Key takeaways
As organisations grow, structuring a finance team that can support growing complexity can be challenging.Develop a scalable finance team structure by hiring strategically, investing in the right technology and processes, and introducing specialist expertise to meet evolving business needs.A well-structured finance function can support sustainable business growth through stronger financial controls and insightful decision-making.
As organisations develop, so do the demands facing their finance team.
If your business has grown over the years but your finance team has remained the same size, it may be worth reviewing whether existing resources can continue to support your operational needs.
While startups can survive with a small team managing bookkeeping, payroll and compliance, larger, more established organisations can only truly thrive with a more strategic finance function.
Having spent over 15 years as a specialist recruiter in accounting and finance, I know how reliant larger businesses are on finance professionals who can guide everything from forecasting and business partnering to risk management and commercial decision-making.
I’ve worked with ASX/NYSE-listed companies, international businesses, and SMEs. With this experience, I’ve learnt that building the right finance team structure isn't about adding more people. It comes down to recruiting the right talent at the right time, establishing clear responsibilities, and developing a robust function that can scale alongside the business.
Having supported more than 500 clients in securing top-tier talent, I know that there’s no one-size- fits-all approach when it comes to building an effective finance team structure.
What works for your startup won’t work for a legacy company (and vice versa) – however, structure is still just as critical, especially when it comes to making confident, insight-led decisions.
In this blog, I’ll share how finance departments evolve, how they work to future-proof a business, as well as the stage-by-stage experts they need to level up.
If you're looking to build a more effective and scalable finance function, here are some key considerations.
Why finance team structure matters
My experience in recruitment has spanned everything from CFO appointments and their direct reports, to niche corporate Head Office roles covering tax, internal audit, and treasury.
What’s always apparent, whether I’m partnering with a startup or an established organisation, is that a well-structured finance structure goes far beyond simply balancing the books.
A solid finance team structure essentially buoys your business. As your organisation grows, the finance function also expands to support all aspects of financial performance, from day-to-day operations to long-term business strategy.
A well-structured finance team leverages experts from several key areas:
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) provides the critical insight organisations need to make informed decisions through budgeting, forecasting, and strategic planning. Accounting oversees month-end close processes, financial reporting, and regulatory obligations, all while ensuring that financial records are accurate and compliant. Treasury manages cash flow, liquidity planning, and working capital to maintain financial stability and fund future business growth. Tax supports tax compliance while managing risk, helping the business to navigate an increasingly complex regulatory environment. Payroll ensures employees are paid accurately and on time while maintaining compliance with employment legislation. Revenue operations (where applicable) align financial and commercial data to improve revenue forecasting, optimise business processes, and support sustainable growth.
These functions can make or break a business.
Organisations that ensure that they are clearly structured and supported can really lean on the finance department as a strategic partner. Ultimately, this improves reporting accuracy, strengthens financial controls, supports better decision-making, and enables organisations to scale appropriately.
On the other hand, a poor finance team structure will have ripple effects across the business. I’ve seen cases where under-resourced teams have struggled with routine tasks, making strategy an even lesser priority.
In my experience, these teams pose a significant business risk, especially in regard to reporting delays, compliance risks, and limited financial visibility. Together, these factors make it difficult for leaders to respond efficiently and effectively capitalise on growth opportunities.
Related: Where a career in finance can take you
Finance team structures by company growth stage
Day-to-day, I speak with many finance leaders – some have been newly promoted, others are preparing for business growth. Regardless of their goals, they all seem to share some common concerns:
Building the wrong team too early.Being understaffed during growth.Maintaining accuracy while scaling.
What I always reiterate is that every business is unique and there is no single finance team structure that will suit every business.
Instead, finance functions typically evolve alongside business complexity. This can be broken down into 4 key stages:
Startup (1–50 Employees)
During the startup phase, the priority is maintaining financial accuracy while keeping costs under control.
This includes:
bookkeeping accounts payable and receivable payroll cash flow management statutory compliance
Small organisations will typically share finance responsibilities between founders, office managers, or a single finance professional. Outsourced accountants may also be engaged to support taxation, payroll, or year-end reporting.
Growth Stage (50–250 Employees)
The growth stage is heralded by an increase in revenue and headcount. During this period, financial management becomes more complex.
This is where businesses will typically introduce specialist roles to improve reporting, budgeting, and financial control.
This is often when organisations hire positions such as:
Financial AccountantManagement AccountantFinance ManagerAccounts Payable and Accounts Receivable specialists.
Ultimately, these professionals help to optimise financial data and insights, allowing business leaders to make more informed decisions.
