and the wider finance team typically report to the FD.
State the board exposure plainly. Most FDs present the numbers at every board meeting, many sit on the board as directors, and where there is an audit committee the FD works closely with its chair. In companies within HMRC’s Senior Accounting Officer rules, the SAO must be a director or officer with overall responsibility for the financial accounting arrangements, and the role cannot be handed to an outside adviser. If the FD is to be the SAO, say so.
Skills, experience and qualifications
Describe experience by what the candidate has done, not by years served. Acas warns that phrases such as “highly experienced” can discriminate on age, and that each requirement needs a good reason. No law requires a finance director to be a qualified accountant, but most employers and investors look for one.
- a professional accountancy qualification: ICAEW ACA, ACCA or CIMA’s CGMA;
- a record of leading finance at a comparable scale, sector or ownership (private equity-backed, venture-backed, family-owned or listed);
- reporting and statutory accounts experience, including the audit;
- cash, banking and funding experience;
- systems and controls: the ability to build or fix the finance stack;
- experience building and leading a finance team;
- the communication, leadership and judgement to challenge and persuade the board, qualities the ICAEW lists for the role.
Fractional finance director job description
A fractional finance director works a set number of days a week or month. The job description changes in three ways. It names the days and how they fall, often around month-end and board meetings. It narrows the scope to the few problems that matter most: board reporting, a forecast the bank will accept, a funding round, a systems change. And it sets outcomes for the first six to twelve months rather than an open-ended list of duties.
A fractional FD often works through their own company, so the engagement may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests. To see how it works, read how to hire a fractional finance director, or the shorter fractional FD guide.
Interim and permanent versions
An interim finance director works full-time for a fixed period: an audit or systems problem, a sale, a turnaround, or cover while the permanent search runs. The job description adds the start date, the length of the assignment and the handover expected at the end. See interim finance director roles.
A permanent finance director job description carries the full scope, the long-term plan and the terms of employment, including whether the role carries a board seat. For a permanent appointment, see finance director recruitment.
A template you can copy
Acas publishes a free outline job description with the main headings, the role’s main duties and the reporting line. For a finance director, use these headings:
- Job title: Finance Director, and whether the role is permanent, interim, part-time or fractional.
- Reports to: the MD or CEO (or group CFO), the team that reports to the FD, and any board or audit committee attendance.
- Purpose: one or two sentences on what the business needs from finance.
- Responsibilities: six to ten duties from the list above, the most important first.
- Requirements: the qualification, experience and skills the role needs, each with a reason.
- Terms: location and hybrid pattern, days a week, start date, length of engagement for interim or fractional roles, and how pay will be set out.
Questions people ask
What should a finance director job description include?
The job title and engagement type, the reporting line, a short purpose statement, the key responsibilities, the qualification, skills and experience the role needs, and the terms: location, days, start date and length. Keep responsibilities to what the company needs now.
How long should a finance director job description be?
Long enough to show the scope and short enough to read in a few minutes. A fractional or interim brief can be shorter, because it names a few outcomes rather than the whole remit.
How is a fractional finance director job description different?
It names the days a week or month, narrows the scope to the problems that matter most, and sets outcomes for the first six to twelve months. It also notes that IR35 status depends on how the engagement runs. See how to hire a fractional finance director.
What does a finance director earn?
It depends on the company’s size, sector and ownership, and on whether the role is permanent, interim or fractional. Our finance director salary page sets out permanent pay and fractional day rates, each figure with its source.
Does a finance director need to be a qualified accountant?
Not by law, but most are, and investors, lenders and audit committees usually expect it: the ACA, ACCA and CIMA are the common qualifications. See how to become a finance director.
How do I hire a finance director?
Define the finance problem, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around it, and test every candidate against the same problem. We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors, and send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting. See finance director recruitment.
