Finance Director CV: ATS-Optimised Guide for UK-Style Applications

Lead with scope so ATS and recruiters immediately understand the level of responsibility you’ve owned. Specify your revenue band, the number of consolidated entities, and whether you reported under IFRS, UK GAAP, or a hybrid framework; for example, “IFRS consolidation across 18 entities with multi-currency reporting”. Quantify team scale (e.g., “finance team of 14” or “direct reports across Group Finance, FP&A and Treasury”) and show where you sat in the governance chain as an ExCo or board member. Where relevant, name enterprise tools you used for consolidation and close processes such as HFM/Hyperion, SAP BW/HANA, or automated close workflows, and relate them to timing outcomes (e.g., “cut close by 5 days”). Include one line on operational complexity such as “multi-entity intercompany eliminations” or “local statutory submissions across EMEA” to signal you can manage consolidation risk under pressure.

Demonstrate technical depth by explaining how you drove IFRS consolidation and ensured accuracy at group level, not just month-end completion. Mention controls and close governance such as variance analysis routines, intercompany reconciliation, and management sign-off packs, and link them to measurable outcomes (e.g., “reduced consolidation adjustments by 30%”). Where you used systems, name them—SAP FI/CO, SAP BW/HANA, Oracle Financials, or consolidation platforms like HFM/Hyperion—because ATS frequently scans for these exact tool terms. Show your audit leadership by describing how you prepared audit trails, managed key audit issues, and coordinated with external auditors, audit committees and internal controls teams. If you led the statutory sign-off cycle, include what you owned (e.g., “statutory accounts preparation oversight,” “audit committee packs,” and “management letter actions”), and include at least one KPI such as error-rate reduction, timetable adherence, or audit adjustment performance.

Treat treasury as a decision function and quantify outcomes. Describe how you owned liquidity forecasting, cash management, and debt governance, including weekly/monthly cash forecasting rhythms using tools such as Excel cashflow models, Power BI dashboards, or treasury modules. Add concrete KPIs like covenant headroom, average net debt movement, days cash on hand, or reduced borrowing cost; for example, “improved covenant headroom by £12m and reduced bank interest expense by 8% via refinancing and margin optimisation”. Explain risk controls: FX exposure management (hedging policy), counterparty risk governance, and approval frameworks for capex and working capital funding. If you implemented cash pooling or automated collections, name it and link it to working capital performance such as DSO reduction, DPO extension within policy, or a shorter cash conversion cycle (CCC). Recruiters want to see how your treasury decisions directly shaped operational stability and growth capacity.

Show that you can turn finance into performance improvement by detailing transformation across FP&A, cost control, and working capital. Explain your planning approach using industry tools such as Anaplan, Adaptive Planning, or rolling forecast models built in Excel; include how you used scenario planning to support management decisions. Quantify achievements such as “delivered £25m cost take-out” or “improved EBITDA by £40m through pricing/efficiency programmes backed by weekly performance reporting”. For working capital, specify actions and results: supplier renegotiations, credit policy changes, collections playbooks, or inventory rationalisation, with KPIs like DSO movement, stock turns, and CCC impact. Mention how you partnered with operational leaders by creating board-level dashboards in Power BI and producing value-based reporting that guided capex, resource allocation and risk appetite decisions. This section should read like commercial leadership rather than accounting administration, with clear before/after metrics and the finance mechanisms you used to achieve them.

If you’ve done M&A, write it as financial leadership and value creation. Explain your role in financial due diligence (DD): quality of earnings review, synergy model building, acquisition accounting readiness, and the negotiation support you provided to deal teams. Name the frameworks you followed (e.g., IFRS acquisition accounting principles) and connect your outputs to deal outcomes, such as price adjustments or identified risks mitigated pre-completion. For integration, describe how you set up the post-merger reporting structure, consolidation approach, and close timetable so the acquired business could be integrated into group IFRS reporting quickly. Quantify outcomes using deal metrics such as number of acquisitions led, cumulative deal value, and synergy achievement (e.g., “£6m annual run-rate synergies delivered in year one”). If you used data rooms and reporting extracts to accelerate integration, mention common tooling such as Excel-based integration models and consolidation mapping in HFM/Hyperion or SAP BW/HANA.