Finance department org chart example
A finance department of about twenty inside a mid-sized company, drawn around the line every finance chart has to get right: the controller's side, which records what happened and closes the books, and the FP&A side, which says what the numbers mean and what happens next. The two want different people, different deadlines and different managers.
How a finance department is usually structured
Finance reports to the chief executive through a chief financial officer, and the first thing the chart shows is what else the CFO carries. In a company this size the CFO often holds IT, legal, facilities or HR as well; draw them, because a CFO with four functions that are not finance is a different job, and the finance director under them is the person actually running the department.
Under the CFO the department splits into the side that records and the side that explains. The controller owns accounting: accounts payable, accounts receivable, the general ledger, payroll, the month-end close and the audit. FP&A — financial planning and analysis — owns the budget, the forecast, the board pack and the business partners who sit with operations and sales. Accounting is measured on accuracy and the date the books close; FP&A on whether the forecast was right. Put them under one manager and the close wins every time, because it has a deadline and the forecast has an opinion.
Treasury, tax and procurement are the smaller lines: cash and banking, the returns and the outside tax firm, and buying. Procurement is the one that moves: in a manufacturer it belongs to operations, in a services company to finance, and in most it reports to one and works for the other, which is a dotted line. Internal audit is not on this chart on purpose. It reports to the audit committee of the board, with a dotted line to the CFO at most, and a finance chart that puts it under the controller has drawn the auditor reporting to the audited.
Typical titles by level
The vocabulary these charts use, from the top down. Titles vary by country and by company; the levels don't.
| Level | Titles you'll see |
|---|---|
| Leadership | Chief Financial Officer, VP of Finance, Finance Director; Controller or Chief Accounting Officer; Head of FP&A |
| Managers | Assistant Controller, Accounting Manager, Accounts Payable Manager, Billing or Accounts Receivable Manager, Payroll Manager, FP&A Manager, Treasury Manager, Tax Manager, Procurement Manager |
| Analysts and accountants | Senior Accountant, Staff Accountant, Cost Accountant, Senior Financial Analyst, Financial Analyst, Finance Business Partner, Treasury Analyst, Tax Analyst, Buyer |
| Specialists and support | Accounts Payable Specialist, Billing Specialist, Collections Specialist, Payroll Specialist, Finance Intern; outside tax and audit firms (as contractors) |
Where these charts go wrong
Finance charts fail by putting FP&A under the controller, so the forecast is written by the people who close the books; by hiding what else the CFO runs, so a five-function executive looks like a finance director; by drawing internal audit inside the department it audits; by leaving payroll off because HR has it, or on because finance does, without the dotted line either way; and by listing every accountant in a row instead of stacking the close team under its manager.
Questions people ask
- Who does FP&A report to?
- The CFO, beside the controller, not under them. FP&A writes the forecast and the board pack; the controller closes the books. Under one manager the close, which has a deadline, always beats the forecast, which has an opinion. Below about eight people in finance the two merge into one manager by necessity; above it, separate them.
- Does payroll belong in finance or HR?
- Either, with a dotted line to the other. In finance it sits under the controller and HR sends the changes; in HR it sits under the HR director and finance reconciles it. The failure is the company where each assumes the other checks it, which the chart prevents by drawing both lines.
- Where does internal audit go on a finance org chart?
- Not on it. Internal audit reports to the audit committee of the board, with at most a dotted line to the CFO for budget and administration. Drawing it under the controller puts the auditor under the person whose work is audited, and any auditor reading the chart will say so.
- How many people should a controller manage?
- Five to eight directly, with the accounts payable, billing and payroll teams under their own managers or senior specialists once each passes three people. A controller with twelve direct reports is doing an accounting manager's job as well as their own, and the close takes a day longer each quarter to show it.
Other industries
- ManufacturingTwo shifts, and quality kept out of production's line.
- LogisticsDispatch runs the day; supervisors run the people.
- ConstructionOffice and field, meeting on every project.
- Software startupSquads under a CTO; product managers on a dotted line.
- NonprofitThe board on top, programs beside the money.
- Medical practiceA clinical line and a business line, crossing at nursing.
- SchoolDepartments led by teachers who also manage.
- HotelSix divisions around one general manager.
- Marketing agencyDisciplines own people; pods own the work.
- Security & facilities servicesSites stacked under supervisors; a 24-hour control room.
- Sales teamRegions for closers, a team for openers, RevOps beside them.
- Accounting firmA partner pyramid, three service lines.
- Law firmPractice groups, and the business side that runs the firm.
- ChurchA board that governs, a pastor who leads, ministries below.
- RestaurantFront of house and back of house, meeting at the pass.
- IT departmentRun, build and secure, under one director.
- HR departmentPartners, specialists and operations: the three legs.
- Local governmentElected above appointed, and two officers who answer to the council.
- Utility companyField crews, a 24-hour control center, and a regulator in the room.
- BankThree lines of defense, drawn as lines.
- Staffing agencySales desks, recruiting desks, and a back office that pays two thousand people.
- HospitalTwo hierarchies that meet at the bedside.
- Retail chainHead office, the field, and a store drawn once.
- Small businessOne owner, two managers, and the jobs the owner still does.
- Marketing departmentDemand, product, brand, and the operations under all three.
- Customer service departmentTeams on the floor; quality, training and scheduling beside them.
- Engineering departmentProduct teams under a VP of engineering; platform, data and security under the CTO.
- Operations departmentSupply chain, fulfillment and the functions that keep both honest.
- Product departmentProduct, design, research and the operations that measure them.
- Consulting firmThree practices, one firm behind them, and no engagement on the chart.
- Real estate brokerageAgents who are not employees, on the chart anyway.
- Insurance agencySales on one side, service on the other, and the lines where they meet.
Or start from a structure — functional, divisional, matrix or flat — or from your own spreadsheet. The guides cover a reorg, a merger, an assistant's chart and a consultant's deliverable.
Make it yours
Download the spreadsheet, replace the names, import it — the chart redraws itself. Or start empty and drag people until it's true. Building is free at any size.