Sample Health Check: FP&A Manager

1. Decision summary

pausePause: pause until the open points are resolved

Material unresolved decisions prevent a reliable recommendation. The pack below is provisional.

Why

• Budget approval is not confirmed.
• The brief does not say whether alternatives were considered.
• Contradictions between the brief and job description on team management, work pattern, and ERP/BI project leadership.

Decisions needed to proceed

• Blocker: Confirm whether the budget for this hire is approved, and by whom. The salary range alone is not approval. (Employer)
• Blocker: Decide whether a systems or process fix, reshaping existing roles or interim support would address the problem before committing to this hire. (Employer)
• Blocker: Resolve the work pattern: the brief says "Hybrid, on site at month-end", the job description says "Location: Wakefield head office (office-based, Monday to Friday)". (Employer)
• Blocker: Resolve the direct reports: the brief says "None", the job description says "Manage and develop a team of analysts". (Employer)
• Blocker: Decide who owns the ERP or BI project: this role leading it, supporting it, or someone else. (Employer)
• Before publishing: Confirm if weekly depot travel is essential and why. (Employer)
• Before publishing: Confirm if Power BI is required for board reporting. (Employer)
• Before publishing: Confirm if a Big Four background is genuinely required. (Employer)
• Before publishing: Provide bonus scheme terms and pension contribution details. (Employer)

Built from the facts you supplied. No statistics or estimates are added, and reports do not invent salary figures. This check reduces the risk of a mis-hire; it cannot remove it.

2. Diagnosis of the operational problem

• Not enough capacity

  Unknown: test it

  Possible explanation: the Finance Director is spending excessive time manually compiling contract profitability, indicating a lack of capacity for timely and accurate reporting and forecasting.

  • FD spends three days a month stitching profitability together in Excel.
  • The business run cleaning and maintenance contracts from nine regional depots on about £30m turnover, and nobody can tell the business which contracts make money until weeks…
  • Two contract renewals were priced last year without up-to-date margin data.

  How to test it. Would freeing the FD's time give timely, reliable profitability reporting, or is the cause systems or process?

  What a hire alone changes. A hire would free up senior management time and allow for more timely reporting, but only if the systems and data flows are reliable.

• Unreliable inputs

  Supported

  Inputs to profitability reporting are unreliable due to manual re-keying and disconnected systems.

  • Job-costing system and Sage 200 do not talk to each other.
  • Every month someone re-keys depot labour hours.

  How to test it. Can the new hire establish reliable data flows and reconciliations between systems?

  What a hire alone changes. A hire can improve processes and checks, but will still depend on the quality and timeliness of data from operational systems.

• Systems that do not connect

  Supported

  Lack of integration between Sage 200 and the job-costing system is a root cause of manual work and unreliable numbers.

  • Systems do not talk to each other.
  • Manual re-keying of data.

  How to test it. Is there a plan or authority for the new hire to lead or support systems integration?

  What a hire alone changes. A hire can support process improvements but cannot alone deliver systems integration without project ownership and resources.

• Unclear ownership or process

  Supported

  Ownership of contract profitability reporting and forecasting is unclear, with a senior manager currently covering and the FD rebuilding reports.

  • A senior manager is covering.
  • FD rebuilds profitability pack by hand.

  How to test it. Will the new hire have clear ownership of profitability reporting and forecasting deliverables?

  What a hire alone changes. A hire can take ownership if the role is clearly defined and supported, but will depend on clarity of responsibilities and authority.

Where the hire still depends on others. The hire will still depend on reliable data inputs from Sage 200 and the job-costing system, and on decisions about systems integration and project ownership that are outside the role's direct control.

Conditions for the hire to succeed

• Budget for the hire is approved. Owner: Employer. To confirm.
• Ownership of contract profitability reporting and forecasting is clearly assigned to the new hire. Owner: Finance Director. To confirm.
• Decision on who leads ERP/BI platform selection and implementation. Owner: Finance Director. To confirm.
• Reliable data flows between Sage 200 and the job-costing system. Owner: Finance/IT. To confirm.

3. Evidence, contradictions and unknowns

Only confirmed facts support a firm conclusion. Missing facts are asked; contradictions are named.

4. Business case and alternatives

The problem. The business cannot reliably or promptly report contract profitability by depot, resulting in late, unreliable management accounts and weak forecasting.

What it costs today (partly supplied). Late or unreliable numbers Management time (FD spends three days a month on manual reporting) Decisions made without numbers Two contract renewals priced without up-to-date margin data The business is exposed to delayed and potentially incorrect commercial decisions due to unreliable profitability data and weak forecasting.

What a wrong hire would put at risk

• Salary and recruitment fees if the wrong hire is made
• Notice and re-hire time
• The problem remaining unsolved
• Management time lost to manual reporting

Is a hire the right fix?

Recommended: Pause: pause until the open points are resolved

Budget approval is not confirmed and consideration of alternatives is not confirmed.

Timeline and bridge

No deadline was supplied

No dates or deadlines were supplied. Without supplied deadlines or business event dates, it is not possible to assess whether a gap will occur or whether interim cover is needed.

The need for interim support cannot yet be assessed. No deadline was supplied, which does not show that no interim support is needed.

