What Does a Finance Director Do?

Do you want to grow your business? Do you have ambitious goals? You need a Finance Director who can help you create the right foundation to grow and expand your business. Your Finance Director will do more than just crunching the numbers. They’re an essential part of your team and sits on the board of your company.

Whether you have ten employees or a hundred, you can benefit from adding a Finance Director to your team. They provide vital short and long-term functions for your business, including budgeting and forecasting. We’re running you through everything you need to know about the role of an FD and what they can do for your business.

The Purpose of a Finance Director

A Finance Director is the person on your team who helps you meet your objectives and growth ambitions. If your company was a football team, your Finance Director would be your goalkeeper, the person keeping your business on the right foot.

Whether you’re a small or medium business, a FD is an investment into your organisation. They free up the time and resources of the CEO and other employees, taking responsibility for all the financial activity, forecasting, and strategy within the business. They have a key strategic role within your business, working both at a leadership position, while also sitting on the company board of directors. 

The role of Finance Director is sometimes referred to as ‘Chief Financial Officer’, within both SMEs and large businesses. Just like a CFO, a Finance Director aims to align the business and financial strategies of your business to help you meet your development and growth goals.

They oversee all the financial activities within your business, whether it’s signing off on payroll or filling the company’s annual tax documents. Another strategic purpose of a Finance Director is to provide forecasting for the company CEO and leadership to ensure that your growth plans are on track.  For firms scaling quickly, outsourced finance leadership provide the leadership needed to support sustainable and profitable growth.

A Finance Director works closely with the company CEO and senior management team to oversee the financial activity and performance of the business. They’ll develop and implement KPIs to keep your business on track while continuously evaluating the situation within your business.

Responsibilities of a Finance Director

Your FD will oversee anyone in your organisation with financial responsibilities, whether it’s bookkeeping or payroll. They’ll keep everything operating in unison so that everyone, including the CEO, is on the same page. The most significant function of an FD long-term is that they contribute towards the goals and objectives set out by the company leadership. They provide strategic advice, along with guidance and recommendation, on the financial strategy of the business. Your FD is someone you want to consult before making any business decision.

Their responsibilities include developing your company’s annual business, making sure you can meet your financial goals while complying with the relevant financial and statutory regulations. As part of this, the Finance Director will provide your leadership team with advice on how to meet your goals or long-term ambitions. 

As part of their everyday work, an FD will keep the company’s accounts up to dates, making sure they’re accurately presented and submitted to the relevant department on time. To facilitate this, your Finance Director will develop and introduce an internal auditing system to ensure the organisation is complying with relevant regulations. An FD will evaluate the potential risk of any investment, merger or acquisition. 

By having an FD, your business can benefit from a financial management system, which incorporates specific policies, procedures, and systems to maximise the efficiency of your business. They’re also monitoring what’s happening with your third-party partners, including external contracts and organisations that provide you with a service. An FD will make sure you’re getting the best value for money from these external systems and companies.

One daily activity that an FD has is to ensure your company continues to meet and comply with its financial and legal obligations, including payroll and tax filing. 

For an SME, having an FD on your team can be a gamechanger. The financial side of your business deserves a dedicated person to stay on top of it all. If the company CEO or another employee is overseeing the finances, it’s likely they won’t be able to do the long-term tasks of a Finance Director.

The Skills a Finance Director Needs

If you’ve decided a Finance Director is who you need on your team to help grow your business, you might be wondering what to look out for. There are a few essential skills that every Finance Director should possess. Along with their skills as a financial analyst, you want to consider the ability of your FD to communicate with others within your team to ensure a streamlined process.  Most of the best FD’s are ICAEW qualified.

You want to hire a Finance Director with extensive accountancy experience, with knowledge of your industry being desirable. They should have significant experience working at a leadership level and overseeing other employees. A talented Finance Director should have the skills to develop your company’s overall financial strategy. As they’ll work with people internally and externally, you want to ensure they have interpersonal skills. Your ideal Finance Director is someone who can simplify the financial operations of your business, freeing up your time to allow you to focus on the day-to-day tasks of your business.

If your business has investors, a Finance Director will be their main point of contact after the CEO. Having a Finance Director on your leadership team can often encourage potential investors to become interested in your business. They consider the role essential for the long-term development and growth of an organisation. 

Do you need help achieving your business goals and staying on track financially? Call us today at 07528 969471. We can also help recruit a part-time Finance Director to help your business long term. FD Capital is also available to assist with grant programmes, along with recruiting a Finance Director in London, the surrounding M25 area, and the West Midlands. 

Adrian Lawrence

Adrian Lawrence FCA is the founder of FD Capital and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). He holds a BSc from Queen Mary College, University of London, and has over 25 years of experience as a Chartered Accountant and finance leader working with private, PE-backed and owner-managed businesses across the UK. He founded FD Capital to connect growing businesses with the Finance Directors and CFOs they need to scale — and personally interviews candidates for senior finance appointments.