Years ago I was chatting with a director from another function about something they needed done and I asked:
“Do you know who to go to for this?”
She smiled, shrugged and said, “Who knows, I usually just go straight to the person who gives me what I need ….. and that’s you.”
That comment, although said lightly, perfectly captures a quiet challenge I see in many finance teams: job titles.
So this week, I want to talk about job titles – why they matter, and what happens when they don’t align with what we actually do.
Firstly, titles act as organisational signals. They tell people:
👉 Who to go to (and who not to)
👉 Who’s responsible for what
👉 Where their role ends and someone else’s begins
In other words, they create swim lanes.
And when swim lanes are clear, everyone can move faster without bumping into each other. When they’re not, you end up with overlap, duplication, confusion – and occasionally someone getting kicked in the head by a teammate heading in a different direction.
A title like Finance Business Partner signals a particular kind of relationship with the business.
It suggests someone who:
👉 Understands commercial drivers
👉 Helps the business think through decisions
👉 Communicates insight, not just numbers
If the person holding that title is instead buried in month-end journals, chasing accruals, or answering “what happened?” questions all day… the business stops seeing “partner” and starts seeing “finance admin with a fancy name.”
And when that happens enough times, the whole concept of business partnering loses credibility.
Secondly it provides clarity inside the team
When roles aren’t clearly defined inside your finance team, confusion multiplies.
You’ll hear things like:
“Oh, I thought Mary was looking after that.” Or “we’re both helping that stakeholder at the moment.” or even worse “They emailed me, but it’s not my area.”
One of the most practical things you can do as a finance leader is to get crystal clear about who owns what. Not just functionally, but relationally.
👉 Who owns the relationship with each business unit?
👉 Who is responsible for reporting and data accuracy?
👉 Who is expected to bring insight and challenge?
👉 Who joins the strategic discussions?
It might sound basic, but these conversations often haven’t happened – or haven’t happened recently enough.
When your team knows their swim lanes, they can operate with confidence. They don’t second-guess whether they’re stepping on toes. And they stop spending mental energy on the “should I?” and “is it my place?” questions.
And finally an FBP title without FBP work does more harm than good
This is the one I see most often – and it’s the one that slowly erodes the finance team’s credibility across the business.
When someone is called a Finance Business Partner, but spends most of their time:
👉 Reconciling accounts
👉 Preparing reports
👉 Responding to last-minute data requests
…they might be doing good work – but it’s not partnering.
And the title becomes hollow. You are an analyst.
If this is the case in your team, it’s worth calling it out.
Not to criticise – but to reset expectations.
Because the work of a Finance Business Partner is proactive. It’s commercial. It’s about conversations, not just calculations. It’s about influence, not just input.
And when someone is doing that work well, they’re worth their weight in gold.
They become someone the business turns to before decisions are made – not just afterwards to “run the numbers.”
But if the title says FBP and the work says “traditional finance,” you don’t just confuse the business – you also diminish the value of the genuine business partners on your team.
Job titles might seem like surface-level stuff. But they shape how people behave, how they show up, and how they’re perceived.
👉 They send signals across the organisation.
👉 They provide clarity and confidence within your team.
👉 And if they’re misaligned, they weaken the very roles you’re trying to elevate.
So if you’re leading a finance team – or aspiring to be a true business partner – take a moment to check: does the title match the work?
And does it send the signal to others what I want it to?