• Are contract renewals or other decisions with deadlines coming up, and when?
• What is the target start date for the new hire?

Outcomes at 6 and 12 months

• At 6 months: Monthly contract profitability pack by depot that the Finance Director does not have to rebuild by hand

  From your brief

  Accepted when. Pack is reconciled to the ledger, allocation rules agreed with depot managers, and signed off by the Finance Director

  Owner. The new hire, with sign-off by the Finance Director

  Depends on. Reliable data from Sage 200 and job-costing system (provided by Finance/IT)

  Timing. Within six months of start

• At 6 months: First rolling forecast agreed with depot managers

  From your brief

  Accepted when. Forecast is reviewed and accepted by depot managers and the Finance Director

  Owner. The new hire

  Depends on. Input from depot managers (provided by Operations)

  Timing. Within six months of start

• At 12 months: Annual budget built bottom-up by depot and contract, with quarterly reforecasts

  From your brief

  Accepted when. Budget and reforecasts are signed off by the Finance Director and depot managers

  Owner. The new hire

  Depends on. Input from depot managers (provided by Operations)

  Timing. Within twelve months of start

5. Role level, salary, package and work pattern

Level and title

Title: FP&A Manager (kept).

The brief describes a hands-on FP&A Manager focused on contract profitability and forecasting, reporting to the Finance Director with no direct reports.

Salary and package

Salary range supplied; budget approval unconfirmed.

• Salary range: £55,000 – £65,000
• Pension
• 25 days' holiday plus bank holidays
• Annual bonus scheme

How to test the package

• Test the salary and package by advertising the revised role and monitoring candidate response.

Compares the supplied budget with the supplied duties and level.

Work pattern

• Hybrid, on site at month-end (brief)
• Office-based, Monday to Friday (job description)

• Clarify the intended work pattern before advertising.
• Confirm whether hybrid working is permitted and if so, under what conditions.

6. Revised job description

Provisional hiring pack—requires employer confirmation before use.

Purpose

Deliver reliable, timely contract profitability reporting and rolling forecasts for a multi-site facilities services group, freeing up senior management time and enabling better commercial decisions.

Reporting

Reports to the Finance Director or CFO. No direct reports (to confirm).

7. Candidate advert

Provisional hiring pack—requires employer confirmation before use.

8. Interview plan and exercise specification

Provisional hiring pack—requires employer confirmation before use.

Proposed: for employer confirmation. A suggested structure; confirm the stages, owners and timings before use.

Decision timing: Offer decision within one week of final interview

9. Weighted scorecard

Provisional hiring pack—requires employer confirmation before use.

Confirm at screening (not scored): CIMA, ACCA or equivalent, or qualified by experience (employer to confirm); Able to attend the Wakefield office at month-end (hybrid pattern, to confirm); Full UK driving licence and depot travel, if confirmed as essential

• Score all 6 criteria on the 1–5 anchors and apply the weights: Owning annual budgets and monthly rolling forecasts for a multi-site business (24%); Building driver-based budgets and rolling forecasts for a multi-site business (18%); Producing contract or site-level profitability reporting (18%); Strong Excel modelling for reporting and forecasting (15%); Ability to present profitability and forecasts clearly to the board and depot managers (10%); Data reliability and reconciliation between systems (15%).
• Use the fictional exercise to test reasoning, accuracy, and usefulness of outputs.
• Do not score qualifications, desirables, or screening conditions.
• Do not ask for or review confidential models or files from previous employers.

10. Requirements audit

Remove only where there is positive evidence that an item is out of scope or inflated. Where the brief is silent, the item is confirmed before deciding.

11. Sources, assumptions, limitations and clarification terms

Assumptions

• No dates or deadlines for hiring, handover, or business events were supplied.
• The role is intended to address unreliable management accounts, lack of contract profitability visibility, and weak forecasting.

Limitations

• Conclusions rest on the employer's brief and job description; the reference figures in the Salary section are general regional pay context, not a band for this role.
• No dates or deadlines were supplied, so timeline and interim needs cannot be fully assessed.

Open questions for the employer

• Is the budget for this hire approved, and by whom?
• Have you considered reshaping an existing role, interim cover, a system or process change, or waiting?
• Who will own the ERP and BI platform selection and implementation: the new hire, the Finance Director, or another role?
• Is the new hire expected to manage a team of analysts, or is this a carry-over from a previous job description?
• Is weekly travel to all depots genuinely required for the FP&A work, and what is the business reason?
• Is Power BI the required reporting tool, or is Excel sufficient for the board pack?
• Is a Big Four background genuinely required, or is experience in multi-site contract profitability and forecasting sufficient?
• What are the bonus scheme terms and pension contribution details?

Clarification terms (included service)

• Included: Within seven calendar days of delivery you may request either up to two written questions about the report, sent through your order page and answered in writing, or one 15-minute call about the report, by arrangement. A revised report and a second vacancy are not included. We answer written questions, or offer a call time, within two working days of the request.
• A materially changed role (for example a different title, seniority, responsibilities, reporting line or location, where it changes the assessment) is a new Health Check, not a clarification. Following a role change recommended in the report does not by itself require another purchase.