The FP&A career path
The FP&A career path starts at the analyst level and progresses to director of FP&A:
- FP&A Analyst
- Senior FP&A Analyst
- FP&A Manager
- Director/VP, FP&A
The career path of FP&A professionals is less standard than that of investment bankers or consultants.
However, if we were asked to summarize a “common” FP&A career path, it would looks something like this: Get an undergraduate degree in accounting, spend 1-3 years in public accounting (big 4) or in accounting/finance at a Fortune 500, get an MBA and then get hired as a Senior FP&A Analyst at a Fortune 1000.
Table of Contents
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 a CFA or MBA and the completion of a 2-year bank rotation program.
Guide to FP&A
Learn more about the Financial Planning & Analysis job description and responsibilities.
What are the Different Roles in FP&A?
The progression from the more junior to the more senior is typically as follows:
FP&A Analyst
The analyst is the workhorse of FP&A. The analyst’s primary tasks are data gathering, model building and 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 with an accounting background. Hiring directly out of undergrad is rare, but it does happen at larger organizations.
FP&A Senior Analyst
A Senior Analyst often directs junior 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 of experience is typical.
FP&A Manager
By this point the FP&A professional has proven his/her worth, has performed numerous analyses and has been a key 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 of managers will either have an MBA or CPA.
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.
Sharing some personal experience as I know I would have found this useful. I was an associate in investment banking making $140,000 base in 2019 when I decided to leave to a startup as FP&A manager. I was hired in New York and started at $125,000 + 2,000 shares a… Read more »
Hi Charles,
I am very interested in your career development, if it is possible.
May I have a conversation with you about how you advanced your career and how should I make adjustments/changes as a senior accountant.
My email is : [email protected]
Many thanks,
Hi Charles – I just switched to an FPA role after 10 years in financial services. I m still figuring out the salaries in this career. According to you, what kind of orgs would be good pay masters for FPA roles? Do new age tech companies like Amazon pay higher… Read more »
Hello Charles,
I just read your comment and I am intrigued.
I would like to discuss further with you.