What is a Business Partner role?

marlot

HappyUser wrote: »

Hello

I have an interview for Finance Business Partner....

Our finance business partner is employed by the finance department, but essentially does two jobs.

• He makes sure that all of our finances are done in accordance with the finance team standards (we have our own buyers etc).
• He helps our management team make decisions by producing forecasts and plans, and telling us where we are against the plans.

When it works well, it can be great. Where there is tension between the two teams it can be hell. Its a senior role - on our management team. He spends 3/4 of his day with us.

Manxman_in_exile

I originally worked as a management accountant and team leader in the NHS. I had good technical skills, and had good knowledge of the systems we used (and their faults!).


We were organised in such a way that different people tended to specialise in different accountancy roles. But when we became a trust (I'm going back about 20 years ago) the role changed to more of a generalist one advising individual directorates so that everybody had to be a jack of all trades - nobody specialised in anything. I hated it as I'm not a people person! I moved to a different management position within the trust.