Scale-Up (250–1,000 Employees)
As organisations continue to scale up, finance continues to become a strategic business partner rather than a mere support function.
A typical structure for a growing business may include:
CFOControllerFP&A ManagerAccounting teamPayrollTax specialists
Additional specialist capability may include:
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Treasury Business partnering Internal audit Commercial finance
This is an important growth stage for finance leaders – their priorities become analysing business performance, supporting investment decisions, and identifying opportunities for growth.
Enterprise (1,000+ Employees)
In larger organisations, finance functions are highly specialised with clearly defined responsibilities across multiple teams.
A typical structure might include:
CFOVP FinanceControllerTreasuryTaxFP&AInternal AuditShared Services
At this level, finance supports organisational strategy through sophisticated reporting, performance analysis, and long-term planning.
When to hire key finance roles
Finance leaders I speak with are always interested in optimising their finance team structure.
They want a scalable structure, better financial controls, and maximum efficiency with minimal hires.
My top recommendation to finance leaders is to evolve your finance team as your business grows.
Sure, every organisation is different; however, there are certain indications that it could be time to engage a new specialist.
Size, revenue, and headcount aren’t the only factors that will dictate when your finance team structure needs to evolve.
Factors such as reporting complexity, regulatory obligations, and international expansion are often stronger signals that specialist finance capability is required.
There are five roles in particular that every leader should consider in certain circumstances.
1. Finance Manager
A Finance Manager distributes the financial resources of a company, is responsible for budget planning, and supports the executive management team by offering insights and financial advice that will allow them to make the best business decisions for the company.
In my experience, this is one of the first hires organisations will make as finance operations become more complex.
Consider hiring a Finance Manager when:
Revenue is growing steadily. Finance responsibilities are shared between multiple people. Month-end reporting is taking longer to finalise. Senior leaders need more reliable financial insights to support decision-making.
2. Financial Controller
A Financial Controller is a senior management role that oversees all functions of an organisation’s finance and accounting department. For smaller businesses, this may even be an executive position.
This role is crucial in strengthening processes, controls, and compliance.
Consider hiring a Finance Controller when:
Reporting requirements become more complex. The business is preparing for external audits or investment. Internal controls need to be formalised. Headcount and transaction volumes are increasing.
3. FP&A Manager
The Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Manager is responsible for leading the planning, forecasting, and analysis functions that support strategic decision-making across the business.
This role is critical in translating financial data into actionable insights to drive performance and growth.
Consider hiring a FP&A Manager when:
Budgeting and forecasting become increasingly complex. Leaders require more detailed performance reporting. Strategic planning becomes a business priority. Multiple business units or revenue streams emerge.
4. Treasury Lead
A Treasury Lead is responsible for managing the organisation’s capital, liquidity, funding, and financial risk.
This senior leadership role ensures that the business maintains a strong and compliant treasury function aligned with its strategic and regulatory obligations.
Consider hiring a Treasury Lead when:
Cash flow becomes more challenging and requires dedicated oversight. Liquidity planning becomes critical. Debt facilities or external funding are introduced. The business expands internationally or manages multiple currencies.
5. Tax Manager
The Tax Manager is responsible for overseeing the organisation’s tax strategy, compliance, and reporting obligations.
This role ensures the business meets all regulatory requirements while identifying opportunities for tax efficiency and risk management across domestic and international operations.
Consider hiring a Tax Manager when:
The business operates across multiple jurisdictions. Tax reporting requirements become more complex. International expansion creates new tax obligations. Tax planning becomes a strategic consideration rather than an annual compliance exercise.
Common finance team structure mistakes
Regularly reviewing your finance team structure can help ensure it remains well positioned to support both day-to-day operations and future business growth.
That being said, it’s important that the right people are being engaged at the right time.
There are some common mistakes that I’ve seen finance leaders make when building and evolving their finance teams. I caution all leaders to avoid the below to help their finance operate as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Hiring senior leaders too early: Appointing executive-level roles prematurely can increase costs without delivering the expected value. Delaying FP&A investment: Waiting too long to build forecasting and planning capability can leave leaders without the insights needed to make informed decisions. Over-relying on one person: When critical knowledge and responsibilities lie with one employee, it creates operational risk and limits scalability. Blurred responsibilities: Confusion creates chaos. Clearly defined roles help to streamline business processes, improve accountability and boost productivity. Underestimating systems and automation: Investing in the right technology is just as important as investing in the right people, especially if you want to free up your employees for more strategic work.
How to hire strategically while scaling efficiently
I can’t emphasise enough that every business is unique and so are their hiring challenges.
