Financial Planning & Analysis Analyst (FP&A)

ECI•Madison, WI

About The Position

The FP&A Analyst (Expense Focus) owns the analysis, forecasting, and reporting of ECI’s operating expenses. The analyst tracks spending against budget and forecast each month, explains variances to department leaders, and helps the business make better cost decisions. The role offers regular exposure to senior management and department heads, with an opportunity to improve expense reporting processes. The position is in the Finance department and is based in Milwaukee, WI or Madison, WI. It reports to Finance Leadership. The work involves collaborating with department heads and Accounting, preparing recurring and ad hoc financial analyses, and supporting budgeting, forecasting, cash flow, and special projects.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field.
2–3 years of experience in FP&A, financial analysis, or a similar role, including hands-on expense or cost analysis.
Working knowledge of financial statements and accounting concepts, including accruals and expense recognition.
Advanced Excel skills and proficiency in PowerPoint and Word.
Strong quantitative and analytical skills, attention to detail, and a high degree of accuracy.
Ability to explain financial concepts clearly to people without a finance background and influence others with reason and data.
Strong organizational skills and written and verbal communication skills.
Self-starter who works well independently and as part of a team, and can manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, results-oriented environment.
Ability to handle restricted, confidential, private, or personal information.
Ability to work independently with moderate supervision, under a moderate noise level, and beyond normal business hours when necessary; ability to travel for business and respond flexibly to multiple work pressures.
Ability to sit for extended periods and use hands and fingers to operate a computer keyboard, mouse, power tools, and other computer components.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Power BI or a similar reporting tool.
Experience with an ERP system such as MS Great Plains or similar.
Experience at a managed services provider (MSP) or with private equity sponsors.

Responsibilities

Analyze and summarize operating expense trends by department, vendor, and cost category, including headcount, software and subscriptions, professional services, and cost of service.
Support the annual budget, quarterly forecast, and midyear reforecast, focusing on expense and headcount assumptions.
Partner with department heads to build, monitor, and update departmental budgets.
Compare actual spending with budget and forecast, identify variance root causes, and present findings and recommended actions to management.
Prepare monthly expense reporting packages and ad hoc analyses using Power BI and Excel.
Review accruals, prepaid expenses, and recurring vendor charges with Accounting to confirm expenses are recorded in the correct period and account.
Track vendor contracts, renewals, and cost-saving opportunities, and flag spending trending above plan.
Contribute expense inputs to the rolling 13-week cash flow forecast.
Organize, maintain, and document expense models and spreadsheets so others can follow and reuse them.
Identify and implement improvements to make expense reporting and forecasting faster and more accurate.
Support special projects, including cost-benefit analysis and M&A integration cost tracking, as needed.