FP&A analyst: the job, the pay and how to get hired
FP&A stands for financial planning and analysis. An FP&A analyst helps a company plan its money: they build the budget, forecast how the year will end, and explain why the actual numbers differ from the plan. It's the most common type of financial analyst job, and one of the best routes toward finance leadership.
There are 306 open FP&A analyst jobs in the US on this site right now. Half of the salaries employers posted for FP&A roles in the last year fall in the range $110k–$169k a year. See pay by level and city.
What the job involves
FP&A work follows the company's calendar:
- Annual budget. Usually in the autumn. The analyst collects plans from each department, builds them into one model and checks that the total makes sense.
- Monthly close and variance analysis. Each month, compare actual results with the budget and explain the biggest differences. "Marketing spent 12% over plan because the spring campaign was brought forward" is the kind of answer leaders want.
- Rolling forecast. Update the full-year outlook as each month's numbers come in.
- Ad hoc analysis. Business cases for new hires, products, offices or price changes.
- Reporting. Dashboards and slides for the CFO and department heads.
Many FP&A analysts are "business partners" to one part of the company, such as sales or operations. In the UK and Ireland this is often the job title itself: finance business partner.
Skills and tools
- Excel modeling is the core skill.
- Planning software: Anaplan, Adaptive Insights (Workday), Oracle EPM / Hyperion, Pigment. Postings often list one as "nice to have"; you can learn it on the job.
- ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle or NetSuite, where the actual numbers live.
- SQL and BI tools (Power BI, Tableau) are increasingly common, especially at larger companies.
- Clear writing and presenting, because the output is always a decision someone else makes.
Levels
| Level | Typical experience | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Analyst (entry) | 0–2 years | Builds and updates models others designed |
| Analyst / Analyst II | 2–4 years | Owns a department's forecast |
| Senior analyst | 4–7 years | Owns the model, leads the budget cycle for an area |
| Manager | 6+ years | Leads a team; presents to executives |
Entry-level FP&A jobs · Senior FP&A jobs · Remote FP&A jobs
How to get hired
- Coming from accounting or audit is the most common route in. Your close and reconciliation experience transfers directly.
- Show a model. A clean three-statement model or a budget-vs-actual analysis you can walk through in an interview counts for a lot.
- Learn the business, not just the numbers. Interviewers often ask what drives the company's revenue and costs.
- Apply early. Most roles get the bulk of their applications in the first few days. Every job on this site comes straight from the employer's career site, checked every few hours, so you see it when it opens.
