Finance hiring in ERP is often described with two letters: FI/CO. In 2026, that shorthand is increasingly unhelpful. The market has matured. Most mid-senior finance consultants have worked across FI and CO to some degree, and the projects causing the most hiring urgency usually involve far more specific finance capabilities.
We see the strongest hiring outcomes where finance roles are defined by finance outcomes rather than module labels. Close time, controls, reporting accuracy, intercompany complexity, profitability visibility, compliance, and audit readiness—these are the real drivers, and they map to specific skill sets.
In 2026, we are seeing consistent demand growth in four finance areas.
First is anything connected to faster, cleaner close. Organisations are under pressure to shorten close cycles and improve transparency. That places emphasis on the people who understand end-to-end process across GL, AP/AR, asset accounting, cash, intercompany and consolidation touchpoints, not just configuration in isolation. Candidates who have supported month-end in live environments often stand out because they understand what finance users tolerate—and what they will reject.
Second is consolidation and group reporting complexity. Group Reporting, EC-CS legacy transitions, Central Finance (CFIN) structures, and integration with planning/reporting layers continue to generate hiring demand. The complexity here is less about configuration and more about data integrity, rules consistency, and governance—particularly across multi-entity and multi-country structures.
Third is controls and audit readiness. Finance hiring is increasingly influenced by risk and compliance teams. Segregation of duties, approval workflows, traceability, and controls embedded into process design are moving from “nice to have” to “expected”. Consultants who can speak confidently with internal audit and still deliver pragmatic solutions are scarce, and that scarcity shows in hiring cycles.
Fourth is the intersection of finance and data. Many programmes are now judged not only on system delivery but on reporting credibility. That pushes demand for profiles who understand finance configuration and also understand how finance data is consumed—semantic layers, reporting definitions, reconciliation logic, and data governance.
The hiring friction comes when job descriptions remain generic. “Senior FI/CO consultant” could mean a strong process lead, a configuration specialist, a reporting-aware finance profile, or a month-end stabilisation expert. Candidates read these adverts and assume risk: unclear scope, unclear ownership, unclear stakeholder expectations. They often avoid the role unless the hiring manager can clarify quickly.
From a staffing perspective, the best finance teams are designed deliberately. A typical high-performing structure we see includes:
- a finance solution lead who can define process decisions and hold scope
- a configuration specialist who can execute reliably and document properly
- a reporting/data-aware finance profile to protect analytics and reconciliation integrity
- a controls-aware contributor who can align design with audit requirements
Not every programme needs all of these as separate hires. But most programmes fail when they assume one profile can cover all of them.
Interviewing should reflect this. Asking “how many FI/CO projects have you done?” rarely predicts performance. Asking about specific finance realities does:
- What close cycle improvements were delivered, and what changed operationally?
- How was intercompany handled at scale, and what governance existed?
- What happened when finance rejected a design?
- How did you ensure controls and approvals were auditable without creating friction?
- How did you handle reconciliation between ERP and reporting layers?
These questions produce useful answers and reduce hiring mistakes.
2026 will continue to reward finance professionals who can connect configuration to outcomes. It will also reward organisations that stop treating FI/CO as a single bucket and start hiring for the finance problem they are actually solving.
