Finance and Business Planning Analyst

Location: Houston, TX 77002

Schedule: Standard Office Hours

Duration: 12-Month Contract (W2)

Pay Rate: $32.00 - $36.00/hr

Position Summary

Our client, a utility company, is seeking a Finance & Business Planning Analyst to support corporate finance activities including headcount planning, G&A budgeting, capital planning, invoice management, forecasting, and executive reporting. This role will partner across Finance, Accounting, Operations, HR, and business leaders to maintain financial models, coordinate budget submissions, prepare management reporting, and support strategic planning initiatives.

The ideal candidate has strong Excel and financial modeling skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

• Maintain accurate headcount plans and workforce forecasts, tracking hires, attrition, vacancies, backfills, and organizational changes.
• Reconcile forecasted headcount to HR and finance systems and support monthly, quarterly, and annual workforce planning.
• Maintain G&A budgets and forecasts across multiple departments, consolidating budget submissions from business leaders.
• Deliver timely monthly forecast updates and support annual budgeting, keeping budget models current.
• Track spending against budget and prepare variance analyses.
• Identify cost reduction opportunities, track savings initiatives, and support organizational restructuring.
• Develop and maintain capital expenditure forecasts and track capital project spend against approved budgets.
• Assist with capitalized payroll calculations and allocation reporting.
• Review vendor invoices for accuracy and coding, track approvals and payment status, and maintain invoice trackers and accrual schedules, ensuring minimal processing delays.
• Monitor contract spend and coordinate with Accounts Payable, Accounting, Operations, and business stakeholders.
• Build and maintain Excel-based financial models and conduct ad hoc analysis and scenario modeling.
• Prepare executive-ready reports and PowerPoint presentations covering headcount, G&A, and capital, and support monthly operating reviews and budget presentations.
• Support strategic projects and special finance initiatives.
• Improve finance processes and reporting efficiency to reduce manual effort for management and finance leadership.

Education/Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business, or related field.
• 3-7 years of finance, financial planning, accounting, or business operations experience.
• FP&A experience (preferred).
• Headcount planning and workforce forecasting experience (preferred).
• Corporate budgeting and forecasting experience (preferred).
• Capital planning and project finance support experience (preferred).
• Experience supporting executive leadership (preferred).

Knowledge/Skills

• Advanced Microsoft Excel, including Pivot Tables, XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP, and SUMIFS
• Financial modeling and data analysis
• PowerPoint presentation development
• Financial planning, forecasting, budgeting, and variance analysis
• Strong analytical and organizational skills
• SAP experience (preferred)
• Oracle, Hyperion, or similar planning tools (preferred)
• Fieldglass experience (preferred)
• Workforce planning experience (preferred)
• Capital project accounting exposure (preferred)
• Power BI or reporting tools (preferred)

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