Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis

Manager Of Financial Planning & Analysis - Hybrid

The Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis plays a critical strategic role in driving the financial strategy, operational analysis, and profitability of the firm. This position is responsible for leading the firm's budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, partner compensation modeling, and practice group analysis.

The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in professional services or legal finance, a sophisticated understanding of law firm operational metrics such as rates, realization, utilization, and leverage, and the ability to translate complex financial data into actionable insights for firm leadership and practice group leaders.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Financial Planning and Forecasting
• Lead the preparation, consolidation, and analysis of the annual firmwide operating budget, revenue projections, and capital expenditure plan.
• Build and maintain continuous revenue and cash flow forecasts, integrating key variables such as attorney headcount, billable rate changes, and billing efficiency.
• Assist the CFO and Compensation Committee with financial modeling, partner profit distributions, capital call structures, and year-end compensation formulas.
• Legal Practice Performance and Profitability Analysis
• Analyze profitability by partner, practice group, client, office, and matter to identify margin drivers and underperforming practice areas.
• Monitor and report on core law firm metrics, including Utilization, Realization (Gross and Net), Collections, Billable Hours, Days Sales Outstanding, and Leveraged Ratios.
• Collaborate with practice leaders and client value teams to analyze rate structures, propose annual billing rate increases, and evaluate Alternative Fee Arrangements.
• Financial Reporting and Executive Decision Support
• Prepare monthly and quarterly reporting packages and presentation materials for the Executive Committee, Management Committee, and Practice Group Leaders.
• Conduct regular variance analyses against budget and prior year periods, providing clear narrative explanations of revenue and expense drivers.
• Develop financial models for strategic initiatives, including lateral partner hiring, office expansions or consolidations, firm mergers, and technology investments.
• Team Leadership and Operations
• Oversee and mentor FP&A analysts or financial reporting specialists.
• Evaluate and improve financial systems, data architecture, and reporting tools to streamline analysis and automate routine reporting.
• Partner with accounting, billing, and IT departments to ensure data integrity across enterprise systems.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Education and Experience
• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related quantitative field required; MBA or Master's in Finance preferred.
• Progressive FP&A experience, with at least 3+ years within a law firm.
• Deep understanding of legal accounting standards, accrual vs. cash reporting, and law firm capital structures.
• Technical Skills
• Expertise in legal Enterprise Resource Planning systems such as Thomson Reuters Elite 3E or Aderant Expert.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including complex financial modeling, financial functions, and scenario building, as well as PowerPoint.
• Hands-on experience with Business Intelligence and corporate performance tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Adaptive Insights, or Anaplan.

Liberty Personnel Services, Inc.