As I always say, it’s important to build smarter, not bigger.
Scaling isn’t about just adding more people; it’s about being highly intentional with your resourcing decisions.
To that end, I encourage all finance leaders to:
Hire for the roles that unlock the most value – Don’t focus on headcount. Prioritise positions that can strengthen decision-making, financial control, and business performanceUse automation to reduce repetitive manual work – Removing tasks like invoicing, reconciliation, and reporting can free up finance professionals to focus on strategic endeavours. Outsource specialist or low-frequency tasks where appropriate – Functions like tax and project-based work don’t always require full-time expertise, so consider engaging contract support. Introduce shared services as the organisation grows - Consolidating transactional activities can improve consistency, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness across the business.Standardise finance processes before adding complexity - Establish clear, repeatable processes before introducing additional roles or more complex structures.Optimise the technology stack to help the team scale - Invest in the right finance systems and tools to scale more efficiently and boost accuracy and visibility. Balance permanent hires with external support – As business needs evolve, don’t just rely on permanent hires. Interim, contract, and fractional finance professionals can provide specialist capability with added flexibility.
The strongest finance leaders I’ve worked with are highly tactical when it comes to their finance team structure. These leaders combine the right hires with better systems, clearer processes, and selective external support so their teams can increase capacity without becoming inflated or inefficient.
Related: Contract vs permanent finance roles: Pros and cons
Building a future-ready finance function
Modern finance leaders are more driven than ever.
They have a strong desire to be viewed as capable, strategic leaders, and they are committed to reducing stress from operational bottlenecks.
As I always say, your success (and the success of your teams) comes down to your ability to look beyond traditional accounting responsibilities.
I truly believe that building a future-ready finance function hinges on your ability to:
Harness strategic finance – Shifting the focus from past performance to insight-led future strategies and long-term growth opportunities. Leverage data-driven decision-making – Utilising real-time financial data and analytics to forecast, react, and adapt. Strengthen cross-functional collaboration – Partnering with leaders across the business to align financial planning with operational and commercial objectives.Commit to continuous improvement – Consistently reviewing and tweaking processes, systems, and team capabilities to ensure the finance function is poised for future success.
Related: How to succeed as a finance business partner
Build your finance team
In my experience, the best finance leaders are always looking at ways to strengthen their finance teams. While long term success is the goal for many, there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to finance team structure.
My career has taught me that the right approach depends on your organisation's stage of growth, operational complexity and strategic priorities. Essentially, your finance function should evolve as your business does.
From hiring your first Finance Manager, expanding your FP&A capabilities, or building a specialist team to support international growth, making the right hiring decisions at the right time is critical.
A well-structured finance department doesn't just keep the books in order; it provides the insights, controls, and strategic guidance needed to help the business move forward with confidence.
At Robert Half, we help organisations build high-performing finance teams at every stage of growth. Our specialist recruiters understand the skills, experience, and leadership qualities required across finance functions, from accountants and analysts through to Controllers, Finance Directors, and CFOs.
We work closely with businesses to identify talent that not only meets today's needs but can support tomorrow's ambitions.
If you're planning to scale your finance team, RH can help you find the professionals who will strengthen your function, drive performance, and support long-term business success.
Our expertise is your advantage - contact us today to learn more.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the typical structure of a finance team?
There is no one-size-fits-all model when it comes to the structure of a finance team.
The structure will really depend on factors like the size and phase of the business as well as reporting complexity, regulatory obligations, and international expansion.
Typically, a well-structured finance team leverages experts from key areas including:
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Accounting Treasury Tax Payroll Revenue Operations
When should a company hire a Financial Controller?
A company should consider hiring a Finance Controller when:
Reporting requirements become more complex. The business is preparing for external audits or investment. Internal controls need to be formalised. Headcount and transaction volumes are increasing.
When should a business invest in FP&A?
A business should consider investing in FP&A management when:
Budgeting and forecasting become increasingly complex. Leaders require more detailed performance reporting. Strategic planning becomes a business priority. Multiple business units or revenue streams emerge.
How can finance teams scale without significantly increasing headcount?
Hire for the roles that unlock the most value.Use automation to reduce repetitive manual work.Outsource specialist or low-frequency tasks where appropriate.Introduce shared services as the organisation grows.Standardise finance processes before adding complexity.Optimise the technology stack to help the team scale.Balance permanent hires with external support.
What are the most common finance team structure mistakes?
Hiring senior leaders too early. Delaying FP&A investment. Over-relying on one person. Blurred responsibilities. Underestimating systems and automation.
